SURVEY SEEKING OPINIONS ABOUT LIFE IN ROANOKE

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, April 13, 1993                   TAG: 9304130257
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
SURVEY SEEKING OPINIONS ABOUT LIFE IN ROANOKE
Roanoke officials want to know what residents like and dislike about the city - and what they wish it to be like in the future.
To get residents' view, the city has hired the Center for Survey Research at Virginia Tech to do a scientific telephone survey of 640 residents.
The survey will identify the characteristics the residents value most and least in the city and its neighborhoods.
"Roanoke has a history of involving citizens in major projects," said City Manager Bob Herbert. "When we talk about the future of our community, it is essential that we include citizens in the process to reflect their views and values."
The survey will begin Wednesday and is expected to be finished by the end of the month. The city is paying $8,000 for the survey.
Each phone interview will take no longer than 10 minutes to complete, said Tam Roop, who is directing the survey through the city's Office of Management and Budget.
Telephone numbers for the survey will be provided by a professional sampling firm that randomly generates phone numbers based on valid exchanges for the city.
Telephone interviewers will have telephone numbers only. Neither the city nor the interviewers will know the names or addresses of persons who are called, Roop said.
"Our goal is to put in place confidentiality safeguards so that citizens can be totally candid," Roop said. "We need to hear first hand from citizens and find out their priorities."
Roop said the survey will seek to find out how desirable the city is as a place to live and the changes that residents would like to see.
The survey is the first of several steps the city will take to obtain citizens' views in the planning for the future, Roop said. A community forum and several citizen workshops will be conducted, she said.
The updating of the city's comprehensive plan began last month with a daylong planning meeting by City Council and representatives of the Planning Commission, School Board and the Redevelopment and Housing Authority.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB