Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 1, 1994 TAG: 9402250007
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Progress has been made in some areas but - like taking off those 10 pounds and keeping them off - success takes long-term commitment and a willingness to work hard at what often seems a frustrating, fruitless task.
In the coming year, let's suck in our gut, square our shoulders and fight on for:
Furthering regional cooperation.
Before last year's statewide election, Del. Richard Cranwell of Vinton organized a group of Roanoke Valley elected officials and business leaders to identify services that could be regionalized. The list was good: water, sewer, solid waste, economic development, tourism, transportation, housing and human services. Cranwell pledged to work for state financial incentives to encourage action.
The election is over and voters returned Cranwell, the Democrats' majority leader, to the House of Delegates. With the right kind of help and cooperation, he and other community leaders could follow through on their stated commitment.
Developing a regional vision.
Combining efforts, pooling resources to meet the shared needs of the Roanoke Valley's localities is essential for the economic vitality of all. But developing a strategy for long-term prosperity requires an expanded notion of region.
The New Century Council's formation last year was a start toward bringing the Roanoke and New River valleys together to begin recognizing common interests and defining what this area wants to be like 20 years from now. This year, the council needs to broaden its membership to get the participation necessary to come up with goals that will enjoy broad community support.
Such goals should include closer connections between Virginia Tech, the region's major research university, and Roanoke, its urban center. That's one way to nurture clean, future-looking industries such as fiber optics and biotechnology.
And the "visionaries" would be blind not to recognize that the geography and natural beauty of the region, distinctive and priceless, are among its greatest economic-development assets. These assets should be exploited, for instance, by planning a network of greenways linked to eco-attractions Explore Park, the Appalachian Trail and the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Fighting childhood poverty.
Roanoke, as the urban center, has a concentrated population of poor people. More than 60 percent under the age of 6 are poor. An estimated 4,000 of these still lack access to comprehensive health care.
But if the poor are concentrated in the city, the resulting problems are not. Political boundaries notwithstanding, Roanoke Valley localities blend into one community, and problems of crime, underachievement and out-of-wedlock pregnancies impair the whole community's prospects. The localities must act in concert to address them. Following through this year on last year's talk of a regional housing policy would make a good start.
Lowering the teen-pregnancy rate.
Roanoke has the highest teen-pregnancy rate for 15- to 19-year-olds in the state, a fact that has rightly aroused a public outcry. Now community leaders must turn the outcry into action.
Progress in fighting poverty undoubtedly would help. Young people who can envision a future for themselves beyond a public-housing apartment and a welfare check will be less likely to cut off their options with an early pregnancy.
But there is a poverty of values at work here, as well, that no existing social agency is going to fix. Changing this will require a lot of individual resolutions in families that decide to teach and enforce a higher set of values than those glamorized by popular culture.
Other issues will come up as the year unfolds - it's not too early to press Roanoke as the route through which Interstate 73 should run - but if the region can seriously address any of these, it will be a very good year.
by CNB