Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 25, 1994 TAG: 9405250087
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By GEORGE L. McFARLAND
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
John Marfleet's letter was of particular interest (``Few got riches; the rest got the spoiled''). He wrote of the richer life we have in Roanoke in contrast to ``progress'' in the Miami area.
After reading these letters, I'd like to recommend an opportunity we have in the Roanoke Valley for real economic growth. This would be in the retirement industry.
We have the natural setting for an ideal retirement area: four seasons of about equal length, and a moderate climate without Florida's heat or the cold and snow of Northern states. We've also become Southwest Virginia's medical center. Furthermore, retirees don't increase the load on schools, and certainly not on the judicial system.
It took my wife and me about six years to work out our retirement plans, starting in 1988. A big problem we had was finding data on active retirement communities in the Roanoke Valley. The League of Older Americans had data on nursing homes, but not on active retirement facilities.
We also found that the business community didn't promote the retirement industry. We inquired at visitor centers on Interstate 81 as well as at the one in Roanoke. There was plenty of information for transient visitors, but not for those who wanted to make this valley their home.
By 1994, there had been some small improvement in available information. At the Roanoke Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau at 114 Market St., a packet is now available that includes the Western Virginia Retirement Guide printed in October 1993 by the Roanoker magazine. The Roanoke Chamber of Commerce had no data, but referred us to the League of Older Americans. The league publishes a list, ``Senior Housing in the Roanoke Valley and Alleghany Highlands.'' This gives addresses and phone numbers of subsidized and non-subsidized housing possibilities.
Now that a retirement guide is available, the business community should include the retirement business as an important part of the program for this valley's growth.
Other nearby communities are active in the retirement industry, so why shouldn't we be? We have many good things to sell: hospitals and medical centers, several colleges with active outreach programs, Center in the Square, the Virginia Transportation Museum, good libraries and volunteer activities of all kinds. In the telephone book's yellow pages, there are five pages devoted to churches and nine pages to restaurants. Nearby, there are many other attractions for all ages - the Peaks of Otter, Blue Ridge Parkway, hiking trails, Smith Mountain Lake and a host of historical sites.
All businesses and chambers of commerce should work together to sell the Roanoke area as a place to settle and enjoy life!
George L. McFarland, who lives at Brandon Oaks in Roanoke, has co-authored a retirement guide, entitled ``Decisions Decisions.''
by CNB