Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 19, 1995 TAG: 9502180028
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: G3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOHN M. STROUD
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Under the laws of Virginia, localities - cities and counties - are independent. The question: Are they really independent, or are they interdependent?
If the answer is that they are really independent, then solutions to local and regional issues must be addressed by each locality independent of other localities. If they are really independent, we can infer that each locality can serve its customers - taxpayers - in the most efficient manner alone, without considering the other localities, and that each locality has the resources to provide basic services in a low-cost, quality manner.
On the other hand, if the localities are really interdependent, we would look to regional solutions to issues, and would infer that no one local government has the resources to provide efficient and quality government services at the least cost to the taxpayer.
The answer to this question is more important than ever before. We are witnessing major new initiatives in Congress and in state legislatures across the nation to expect more and better results with fewer tax dollars. Local governments will be expected to do the same.
New evidence of the interdependence among the Roanoke Valley's communities was obtained by the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce. To learn more about this region, the chamber commissioned a study to determine where income is generated in the Roanoke Valley. Here are some of the major findings of the study:
From 1980 to 1992, this region's income grew at an average annual rate of 7 percent. (The average cost of living nationally during this time rose by 5 percent.)
Employers in the city of Roanoke generate more than half of the Roanoke Metropolitan Statistical Area's earned income (services, manufacturing, government, retail, transportation, wholesale trade, finance, insurance, real estate, construction, public utilities, farming/agricultural services and mining).
Roanoke city residents are much more dependent on unearned income (dividends, transfer payments, retirement, medical payments and welfare) than are people living outside the city.
Manufacturing is a much more important income component of the portion of the metropolitan area outside Roanoke city, while services make a bigger contribution to the economy of the city.
Forty-one percent of the wages and salaries generated by employers in the city of Roanoke is earned by individuals living outside the city.
Most people in the SMA work in the city of Roanoke, but most workers in the SMA do not live in the city. Even so, they are obtaining more and more health-care, financial, retail and other services in the city.
This, then - not the legal status of independence - reflects the true interdependence that exists. Most people take for granted their dependence on the city, even though they travel to and from their jobs and homes every day, and go to the city for hockey, theater, movies and so forth.
If we can overcome the legal myth of independence and learn to appreciate the assets of the people and the various communities within the region, we can achieve increased quality of life for the entire region.
This does not mean that neighborhoods or other areas should give up their identities; competition is healthy. But economic and cultural growth can be accomplished only by cooperation.
It is because of this interdependent relationship that we must cooperate. What happens in one area affects people throughout the region. Whether we like change or not, it is here. Whether we like to be interdependent or not, it is the way we are, and we become more interdependent every day. Therefore, we must cooperate to survive.
We have a regional economy influenced and determined to a great extent by national and global events over which we have very little control. We are dependent on these events. But residents of this region do have control over the region's ability to provide the infrastructure, communications, technology and quality education that are required in today's highly competitive, global business climate.
By understanding our interdependence and the assets that each person and locality can bring to the table, we will find that cooperation is in everybody's best interest, and that the region will continue to provide the quality of life it has enjoyed for many years.
John M. Stroud is president of the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce.
by CNB