Our accomplishments.

City Honors

  • Named 8-time All-America City in 2024

  • Virginia’s First Certified Welcoming Community

  • Achieved 100 in the Human Rights Campaign’s MEI (Municipal Equality Index), addressing LGBTQ+ equality measures and best practices

  • Bee City USA Designation

  • Top 25 Best Hiking Cities in the USA

  • Top Adventure Town in Blue Ridge

  • Digital Cities Survey Winner

  • 2023 Innovation Award for Reuse of Historic Fire Station No. 1 – Virginia Municipal League

  • Top 100 Recipient of the 2023 Top Virginia Employers for Interns Award

  • Healthy Housing Change Agent Award – 1st in Nation – National League of Cities

Big Wins!

  • A new grocery store in NW!

  • New transit center!

  • Expanded transit hours and service!

  • New Riverdale development in SE!

  • A new coffee shop in Fishburn Park!

  • Record funding for Education in FY24 – first time over $100,000,000!

  • New Johnson and Johnson Wetlab in Innovation Corridor!

  • Historic compensation increases for Public Safety personnel!

  • $15/hr minimum wage for all city employees!

  • New Eureka Park Recreation Center!

  • Bridging the Gap Greenway Connection!

 

Social Justice Initiatives

  • Renamed the Courthouse to the “Oliver W. Hill Justice Center”

  • Renamed the Lee Plaza to the “Henrietta Lacks Plaza” and “Freedom Plaza”

  • Received the Henrietta Lacks Statue into the Roanoke City Public Arts Collection

  • Established Equity and Empowerment Advisory Board

  • Naming of R.R. Wilkinson Avenue NW

  • Initiated the Language Access Services Program for all City Services

  • Hidden in Plain Sight Funding Assistance

  • Urban Renewal and the Berglund Civic Center – a series of initiatives to honor the history of what preceded the Civic Center, the impact of urban renewal and to begin to forge a new path forward with the Gainsboro Neighborhood

  • New Gainsboro Mural (Gainsboro Garage) featuring artwork and stories of David Ramey

  • New Historic Gainsboro Plaza at Roanoke Higher Education Center

Community Safety

  • 20-million-dollar investment to increase city employee compensation including competitive increases in starting pay and community safety step plan increases

  • Construction of Fire Station No. 7

  • Initiated implementation of Marcus Alert System/Program – accompanied by local partnership with Blue Ridge Behavioral Health providing mental health caseworkers/negotiators

  • Oliver W. Hill Justice Center Upgrades in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, Security, Commonwealth Attorney’s Offices and Magistrate’s Office

 

Gun Violence Prevention and Intervention

  • Secured state funding to hire a Youth and Gang Violence Prevention Coordinator and two Outreach Workers and sustained funding through the General Budget and Attorney General’s office

  • Led effort to conduct a first ever Youth and Gang Violence Community Assessment (2021) and second Gun Violence Community Assessment (2023-24)

  • Launch of What’s Good, Roanoke campaign to connect youth and families to resources addressing and reducing the risk of gun violence in the community

  • Led effort to establish the Gun Violence Prevention Commission in developing and implementing a strategic plan focused on prevention, intervention and response in collaboration with the Roanoke Police Department, City of Roanoke, and over 100 community partners, and the citizens of Roanoke

  • Initiated Star City Safe Effort, which includes expanded library hours and teen apprenticeship program (7 cohorts have graduated in coordination with RESET team)

  • Initiated Gun Lock Safety Initiative, expanded to “Lock in Safety, Unlock Hope”

  • Roanoke named a Ceasefire Community and is enacting a new Group Violence Intervention Initiative

  • New Gun Violence Prevention Coordinator, Eric Mayo, began work in 2024

 

Opioid and Fentanyl Epidemic

  • Opioid Abatement Fund Settlement Agreement

  • Participating in efforts of the Roanoke Collective Response effort to address the opioid epidemic

  • Roanoke piloting “It Only Takes One” Fentanyl Awareness Campaign led by First Lady Suzanne Youngkin

Homelessness

  • Expanded the Homeless Assistance Team to hire additional Outreach Workers

  • Housed over 300 individuals/families in 2023

  • Collaborative Block by Block Program and Parks & Rec Outreach Program in collaboration with RPD, HAT and Downtown Ambassadors to identify needs of persons experiencing homelessness and increase opportunities for employment and housing; efforts are reducing homeless by over 25% in last ten years

  • Support of BRICH (Blue Ridge Interagency Council on Homelessness) Regional efforts and participation in PIT (Point in Time Count and PIT Resource Fair)

 

Education

  • Historic $108 million investment of city’s budget to support Roanoke City Public Schools

  • Opening of the DayTec CTE Center expanding high school workforce development to two high school campuses

  • Purchased the Roanoke Times Building for the new Roanoke City Public Schools Administration and Operations Center

  • New Preston Park Elementary School (underway)

  • New Excel Center (Adult High School) at Melrose Plaza

 

Transportation

  • New Three-Time Award-Winning, Open-Air Transit Facility (Third Street Station) including EV Infrastructure and new Customer Service Center/Greyhound Waiting Area

  • 20+ new bus shelters (Melrose, Jamison and other corridors)

  • Launch of MetroFLX – microtransit service expanding hours to 12:45 am M-S and Sunday Service, 9-6

  • Purchase of the City’s first electric transit buses (due to arrive in 2025)

  • Launch of VMGO realtime app

  • Amtrak – two trains

  • New Wasena Bridge Construction underway

  • Park Roanoke Upgrades to include new gateless entry in CITS Garage, ADA Accessible parking throughout city (street, surface and garages), major refreshing of parking garages

  • Vision Zero Street Safety Infrastructure Initiatives to progress our multi-modal community

  • Melrose Avenue Streetscape completion

  • Brandon Road Complete Streets project completion

 

Economy/Jobs

  • 20 million compensation investment in City Employees

  • $15/hr minimum wage established for City Employees

  • Citizen-led implementation of CARES Act and ARPA Funds distributing over $82 million dollars of investment back into our city for small businesses, individual and household relief, arts and cultural organizations, mental health and substance use support, public safety, virtual learning and food and health care access

  • Convened the Star City Strong Recovery and Resiliency Fund Advisory Panel – ARPA funds

  • Initiated implementation of the Star City Strong Advisory Panel recommendations – ARPA funds

  • Secured State funding for shared lab space in the Innovation Corridor - $16 million State plus $2 million local – Carilion, VTC, VTF, Johnson Labs

  • Invested 10 million dollars into the new Melrose Plaza in NW Roanoke, featuring the new Market on Melrose Grocery Store (opening in the Fall of 2024)

  • Invested 10 million dollars into the new Riverdale development in SE Roanoke

  • New Carilion Crystal Springs Tower (Cardiac Care Center and Emergency Department)

  • Financial Support for the Downtown Ambassadors program in collaboration with DRI and VBR

  • Amazon purchase of property for new distribution center in NE Roanoke (Roanoke Center for Industry and Technology)

  • Financial support for Co-working spaces in NW (The Collective at 11th and Moorman) and in NE (The Williamson) on Williamson Road and SW (The Co-Lab in Grandin Village)

  • Initiated first City Economic Development Strategic Plan

  • Initiated Neighborhood Centers Analysis/Plan

  • Wood Haven Technology Park – collaboration with City of Salem and Roanoke County

  • Establishment of the Financial Empowerment Center, offering professional one on one financial counseling to any resident at no cost

  • Highest fund balance (rainy day funds) in City’s history

  • The William & Margaret Robertson Behavioral Health Wing, a 1,900-foot expansion which includes six counseling rooms and group counseling space at the Bradley Free Clinic.  This expansion benefitted from CDBG funding

Environment

  • Adoption of Climate Action Plan

  • Secured Federal Funding to Aid in Replacement of Wiley Drive Low-Water Bridge

  • Adoption of Flood Resiliency Plan

  • Secured the Ramada Inn property (demolition) and new green space utilizing a FEMA grant

Quality of Life

 Parks and Recreation

  • Adopted the Parks and Recreation Master Plan guiding improvements of our park system and recreation facilities for the next ten years

  • New Washington Park Swimming Pool (opening in Summer 2025)

  • New Skatepark and Community-initiated Pump Track (opening in 2025)

  • New In Water Kayak Park (coming soon)

  • Newly Renovated and Expanded Eureka Park Recreation Center

  • Naming of Estelle McCadden Park

  • Naming of Washington Park Basketball Courts – Ricky Renell Wright

  • Bridge the Gap Greenway Connection completed, extending greenway access from Bridge Street to Peters Creek

  • Opening of the Roanoke River Greenway connection with Salem- Barnhardt Creek Bridge – Liz Belcher Plaza

  • Opening of first Futsal Court in Preston Park

  • City hosted Ironman 70.3 Triathlon for two years

 

Libraries

  • Construction of the Williamson Road Library,

  • Construction of the Melrose Library

  • Construction of the Crystal Springs E-branch Library

  • Remodel of Gainsboro Library and Raleigh Court Library

  • Remodel and Expanded Belmont Library (in CIP schedule for 2027)

 

Housing

  • Established new Housing Trust Fund

  • Investment in new, affordable housing in partnership with Habitat for Humanity,

  • Restoration Housing

  • Creation of a Land Bank in partnership with TAP with 16 new and renovated properties for affordable housing

 

Arts and Culture:

  • Year of the Artist Campaign

  • Arts Connect Campaign

  • Mural Installations throughout the city and region