Roanoke, Virginia is located midway between New York City and Atlanta on Interstate 81, 168 miles west of the state capitol, Richmond. The city is the center of one of Virginia's largest metropolitan regions, and a hub of transportation, finance, and industry for the southwestern part of the state. The scenic beauty of the Roanoke Valley, located between the Blue Ridge and the Virginia Alleghany Highlands, makes the city a pleasant as well as an economically diverse place to live and work. The city's position on the East Coast gives it ready access to nearly two-thirds of the total population of the nation within a radius of 500 miles.
The Roanoke City Consolidated Plan presents a strategic 5-year approach to housing and community development in this metropolitan area. It includes a One-Year Action Plan for using approximately $4 million of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HOME Investment Partnership Program, Emergency Shelter Grant (ESG) funds, and program income in 1995. These funds will support activities such as housing, homeless services, economic development, neighborhood and community development, and public services.
The Office of Grants Compliance served as the lead organization and was
responsible for overseeing the development of the Consolidated Plan (CP). The
first step in the process was the re-activation of the City's former
Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy (CHAS) Team comprised of staff from
four City departments (Grants Compliance, Housing, Human Development, and
Planning) and the Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority. The CP Team
membership eventually expanded to include representatives from Economic
Development, the Office on Youth and the Engineering Department. Each staff
member on the team completed sections of the text related to their expertise.
Citizen input was a priority in the CP development process. The following
activities served as vehicles for expanding citizen participation:
presentations, and consultations and informal discussions with agency
representatives and neighborhood leaders. Three public meetings were held after
being publicized in two local newspapers. Before the second hearing and for a
30-day period, copies of a draft CP were available for public review and
comment. The plan was approved by the Roanoke City Council on May 8, 1995, for
the submission to HUD.
Roanoke, the largest city in the Commonwealth of Virginia west of Richmond, is located at the southern end of the Shenandoah Valley, approximately 170 miles west of Richmond, 235 miles southwest of Washington, D.C., and 250 miles west of Norfolk. Chartered as a city in 1884, Roanoke encompasses a land area of approximately 43 square miles.
The City's population of 96,509 accounts for approximately 50% of the
population in its metropolitan area which includes the neighboring city of
Salem, town of Vinton, the surrounding counties of Roanoke and Botetourt. Lying
at the region's crossroads of major rail and highway systems, the City serves as
the principal trade, industrial, transportation, medical and cultural center of
western Virginia. The total number of year-round housing units is estimated to
be 44,384. Ninety-two percent of these homes are occupied. Of these, 57% are
occupied by the owners. The City's population is 78% white (non- Hispanic), 21%
black (non-Hispanic), 1% Hispanic (all races) and 1% Asian and Pacific Islanders
(non-Hispanic), with an unemployment rate of 4.4% (October, 1995).
The economic base of the area consists of wholesale and retail trade, service industrial, manufacturing, governmental activity, transportation and other non-farming activities. Trade is the City's most important industry, covering a 16-county trade area region which has a combined population in excess of 700,000. Roanoke's MSA per capita taxable sales in 1990 was $8,885, the highest in the State of Virginia. Over 2,000,000 square feet of new retail space has been constructed in the city since 1980. The service industry is the second largest industry in the city, employing over 18,500 or 25.4% of the labor force in 1990. Manufacturing is the third most important economic activity in the city, employing 9,449 workers or 12.9% of the employment base.
The following summarizes the housing needs for the City of Roanoke as identified in the Consolidated Plan:
The mid-1990's appear to continue to offer good opportunities in Roanoke for first-time home buyers. However, the recent increases in interest rates (May, 1995) undoubtedly have decreased affordability of home purchase, especially for those families with borderline income or without reasonable options to increase their incomes to match increased mortgage payments. Also, there remains the need for credit repairs especially among low income households without full-time employment and/or without health insurance.
For rental property, some of the market conditions and dynamics mentioned earlier are causes of concern. Many rental units suffer from advanced deterioration or significant lack of maintenance. In addition, there is a need for enhanced landlord and tenant education to reduce the need and frequency for repairs.
Undeniably, there are still many households in the city, especially of low-moderate income, with housing problems. Factors include unstable or limited income, putting such households at risk of suddenly losing their security. These households particularly are in jeopardy, as it can take many months or years to recover from any economic setback. There continues to be a need to increase household income and economic stability.
Evidence suggests that affordability is a serious problem for low income households. With the age of the housing stock and the incidence of rental and vacant units, property maintenance continues to have a major need in the city. There is a need for more and better quality rental units especially affordable to low income households. Also, large numbers of renting households with income above 50% of the median family income (MFI) may be able to make affordable house payments. Roanoke needs to encourage homeownership and a wide diversity of housing opportunities.
In January, 1995, the Roanoke City Manager's Committee on Homelessness conducted a count of homeless individuals and families relying on emergency and transitional shelters. Based on the results of this study, the Committee hasreported that the number of homeless youth residing in shelters has doubled since 1993. Assistance and services are needed for children, families, individuals, and those with special needs. Shelter facilities in Roanoke need on-going support and maintenance. There are an estimated 5,091 households at risk of becoming homeless in Roanoke City. Services and programs are needed to assist these low income families and individuals from becoming homeless.
Roanoke's public housing developments include 1,478 units located in ten different sites, plus one development which consists of scattered sites throughout the city. Current estimates indicate that over $24 million is needed for repairs and replacements in order to insure long term viability. Additionally, the Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority indicates that public housing units could benefit from increasing community-oriented policing in developments, improving communication between public housing residents and staff, reducing response time to maintenance needs and improvements of preventive maintenance plans, providing staff training for team building and for enhancement of job skills, and upgrading of computer hardware/software to facilitate implementation of improvements.
The City's public policies that affect the return on residential investment or affect the provision of affordable housing includes the City's zoning ordinance, subdivision ordinance and development regulations. An assessment of those public policies has not revealed any excessive, exclusionary, discriminatory, or duplicative aspects of those policies that constitute barriers to affordability.
The City of Roanoke conducted a study, Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice, in 1991. A survey of community organizations and an interview with representatives of the Legal Aid Society indicated that potential victims of housing discrimination are in need of information on fair housing. Although the Fair Housing Officer for the City of Roanoke had not received any complaints in the five years prior to this study, she received inquiries regarding fair housing issues, provided information to the public on Fair Housing and spoke on the subject to local groups. At the time of the study there were no instances of fair housing discrimination that had gone to court. The City of Roanoke established goals based on the conclusions of the study and is in the process of updating the analysis.
Increasing attention has been directed to the health concerns caused by lead-based paint in existing housing units. During the summer of 1993, the Roanoke City Health Department conducted targeted surveys of some of the older neighborhoods of the City, particularly Melrose-Rugby NW, Belmont SE, Wasena SW, Mountain View SW, and Highland Park SW. Using the X-K3 analyzer, lead readings were taken in the interior, on the exterior, or both of a total of 201 houses. Of the 157 interiors tested, only 22 were found to have no lead readings of more than the 0.5% as allowed by the Building Maintenance Code. Only 38 of the 163 exteriors tested met this criterion.
While the survey by the Health Department was limited, the suggestions of its findings are likely to be valid. It is reasonable to expect that the majority of the housing in the City built prior to the 1980's would have significant lead-containing paint present.
There is a need to continue to develop the capacity of citizens and neighborhood organizations and a need to continue the physical development of the city. Continued revitalize in the downtown, neighborhood commercial areas, and other business areas. Roanoke needs to promote tourism and revitalize areas such as Henry Street and the Warehouse District adjacent to the First Street Bridge. Existing jobs must be retained and new jobs created. A mechanism needs to be provided to foster small business development and provide a stimulus for redevelopment of areas for industrial development. Roanoke needs to preserve the historical and cultural resources, provide for recreational facilities and programs and preserve the environmental quality of the city's resources. Existing public facilities and transportation systems need to be maintained and improved. Roanoke needs to address human service issues such as health care, training and education, family strengthening, and issues relating to aging. Also, children and youth issues such as employment, teen pregnancy and juvenile crime, need to be addressed.
Roanoke has been pro-active in coordinating housing goals, programs and policies with related services. The Housing Coordination Team, an in-house committee, was established in 1992 to serve as a vehicle for increase communication among City departments including Housing Department, Human Development, Planning, Economic Development and Grants Compliance.
The Roanoke Regional Housing Network was established in 1991 and adopted its
by-laws in May of 1992. Currently, there are 96 members and 22 board members.
The mission of the network is to bring together diverse yet complementary
interests to promote discussions and effective action on housing issues
throughout the Roanoke region. The Network is a forum and catalyst for the
Roanoke region's housing interest and is an advocate for equal opportunities
throughout the Roanoke Region, for all income levels and population groups.
This group continues to play an active role in the coordination of housing
goals, programs and policies.
The Strategic Plan for the City of Roanoke has as a primary goal the distribution of block grant funds in an equitable manner to attack the problem of homelessness, while spurring the economic development within the City. The goals are focused on homeownership, economic development, preservation and enhancement of Roanoke's high quality environment and addressing the needs of the community through communication among the neighborhood organizations.
Priorities for affordable housing include encouraging and facilitating new homeownership as a viable and affordable alternative to rental status for households with annual incomes between 30-80% of the Median Family Income (MFI), encouraging and facilitating the development of housing appropriate for and attractive to economically diverse households; repairing and maintaining existing owner-occupied homes; repairing, maintaining and improving existing rental units; rehabilitating and reusing existing but deteriorated and unused multifamily buildings; and seeking additional rent subsidies to serve existing very low income and/or special needs populations.
Priorities for homelessness alleviation include ensuring that emergency and transitional shelter and support services are available for homeless persons with the City of Roanoke; maintaining and improving the quality of existing shelter facilities; maintaining and enhancing prevention measures to provide support to those low income persons at risk of becoming homeless; increasing the availability of shelter facilities; and offering support programs and emergency financial assistance to the homeless with special needs, at-risk children and youth.
Priorities for non-homeless persons with special needs include increasing the stock of housing that is affordable, safe, sanitary, decent and accessible to special needs populations throughout the valley and ensuring that education, training, and ongoing support services are increased to meet the needs of special populations.
Priorities for mixed-use areas include encouraging the expansion and promotion of Roanoke's cultural resources, especially in economically distressed neighborhoods, encouraging the preservation and rehabilitation of historically significant structures and areas, and increasing the capacity of neighborhood organizations to address neighborhood issues/concerns.
Priorities for economic development activities include creating new job opportunities and retaining existing jobs as well as offering educational and training programs; encouraging small business and minority business development to provide further job creation opportunities; fostering the rehabilitation of the central business district (CBD) and businesses in the surrounding neighborhoods, and assembling and purchasing industrial and commercially-zoned property for the purpose of re-selling the land for economic development.
Priorities for other community development activities include promoting and encouraging strong, healthy families and providing community services, and addressing issues related to the development of children and youth to ensure the quality of life.
Efforts to address poverty in Roanoke, Virginia, include both public and private resources. Roanoke is a uniquely caring and compassionate community. The needs of those less fortunate are at the forefront of Roanokers' attention. Local government, human service agencies, religious congregations, businesses, and individuals plan and contribute, both individually and collectively, to confront poverty. Local government works with area agencies such as Total Action Against Poverty, the Rescue Mission, and Roanoke Area Ministries in response to problems associated with poverty.
The Roanoke Department of Social Services, the Fifth District Employment and Training Consortium, the Office of Human Development, and the Housing Development Office are the primary departments of the City of Roanoke that work most directly to reduce the numbers of households with incomes below the poverty line. These departments generate a variety of activities to respond as effectively as possible to this serious problem.
The primary federal resources include CDBG, HOME, Section 8 and Emergency Shelter Grants. Resources available form the State include the Virginia Housing Partnership Funds and the Stewart B. McKinney Fund. Local resources include Roanoke City General Funds and Citizen Services Ministries. Private resources include local commercial lending institutions.
The Office of Grants Compliance is responsible for the Consolidated Plan
activities, but a variety of public and private organizations are involved in
administering plan components. For example, the Roanoke Redevelopment and
Housing Authority issues tax-exempt bonds to fund below-market mortgages for
low-income persons, several non-profits provide services for youth and homeless,
and private lenders operate affordable housing loan programs. The Consolidated
Plan acknowledges that there is some overlap in services provisions. However,
the Roanoke City government lends itself to coordination efforts.
The City of Roanoke's One-Year Action Plan outlines the proposed use of approximately $4 million in CDBG, HOME, and ESG fund and program income. These funds will support an array of housing, homeless, neighborhood and community development , economic development and public services activities, including:
A majority of the projects in the One-Year Plan affect areas throughout the City of Roanoke, however, the City targets rehabilitation projects to designated areas known as the Conservation Area and Rehabilitation Districts.
The Office of Grants Compliance represents the lead organization in the development of the Consolidated Plan. In addition, several city departments administer projects including the Economic Development Office, Housing Development Offices, and the Roanoke Neighborhood Partnership. The following list represents a sample of the subrecipient agencies responsible for administering the projects in the One-Year Plan:
The City of Roanoke's housing goals for the first year include allocating $348,900 towards activities encouraging and facilitating new homeownership, $84,000 for activities encouraging and facilitating development of housing for economically diverse households, $384,729 towards activities encouraging and facilitating repairs and maintenance of existing owner-occupied homes, $377,000 for activities encouraging and facilitating repair, maintenance and improvements of existing rental units, and the rehabilitation and reuse of existing multifamily buildings, $179,730 towards activities to assist with increasing the stock of housing that is affordable, safe, decent and accessible to special needs populations throughout the valley, and $28,091 for activities which increase the capacity of neighborhood organizations to address neighborhood issues/concerns.
MAP 2 depicts points of interest and low-moderate income areas.
MAP 3 depicts points of interest, low-moderate income areas, and minority concentration levels.
MAP 4 depicts points of interest, low-moderate income areas, and unemployment levels.
MAP 5 depicts points of interest, low-moderate income areas, proposed HUD funded projects, and neighborhood segments.
MAP 6 depicts streets with proposed HUD funded projects for one neighborhood; in addition, a table provides information about the project(s).
Charles Harlow
Grants Monitor
PH: (703) 981-2141
