What should Roanoke look like in 20 years? Every 20 years or so, City planners gather ideas and feedback from the community and develop a new Comprehensive Plan. This document helps guide policy decisions and future investments in the City. The most important step in the process is collaborating with community members to determine priorities. Ways to get involved: We’re looking to collaborate with community members to identify Roanoke’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and challenges. We want to hear from as many community members as possible. In August, we hosted 10 community Open House meetings at locations across the City and more than 200 community members attended to share their ideas. We also received 1,218 online responses to our Comprehensive Plan survey, which closed on Oct. 18. In early Fall of 2018, we formed citizen working groups and will continue to meet through the winter to discuss specific goals, policies, and actions that the community feels should be incorporated into the City’s next 20-year plan. Share Your Ideas Complete Mapping Exercise

Roanoke has developed six guiding themes to direct Plan 2040. These themes will help to ensure the City’s commitment to achieving a sustainable future by planning for environmental, social, and economic well-being for community members and visitors alike. Each Fact Sheet helps to define theme components and the resources Roanoke currently has to provide for each theme. Citizen working groups were formed in Fall 2018. These groups will help the City of Roanoke’s Planning team describe desired conditions, translate ideas into policies and actions, and work together to validate or modify elements of a draft Comprehensive Plan. Download Theme Fact Sheet Livable Built Environment: “Ensure that all elements of the built environment, including land use, transportation, housing, energy, and infrastructure, work together to provide sustainable, green places for living, working, and recreation, with a high quality of life.”

Harmony with Nature: “Ensure that the contributions of natural resources to human well-being are explicitly recognized and valued and that maintaining their health is a primary objective.”

Resilient Economy: “Ensure that the community is prepared to deal with both positive and negative changes in its economic health and to initiate sustainable urban development and redevelopment strategies that foster green business growth and build reliance on local assets.”

Interwoven Equity: “Ensure fairness and equity in providing for the housing, services, health, safety, and livelihood needs of all citizens and groups.”

Healthy Community: “Ensure that public health needs are recognized and addressed through provisions for healthy foods, physical activity, access to recreation, health care, environmental justice, and safe neighborhoods.”

Responsible Regionalism: “Ensure that all local proposals account for, connect with, and support the plans of adjacent jurisdictions and the surrounding region.”

Executive Summary City Plan 2040 is taking shape. The following summary outlines the priorities and policies identified through public outreach. These policies will be refined in the final phases of the planning process to identify action items and ensure consistency. Read Summary