Bonefish Grill is definitely opening on 419 next to Allstate, but other than a couple of other stores, that mall is stymied by the lack of anchor stores.

As for this Hershberger development, we'll have to see what happens. I can't imagine Cheesecake is committal and Kohl's isn't. That seems a little backward.

There may not be a bridge - the current valley view bridge may spur off to the north west of I-581 along a new frontage road heading north along the west side of the interstate toward Hershberger to connect with the new big box stores. The new powerplant at the NW corner of Cove and Hershberger will supply the needed power to the development.

Good call, VaGuy. I'd like to see it in either the Elliston Area or maybe Franklin County near the proposed I73. Although closer to Martinsville would certainly help the economy there.

The Commonwealth of Virginia has shelled out big bucks to lure VW to move its North American HQ to Fairfax County.

http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/search.apx.-...03-15-0118.html

I hope that Governor Kaine and others are aware of VW's plans to build a plant in the US and say, hey, we have a good place just a few hours drive from your HQ.

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/arti...6/1305/BUSINESS

The wish for an upscale retreat away from the activities of the city sounds more like a desire of the senior businessmen's set than an idea of young, educated professionals seeking to enhance the day-by-day quality of life in the valley for their peer group."

None of the land supposedly in this development is zoned for retail sales, and a lot of it is in a floodplain.

South of the deveopment is another group of homes, and then 60 additional acres which streches south along the western side of 581 to Orange Avenue, or route 460 which connects Roanoke with Lynchburg and Richmond. This area will be phased into the development in the near future.

Wow, thanks Burt. I hadn't seen that on Roanoke.com. It's there now, but I wonder if the Times Dispatch scooped them.

An article in the Roanoke Times says the new medical school is going to be a larger building than originally planned as it will include more research offices. The site has also moved from the interior of Riverside to a parcel fronting Jefferson. That must mean it will be on the land on the downtown side of the Luna building. The article also says the facade will have a VT limestone look. I'm glad it will be someting different than the red brick. Some variation of style will be good compared to everything being uniform in my opinion. I guess this also means more research jobs are planned, so that seems like good news.

I think this is a huge factor in why Lynchburg is growing at a faster rate. Roanoke desperately needs a sizeable 4 year undergraduate institution. Currently nothing fitting the bill exists in the city of Roanoke. Why are young people moving out of Roanoke in droves at 18? To go to college. Why are 18-year-olds moving in droves to other cities but not Roanoke? To go to college. All I want is a 4 year college with an enrollment of at least 3500. May a very rich person please will all of your estate to this noble cause? I will be very gratetful.

From a Roanoke perspective, the most alarming thing to me is the drastic drop in Roanoke City's population. Something really needs to be done to get that back on the right track.

Also, don't under estimate the power Liberty University has had on Lynchburg's growth.

The best model for the type of company that I'd like to see more of, and would be realistic to expect, would be ITT. While I don't know anything in particular about it, I'd imagine the bulk of production jobs do not require a college degree. However, they are high skilled and high paying; that's what I consider "blue collar" not a $7 burger flipper. And, there are technical, engineering, and "front office" job which require a college degree and would be considered "white collar." It really is a shame that Johnson & Johnson closed, and I do wonder if a lack of skilled workers -though never stated- was a reason why. I also wonder if it is a factor in no significant companies yet to emerge from the Carilion Biomedical Institute, which I considered the best economic development idea of the past 25 years as it attempted to build on what exists and seems like a solid business idea.

Roanoke simply isn't going to have an economy like Northern Virginia or Charlotte based on a "pure" non-medical white collar industry like banking/finance or software development. For a variety of reasons, those industries are increasingly migrating to large cities. Roanoke will do well to hold onto what it has. (See the Advance Auto Parts saga.) I know it's not the city that Roanoke usually looks towards, but it's interesting to compare Roanoke and Lynchburg. Since 1980 to 2006, the Lynchburg MSA has increased in population from 182,207 to 223,917, which is 22.9%. Since 1980 to 2006, the Roanoke MSA (using the current definition) has increased in populaton from 260,081 to 295,530, which is 13.6%. If Roanoke had matched Lynchburg's growth rate, the Roanoke MSA would have a population of 319,618. That's 24,088 more or roughly the population of Salem. While Lynchburg would hardly be called a boom-town, it's clearly been doing better than Roanoke. And, with Lynchburg's nuclear industry possibly poised to take advantage of the deposit in Pittsylvania County, the gap could grow.