mclawsdrive

I think I'll chime in here on how I think the top 40 metros were picked. Forbes probably used combined MSAs, called CSAs- such as Washington/Baltimore, which each have their own MSA but are also considered part of a larger combined MSA. Richmond's MSA of 1,194,008 (which includes the tri-cities) is larger than Raleigh's MSA (994,551). But Raleigh is also the core city in a larger combined metro called the Raleigh-Durham-Cary CSA with 1,565,223. Richmond is not currently part of a CSA. I'm almost positive this is why Richmond did not make the rankings.

I went by the future SI spot and saw significant changes to the exterior facade. Don't know about the inside, but it was obvious that the building was being renovated or altered. I hope Tommy's group did alright, Larger groups are harder to please due to diverse pallets.

I read the attachment and must agree that many of these 'offenses' do not merit such steep fines. Bankrupting Virginia citizens will create more criminals, as people with steep fines turn to selling crack to elementary school children and whoring out their bodies to pay the state coffers.

I forgot about Barry selling the place. I had a conversation with him a few months ago at a bar in the fan. Can't remember which one it was. I heard that Vault was now open. I haven't been in Bank or many other restaurants in a few months due to some excessively outrageous car repair bills. I'm hoping that with Vault open, Bank will be less crowded and they will get rid of the velvet rope/line to get in type thing. I'm not sure how its going to work but I'm hoping patrons to Vault will be able to enter from the downstairs back entrance. I've driven by the Skyy Bar location, but don't know anything about it. Seems interesting though.

I would recommend Bank on Main near 10th. Not casual but certainly not formal like dining at the Jefferson. They don't focus on any particular cuisine and everything there is top notch, at least the Governor and I think so. Reservations would be a good idea. The White Dog would be another good bet, at Main and Stafford. Not formal, not too expensive, not sure about reservations. I have also been to almost all the restaurants suggested by others, and certainly agree that all are excellent establishments, though some may be a bit too focused on a particular cuisine to fit your requirements. Also Avalon might fit the bill, they've switched to more of a tapas menu, but you could still order entree sizes last time I was there.

Finally an actual date, although technically they won't open by the end of spring as they said they would. It's really not their fault though, the delay has been the underground parking.

Check out this Roanoke Times article about the growth of office condos in downtown Roanoke. Even in business, owning can be more desireable than renting.

Yeah, I was being facetious for those that are familiar with the location. I think the name is accurate for what is is now; a field next to James Madison Middle School. The location is in SW city in a relatively affluent area. Towers 'Mall', with Kroger/Fresh Market Radio shack etc. is about a 5 minute drive away, as is the nearby Ukrops. In the other direction, Tanglewood Mall is about the same distance, maybe a minute or two farther away.

The vacant tract of land at Brambleton and Overland will be developed with 7 houses using 'green' technology. roanoke times The project is to be called Madison Field (hmm, I wonder how they came up with that?) and houses will be priced at around $400,000.

The railwalk is pretty neat. It is sort of like richmond's canal walk near the turning basin. First Friday events are on an adjacent parcel next to the Wachovia Tower. One end terminates at the new art museum, the other side leads toward the transportation museum.

As far as the border between the Henrico and Goochland, when you cross on Broad, the signs for the county line seem to be east of Tuckahoe creek, perhaps at the eastern edge of the wetlands associated with the creek. It seems that the boundary follows the creek for the southern 2/3 of the dividing line and then becomes a straight line just west of Graham Meadows Place (south of Broad). Perhaps it is this straight line that the counties were adjusting, since they would certainly slice through parcels of land. The creek serves as a natural boundary and I doubt there would be need to shift that portion of the county line.

I feared it might be a restaurant owner I know, but your description of the restaurant as 'small' makes me think its not him. At least I hope its not.

Do you know Chris Chittum in Planning? I interned for the planning department about 8 years ago, before he became Planning Administrator. Back then David Diaz (director of Downtown Roanoke Inc.) was also a planner.

Upcoming retail/restaurant development in Roanoke will include: - a 13,000 sf addition at Target -the (delayed) July opening of Roanoke's 2nd Panera and Barnes and Noble locations -Wet Seal and Verizon inside Valley View -Wine Gourmet will relocate from Daleville to a new 3200 sf spot near the new Ukrops. Old location was 1500 sf. -T Bone Jacks will renovate and reopen the 1650 Braeburn Drive location in Salem formerly occupied by Western Sizzlin. full article - roanoke times

Interesting Cam, some of these have potential.

Funny that the original donor, J.P. Fishburn, wasn't against putting the original Rockledge Inn on that same spot, yet now his grandkids think an inn on that spot would go against the intentions of said donor.

We still had a decent crowd at 2:00, probably 50 people (there were some randoms I think.) The last few people rolled out about 3:30. And the cops never came. The band stopped playing at midnight, out of respect for the neighbors, although they've since said it wasn't that loud. We covered all the walls around the stage (yes, I built a stage) with comforters and carpets and even put a mattress over the window near the drummer. I think it helped keep the sound down outside. And we even had a 15 in. 128 dB mackie subwoofer pumping out bass. The stage was at the very front of the house but across the street are the new condos at 2100 Grove which aren't yet occupied and my neighors on the right are all college age. The neighbors on the other side are older but they actually complemented me on the music so I guess they didn't mind. I would guess that the most noise came from all the people talking (loudly) on the front porch and in the front yard. I must say this house is great for parties. I'll be sure to mention it next time I have one.

I just had a party at my house in the fan on Friday and one of the 5 bands I'm in played at the party. This group is the newest, we've only been practicing together for about 6 weeks, but I feel really good about the music. The only problem is we don't have a name. I've used band name generators online, but nothing has been good enough for us to unanimously agree on it. Anyone have any suggestions? Our sound is sort of like a Led Zeppelin meets Stevie Wonder meets Alice in Chains meets the Beatles type sound.

Thats my understanding. The roanoke.com website now has " Shooter at Tech massacre identified in bomb threat" as their lead story.

He had apparently just recently bought a gun at a Roanoke gun store. I think its way past time to have a national effort to prevent events like this from happening. We need to focus on the mental/social health of all people, so that we can reduce alienation of disaffected 'loners' and prevent them from becoming bitter, violent sociopaths. Also, better gun laws might possibly help, although in this situation, this guy might have just manufactured a homemade bomb if he hadn't used guns.

I just watched the slideshow. That was amazing.

Heres a few pics I took last weekend. View from Poor Mtn, looking North Art Museum Salem Ave, across from art museum Art Museum The Fairfax at Jefferson and McClanahan Ukrops New Silos near Starkey Rd to replace the ones to be demolished on Jefferson Downtown from Shenandoah Ave Wachovia View from Hotel Roanoke looking east and south View from pedestrian bridge Art museum from pedestrian bridge Another view from the pedestrian bridge

She didn't bring me the CD, now I'm rescheduling for Saturday, argh!

Oh, and I have some pics of the Ivy Market (Ukrops) site, the new silos off of Starkey (replacing the ones being torn down on Jefferson St), The Fairfax (condos/apartments?) and the art museum (although ElectricMonk already posted pics that are better than mine). My friend promised me she will bring a disc with the images (I used her camera) and I'll be able to post them Thursday.