This is how you know that Roanoke truly has reinvented itself. 15 years ago, Roanokers would have come out of the woodwork to self-flagellate. They were the 1st ones to dunk on their city. Now they're defending it. https://twitter.com/courtneylamie/status/1359147724290064389

Roanoke did this by 1) leaning into outdoor recreation as a marketing lens (not a be-all end-all economic goal). My @GoOutAndPlay story from 2016, when that approach was really beginning to pay off: https://www.blueridgeoutdoors.com/go-outside/roanoke-reinvented/

2) reversing a decades-long depopulation trend, largely by turning its downtown from empty office space into apartment buildings w/ retail on the bottom. My 2017 story from what was then CityLab: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-12/how-a-downtown-revival-reshaped-roanoke-virginia