Legacy Plans

The Commonwealth of Virginia requires all localities to adopt a comprehensive plan, a document that will serve as the basis for future policy decisions and investments. Comprehensive plans are a locality's primary long-range planning tool.

Roanoke's first comprehensive plan was written in 1907 by nationally renowned City Planner, John Nolen. The current comprehensive plan, Vision 2001-2020 was adopted by City Council in 2001. That plan and all of Roanoke's past plans can be downloaded below:

1985 Comprehensive Plan

1964 Comprehensive Plan

1928 Comprehensive Plan

1907 Comprehensive Plan

1985 Comprehensive Plan

In keeping with the City's tradition of civic involvement in planning, Roanoke Vision 1985 - 2005 asked citizens of all ages what they wanted their city to be in twenty years. Through a broad-based public participation process, including a public opinion survey, television special, and a series of planning workshops and community meetings, a growing vision of Roanoke's future emerged. The plan builds on four priorities and sets a roadmap for the City through the late 1980s and 1990s.

Click below to download the plan:

Roanoke Vision 1985 - 2005 (File size:13 MB)

1964 Comprehensive Plan

The primary purpose of the 1964 Comprehensive Plan was to provide the City with a long range plan for its total development through the 1960s and 1970s. Although the major emphasis of the report was placed on land use planning, it outlined other major elements of the City's comprehensive plan, namely, community facilities and transportation. The final section of the report was devoted to a description of the various "tools" at the disposal of the municipal government for the implementation of the plan.

Click the link below to view the plan.

1964 Comprehensive Plan (File size: 34 MB, may take a few moments to download via broadband)

1928 Comprehensive Plan by John Nolen

After writing the City's first comprehensive plan for the Women's Civic Betterment Club in 1907, landscape architect turned city planner John Nolen returned in 1928 to write the City's second comprehensive plan. As was expected, Nolen had matured greatly as a city planner in the 21 years between the plans, having written a number of other plans around the country. The plan was more detailed and tactical than the first, and reflected the City's position as the focal point of a growing region.

The 1928 Roanoke Comprehensive Plan was awarded by the National Planning Association in 1997 as an American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) National Planning Landmark.

Download the 1928 Comprehensive Plan below:

1928 Roanoke Comprehensive Plan (File size:11 MB.)

1929 Map of Roanoke and Environs (File size: 3 MB)

1907 Comprehensive Plan by John Nolen

Roanoke's 1907 Comprehensive Plan was commissioned by the Women's Civic Betterment Club of Roanoke and then presented to the City government. The plan was written by John Nolen, a landscape architect from Cambridge, Massachusetts. The plan was written in the early stages of Nolen's career as a city planner. He went on to write plans for over 50 cities in the country, including Kingsport, Tennessee, San Diego, California, Mariemont, Ohio, Asheville and Charlotte, North Carolina. Nolen came back to Roanoke to write the City's second comprehensive plan in 1928.

The 1907 Roanoke Comprehensive Plan was awarded by the National Planning Association in 1997 as an American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) National Planning Landmark.

Download the 1907 Roanoke Comprehensive Plan below:

1907 Roanoke Comprehensive Plan (File size: 11 MB.)