Published twice a month, Roanoke Recap is a blog to keep citizens informed about recent city news, events, and announcements. If you are reading this blog for the first time and wish to receive an email notification when a new blog is posted, please contact the Office of Communications at [email protected].
Roanoke’s Car Share Program Wins ZEV Award
Virginia Clean Cities recently recognized Roanoke as the 2019 Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) City of the Year for the city’s progressive Car Share Program, featuring the all-electric Nissan leafs. The program was selected as an exemplary concept for local governments to green their fleets and reduce harmful emissions. Honored for being an early adopter, Roanoke was recognized for its continued leadership as the 2017 recipient of the Diesel Reduction Champion for their propane fleet, and for the early deployment of a public DC Fast Charger. Virginia Clean Cities works with vehicle fleets, fuel providers, community leaders, and other stakeholders to save energy and promote the use of domestic fuels and advanced vehicle technologies in transportation.
City Achieves Better Building Challenge Goal Early
In 2012, the City of Roanoke joined the U.S. Department of Energy’s Better Building Challenge to make city facilities energy efficient, committing 30 buildings or 1.16 million square feet to a 20% energy reduction by 2022. After seven years of hard work, the city was recognized this week for officially exceeding its Better Building Challenge goal, achieving a 23 percent reduction in 2019 – three years early. The city dedicated over 1,000,000 square feet to the challenge. The largest wins are the Berglund Center with a 30 percent reduction and the Jail/Courthouse Complex with a 25 percent reduction. The Berglund Center is featured as a Showcase Project in the Challenge. Learn more about Roanoke’s commitment to the Better Building Challenge by clicking on this link.
Art by Bus Program Begins
This week RIDE Solutions, the Greater Roanoke Transit Company, and Hollins University joined the Roanoke Arts Commission in launching the 5th Annual Art By Bus program. Art By Bus promotes the value of public transportation to our community by bringing visual arts, musical performances, and inspired writing onto the Valley’s bus network. New to Art By Bus this year was a partnership with Hollins University led by Associate Professor Jennifer Printz, who worked with her class to create a series of original works, one of which would be selected to be installed on a Valley Metro bus. Student artist JM Lamb’s "Wishes" was chosen by representatives of Hollins University, the Arts Commission, and RIDE Solutions to be displayed this year. Read more about the program at the Ride Solutions website here and on Hollins University's website here.
Homelessness Point-In-Time Count Conducted
The Blue Ridge Interagency Council on Homelessness conducted this year’s Point-in-Time (PIT) count for the Roanoke region (Alleghany County, Botetourt County, Craig County, Roanoke County, the City of Covington, the City of Roanoke and the City of Salem) on the night of Jan. 23, with all individuals experiencing homelessness in the region on this night being counted and voluntarily surveyed. This year’s total count was 319, an increase of 0.6% over last year (317), but is 3.4% less than the 331 counted in July 2018. Homelessness has decreased by 43.1% since 2012. Read the full news release here. A copy of the full 2019 PIT report can be found on the Blue Ridge Continuum of Care’s website here.