I noticed what appears to be a new Little Caesars restaurant under construction along Brandon Avenue, located across the street from and facing Towers Shopping Center. The sign is not complete so this is not official, but judging by the shape and colors I’m assuming it’s a future home of Crazy Bread.
I probably eat at Little Caesars about once every week or two on average and this location will be much more convenient for me. I’ll update again once the restaurant opens which, at the rate construction appears to be going, may be by February 2008. Pizza! Pizza!

In my travels I noticed a new building under construction along Route 419 in Roanoke between Cordell Drive and Bower Road. Looks to be some sort of office building but I saw no signs to suggest the future inhabitants.

Will keep an eye on it and provide more information as the building nears completition. More to come.

The construction operation at Keagy Village is very much underway and starting to take shape.It’s all taking place along Route 419 at the intersection of Keagy Road. Inititally, the entire area required a massive landscaping effort in order to fill-in the previous depressed land.

To date, I haven’t seen word of the number or type of shops to open their doors at the (seemingly upscale) mini outlet mall or plaza of sorts. The area does seem to provide an enviornment for the likes of Starbucks, an expensive Deli restaurant with a fancy name, and a contemporary women’s clothing store.

Incidently, I happened to drive by the construction area on Thanksgiving Day 2007 as my grandmother lives in the area. I recall seeing I think at least 2 workers up on scaffolding at the site working on some of the new buildings.

While browsing the internet I stumbled across this recent article published in the New York Times and titled,
“With Bold Museum, a Virginia City Aims for Visibility”.

If you haven’t driven in downtown recently to see the current progress on the new museum, go to the Art Museum of Western Virginia website for information. Or, you can click directly to their webcam to check it out.

The short answer to why I’m doing this is: I like writing and I like living in Roanoke. I have never lived anywhere else. Well, I did have a short stint living in Radford for college but that really doesn’t count, does it? I was born and raised in Roanoke and I really don’t have an urge to move, nor can I imagine living anywhere else.

Having said that, what really prompted me to get this website going was a recent drive around town while running a few errands. I noticed things that I had seen on previous drives, but would often give nothing more than a passing glance. However, this time it occured to me that this city is growing and changing, and has been growing and changing at a rather steady pace the past few years. Valley View Mall has given a fair amount of parking lot space to restaurants, the Keagy Village project is moving right along, and I know of more than one new housing subdivision under construction as I write this post.

I’m not against progress or change. But, with words and pictures from the perspective of a common citizen, I thought it would be fun to chronicle such changes seen to this city I call home.