Destination Vinton
Vinton won a grant that should help much in improving downtown.
Vinton residents share a super-sized pride in their small town. Outsiders who skirt the small Roanoke County town via the Hardy Road bypass on their way to the lake are somewhat flummoxed by the outpouring of civic self-esteem, but their view is obscured by the chains that have sprung up along the corridor.
Vinton is more than its bypass or the well-traveled path of Washington Avenue that brings visitors to the War Memorial or William Byrd High School games.
June 22, 2012 - 6:11 AM
I’m not sure what “taking a turn for the better” means, but there are still too many empty storefronts in downtown Vinton, and still too many non-retail entities (churches, etc) in storefronts designed to sell retail. Nothing wrong with churches, and their rent money is as good as anyone’s, but they only attract people on Sundays (when much of the rest of downtown is closed) and do not add much (if at all) to the economy.
As a Vinton business owner, I would like to know what Vinton is doing to attract businesses, not people. No business ever relocated to a new place because it has new awnings, but they will move there if their business will prosper. How is Vinton going to address that?