Downtown Roanoke is a wonderful place to spend time. I don't live far away & visit there often during the day & the night. You're always perfectly safe & will find a wealth of locally owned restaurants & shops to choose from. The scenery is beautiful, the people are friendly & the produce on the Farmers Market is the freshest around. You can find museums, art & entertainment by walking a few steps in any direction. Downtown Roanoke has it all.
Roanoke also has lovely parks to visit & the Mill Mountain Zoo. The zoo is fun for children & adults alike. It is home to almost 100 animals & there is a train to ride. Adjacent to the zoo is the Roanoke Star, which happens to be quite a sight to see. This is the world's largest free standing man made illuminated star & it's visible for 60 miles. The star, also known as The Mill Mountain Star, sits more than 1,000 feet above the Roanoke Valley & offers a view of Roanoke not to be missed. Oops, there I go with those facts again.
I could go on forever listing the virtues of Roanoke VA, but my blogs are designed to be brief. We should all spend more time exploring the place we live. I did & it prompted me write this as an appreciation for the city in which I reside. We have everything in Roanoke & those of us who live here are lucky.