The Roanoker - May/June 2020 - 26

Roanoke offers more
than a few great
neighborhoods to
live in.

my surroundings. From my sunroom,
I've watched countless sunrises over the
mountains and enjoyed many nights of
star gazing. My kids both graduated
from Northside High with a diverse
set of strong friends from various
backgrounds and solid education to
support their journey into adulthood. "

WINDSOR
HILLS

Jeanne Fishwick doesn't " think our area is
very diverse in population, but what I love
about it is the diversity of architecture
and landscape. The neighborhood is a
beautiful hodgepodge. We love that it
is close to everything, but on the way
to nothing, private and convenient.
The neighborhood contains the largest
privately owned piece of land in Roanoke
(the Ellett farm) and a small, private
man-made lake. In the last 50 years
my street has been in Salem, Roanoke
County and now Roanoke City. "
Pat Pfister talks of the " comfortable
country feel. Our neighbors are extra
friendly with enough space to not live
on top of each other. "

SOUTHEAST
Sherry Lucas understands that little has
been expected of Southeast for many
years, but she loves it. " I've owned a
home here for 23 years because it's close
to everything: downtown, Vinton, Smith
Mountain Lake. I have a view of the
Roanoke Star from my front porch;

26

MAY/JUNE 2020

the greenway is close by; and neighbors have
become like family. I'm a lover of old and
historic houses and have even renovated some
for a living. So, mainly I love the housing
styles in Southeast and all the history.
" They're all unique and most of them,
like mine, have a tremendous amount of
character, wide woodwork molding, French
doors, pocket doors and, oh, how I love the
tall ceilings. "
The stereotype of Southeast is that of poor
white families, but Lucas says, " Our street has
professionals: a schoolteacher, electrician,
Home Depot manager, furniture salesman, et
al. A Mexican family [bought a house nearby
recently], and a French family lived here for
two years. This area got a $7 million grant for
2020 improvements to the Belmont-Fallon
area, so I'm hoping visual improvements will
attract more families and people who want to
renovate and live in these old homes. "
Ron McCorkle has a business in Southeast
where " houses are more affordable, and I
recently bought a house in need of rehab and
am happily restoring it to good condition. "
Terry Huxhold finds the neighborhood
" highly walk and bikeable and we have more
parks, blueways, greenways and bike lanes
than any other part of the city. We are boxed
in, but it adds to our sense of community. We
have the lowest crime rate in the city and are
the safest from violent crime. Best of all, we
take care of each other. "

GAINSBORO
Martin Jeffrey discovered Gainsboro 35
years ago and it " has featured significantly in
my Roanoke experience. I have lived there,
worked there, worshipped there and dreamed
there. I currently live in Gainsboro with my
wife, Sharron, and our son, Zeke.

" For us, Gainsboro is a family matter, an
economic matter and a cultural matter. The
history of Gainsboro informs our lives as
black people and as Roanokers. Living on
the land where indigenous peoples watered
their horses and hunted food; where white
settlers birth a railroad; and where blacks,
segregated from equality and justice built a

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