The Roanoke Region is a Place You Want To Be.
But don’t just take our word for it. Roanoke has garnered national and regional media attention for its natural beauty, high livability, and business-friendly environment. And that’s not all; we’ve earned some pretty high honors, including winning the All-American City award more than any other city in the U.S.
Regionally, the area has been compared to Lake Tahoe by Travel + Leisure, named a top outdoor town by Blue Ridge Outdoors magazine multiple times, and has been noted as a top Place Millennials Can Afford and Actually Want to Live In and one of the Best Cities for New Grads.
2024 Media Mentions & Accolades
| Gear Junkie: The 6 Best Shorter Backpacking Trips on the Appalachian Trail |
| Travel + Leisure: 10 Best Mountain Towns in Virginia |
| Blue Ridge Outdoors: Roanoke: Best Place to Raise an Outdoor Family |
| Blue Ridge Outdoors: Blue Ridge Marathon: Best Running Event |
| USA Today: The 5 Best Cities to Move to in the South |
2023 Media Mentions & Accolades
| Blue Ridge Outdoors: Blue Ridge Outdoors Top Adventure Towns 2023 |
| CNN: 25 Best Hiking Cities |
| Cardinal News: Employment and labor force surge past pre-pandemic levels, reaching highest level in over nine years (Op-Ed) |
| Roanoke Times: Young Professionals are Flocking to Roanoke. Here’s What All the Fuss is about |
| Garden and Gun: A Look Inside Fire Station One, a Roanoke Hotel with Three-Alarm Charm |
| Blue Ridge Outdoors: Best Place to Raise an Outdoor Family |
| Travel and Leisure: Virginia’s ‘Lake Tahoe of the East’ Is One of the Best Places to Buy a Vacation Home in the U.S. |
| Virginia Business: Growing the talent pool. Roanoke Region aims to retain students, attract workers |
2022 Media Mentions & Accolades
| Go Banking Rates: 3 Affordable east Coast Cities Where People Want to Live |
| Outside Magazine: The 24 Best Mountain Towns in the U.S. |
| Runners World: These are the World Toughest Races (Blue Ridge Marathon) |
| American Lung Association: Cleanest Cities for Ozone Air Pollution |
| AAA: Best U.S. Cities for Biking |
2021 Media Mentions & Accolades
| Washington Post: In Roanoke, Va., discovering a gateway to outdoor adventure |
| New York Times: 8 Places to Visit Along Virginia’s Blue Ridge Parkway |
| Rent.com: New Year, New Zip Code: 10 Unique Zoom Towns You’ll Want to Move to In 2022 |
| Northern Virginia Magazine: Roanoke Has Become An Arts And Culture Hotspot – And Worth The Drive |
| Roanoke Times: ‘Boomerangs’ fly back to Roanoke, New River valleys for medical careers |
| Virginia Business: A Roanoke reawakening, Regional revitalization strategies gain traction |
| LinkedIn Workforce Insights: Top 20 Remote-Work Haven List |
| Roanoke Times: Roanoke Valley Ironman 70.3 shows region’s success (op-ed) |
| Roanoke Rises Up on Twitter |
| Virginia Business: Larger shovel-ready sites key to success |
2020 Media Mentions & Accolades
| Annual Digital Counties Survey: Named Franklin County as Top Digital Counties (Up to 150,000 Population Category) |
| Wall Street Journal: Texas Tavern Named to Wall Street Journal’s Guide to America’s Best Burgers |
| The Roanoker: Roanoke Outside Events Director named to “40 Under 40” list |
| Blue Ridge Outdoors: Roanoke Named Top Adventure Town of 2020 |
2019 Media Mentions & Accoloades
| The Penny Hoarder: 25 U.S. Cities That Millennials Can Afford – and Actually Want to Live In |
| Virginia Business: Roanoke Outside Events Director named to “100 People to Meet in 2020” |
| Runner’s World: These Are the Hardest Races in the World (Blue Ridge Marathon #7) |
| Blue Ridge Outdoors: Top Adventure Towns — Roanoke (large) and Clifton Forge (small) |
| CNBC: Virginia Named Top State for Business |
| The Roanoke Times: Recruiting Talent the New Target for Economic Development |
| Virginia American Water Works Association: Roanoke Region Water Judged Best in the State |
| Livability: Top 100 Best Places to Live – Roanoke |
| The Beer Runner: 51 Destinations to Run and Drink Beer — Roanoke/Blue Ridge Marathon |
| TravelZoo: 20 Best Places to Travel in 2020 (including the Blue Ridge Mountains in the Roanoke Region of Virginia) |