The city fell short of its own spending goals last year in the Belmont-Fallon area, according to a federal report.
For years, residents in Northwest Roanoke believed the Gilmer-Harrison neighborhood was next in line to receive long-promised investment from the city. But now, a new development plan has the community worried that the city is quietly breaking that promise.
The city’s proposed 2025-2029 Consolidated Plan is raising concerns that Roanoke may pull back from investing federal housing and development funds into its highest-need neighborhoods — a break in a target area investment strategy the city has followed for decades. If adopted, the plan would sharply reduce the share of federal funding dedicated to specific target neighborhoods, sending most dollars to citywide projects instead.
That change comes after the city fell short of its own federal spending goals last year in the current target area, Southeast Roanoke’s Belmont-Fallon, according to a federal report. The draft Consolidated Plan does not name a new target neighborhood after Belmont-Fallon’s designation ends in 2026, raising questions about whether the neighborhood-focused strategy will remain in place…