Roanoke travel guide

Roanoke is an independent city located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The city of Roanoke is adjacent to the city of Salem and the town of Vinton and is otherwise surrounded by, but politically separate from, Roanoke County. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 94,911. The city is bisected by the Roanoke River. Roanoke is the commercial and cultural hub of much of the surrounding area of Virginia and southern West Virginia.
The United States Census Bureau includes in Roanoke's metropolitan area the counties of Botetourt, Franklin, Craig and Roanoke, and the cities of Salem and Roanoke. The metropolitan area's population in the past three censuses has been reported to be:
1980 --- 220,393
1990 --- 224,477
2000 --- 235,932
2005 (estimate) --- 292,983
Figures through 2000 do not include Franklin County (50,345 est. 2005 population) and Craig County (5,154 est. 2005 population). They were only recently added to the Roanoke MSA, which is the fourth largest in Virginia (behind the Greater Richmond area, Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads), and the largest in the western half of the state. (...) more....