www.roanoke.com

In a city with a population of around 100,000, the housing choices of 350 or so people and the creation of a few dozen new apartments and condos ordinarily wouldn't mean much.

When they're all in downtown Roanoke, however, they signal new life for venerable old buildings and possibly even a vibrant new phase for the city's center. Left behind, like so many urban business districts, by decades of economic, population and lifestyle shifts, downtown Roanoke's glory days as Western Virginia's commercial hub probably aren't coming back. It still has a core of business and government offices, but business people and boosters have long recognized the need to find new niches for the area and uses for its buildings.

High-tech companies and artists have been wooed. Noticeable rejuvenation has occurred as a restaurant, entertainment, education and arts center. Now it appears residential living could become an important niche, which could have multiple benefits for the city.

A good indicator is the activity of out-of-town and local investors. Following a profitable trend in other cities, they have apartment and condo conversions under way in at least five buildings.

Even combined with the residential space already available in a former Norfolk & Western building and elsewhere, downtown living in Roanoke is still more a trickle than a trend.

But it's a trickle the city should aggressively encourage.

In sufficient numbers, residents could exert a multiplier effect. Shops and services would move in to serve them, which could attract yet more residents and more businesses to now-vacant or underused space.

Demographics could provide a boost as well. The young and hip may be joined by the mature with arthritic hips. Baby boomers seeking low-maintenance lives in their later years could enjoy convenient access to health care and stimulating urban amenities such as concerts and theater.

And with new downtown residents would come population growth and increased tax revenues for the city.

This is, of course, still a hoped-for scenario. But the investors' willingness to assume the risk indicates the potential is there, and Roanoke should help exploit it. The city has roles to play in marketing, cutting red tape and attending closely to downtown's public safety and services.

A new niche may await.