She left Roanoke for college in 1992 and didn't look back.

But after several college degrees and a law career in New York City, Meredith Winn saw Roanoke in a new light.

In June, Winn, 30, moved back to her hometown to take a job as planning director of the new Mill Mountain School for Girls.

Exchange the big city life for the slow-paced Star City, with its growing retirement population and mecca for middle-aged couples with children? Unheard of for college-educated young adults, you say?

Maybe not.

Peek into restaurants, coffee shops, downtown Roanoke galas and churches. Among the baby boomers retiring to Smith Mountain Lake, there's an emerging demographic.

According to a special report by the U.S. Census Bureau, the Roanoke Valley experienced a gain in the number of single, college-educated folks between the ages of 25 and 39 who moved to the area between 1995 and 2000. The report covers the Roanoke Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Salem, Roanoke, Vinton, and Roanoke and Botetourt counties.

For the Roanoke MSA, "in-migrants," or singles 25-39 who moved into the area, totaled 1,634 from 1995 to 2000, according to the Census. "Out-migrants," or singles in the group who moved out of an area, totaled 1,467.

The net difference for Roanoke was 167, meaning that more people in this demographic came to the area than left. The phenomenon is known as "brain gain." College-educated people are classified as those with at least a bachelor's degree.

Roanoke and Richmond are the only two metro areas in Virginia that experienced a brain gain. Richmond had a net migration of 1,110. The Norfolk area had a net migration of minus 2,587.

The census report surprised some, who for years haven't considered the Roanoke Valley much of a magnet for young singles.

But while the numbers don't show that Roanoke is becoming a bustling Washington, D.C., they do suggest that it may be doing better than expected at drawing 25- to 39-year-olds.

"It is encouraging that single, college-educated on net has increased rather than decreased," said Chris Chmura, chief economist at Chmura Economics and Analytics in Richmond. "It's saying that these young individuals with a college education are finding opportunities within the Roanoke MSA."

"The challenge for Roanoke is to continue to expand its industry base so that it has opportunities," she continued.

Making Roanoke appealing

Although the census data include people in a five-year time frame, this growth trend seems to be continuing.

Brian Gibson, 34, is an example. A graduate of Ohio State University, he moved to Roanoke from Chicago in 2001 to work as a database administrator at Advance Auto Parts. Gibson enjoys life here. He joined the Square Society, a social group that supports Roanoke's Center in the Square through fund raising, and he lives in downtown Roanoke.

"I don't know why people dump on Roanoke," he said. "We've got a great downtown. There's a wide variety of pretty decent restaurants for practically every location down there."

Efforts to make Roanoke appeal to a group that desires an urban feel are growing. Christiana Cranwell, special events and development officer for Center in the Square, said she plans many events to mirror those held by young professional organizations in Washington, D.C., and in other urban areas.

Cranwell fields calls and gets e-mails "all of the time" from people 25 to 39, single and married, who have moved to Roanoke and want to learn about the city's social activities.

"I see the Center in the Square as a major driver of economic development," she said.

About Roanoke life: "It's a small town, even though it's not," she said. "It's small enough that you can get anywhere in about 15 minutes."

Richard Florida, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, has written a book about the rise of the creative class, an educated class of young adults who are attracted to cities that have cultural events, outdoor recreation and historical vigor.

The census numbers are evidence that local efforts to draw young people are "beginning to show a positive result," said Wayne Strickland, executive director of the Roanoke Valley Alleghany-Regional Commission.

He was surprised by the report, but he said it is good news.

"In terms of future economic growth, you certainly need to attract these younger people who have the knowledge base needed to work in those companies and to start new companies," Strickland said.

Growth in this age group also is evident at First Baptist Church in downtown Roanoke. The church, which attracts at least 1,700 worshippers each Sunday, boasts one of the largest church singles groups in the Roanoke Valley.

Chris Lewis, pastor for singles and college students at First Baptist, said single people in their 20s and 30s are among the fastest-growing group of visitors to the church services. On one Sunday in September, 10 people in their 20s and 30s visited the church, a large number for one week, Lewis said.

Attendance at one Sunday School class for ages 23 to 34 has grown so much that it recently split into two classes.

Recruiting and retaining graduates

Recruiting college graduates, such as those from Virginia Tech, is a mixed bag for Meridium, an industrial software product company in Roanoke.

"A lot of times people who grew up in this area want to get away after graduation and explore, and people who come to this area from bigger cities" decide to stay, said Bonz Hart, the company's president.

"Some of them have fallen in love with the surroundings as well as the lifestyle and the lack of traffic," he continued.

Hart said it's been easier in recent years to recruit people because they often don't have multiple job offers that they had during the technology boom of 1997 and 1998.

"With the decline in technology spending and the outsourcing," Hart said people are just happy to get a job.

But still it's easier to recruit employees who are married, he said.

"If you asked me, the hardest to recruit and retain it's somebody who just graduated if they don't meet anybody [a girlfriend or a boyfriend]," he said. "They tend to start shopping in other shopping centers."

What single adults, couples look for

The census report does not break out the number of married people ages 25 to 39 who moved to specific cities. But on a national scale, 72.3 percent of 25- to 39-year-old married and college-educated adults moved between 1995 and 2000, and most moved to the suburbs. Couples without a college degree were less likely to move, according to the census report.

Scott and Ginger Perkins, both college graduates, moved to Roanoke from Denver in February 2003. They were seeking more affordable living and outdoors amenities. Scott, 36, and Ginger, 39, have two sons, Connor, 6, and Kai, 3.

"It's about a seven-minute commute [to work]" said Scott Perkins, a senior consultant for Faulkner & Flynn in downtown Roanoke. "I can go home and have lunch at home. In Denver, it was a 45-minute commute in bumper-to-bumper traffic."

But Roanoke isn't for everyone. Some might say it has a long way to go before it will come close to being a magnet destination for young, single and even married adults.

After two years in the Roanoke Valley, Bill Bonneau, 28, plans to leave to live closer to his family in Milwaukee. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, Bonneau moved to Roanoke in 2002 to work as a mechanical engineer for General Electric in Salem.

Bonneau lives in downtown Roanoke, and he said he would have left Roanoke earlier if he hadn't moved downtown. Bonneau is a member of the Square Society and spends several weekends a year volunteering with Habitat for Humanity.

But along with missing his family, Bonneau has found other aspects of life here challenging.

"As a single guy, it's not so good," he said. "I've met more people through the Square Society, but as far as the dating scene, it definitely hasn't helped that at all. I would say that most of the women I meet are strictly local and probably have never left. It makes a difference."

Robert Denton, a professor of political communication at Virginia Tech, said it's not usual that college graduates will choose Roanoke for their first jobs. Some popular magnet areas are Richmond, Northern Virginia, Atlanta and Charlotte, N.C., he said.

Many graduates think Roanoke's job growth and opportunities for advancement are weak, he added.

In Roanoke, "You've almost got to move to advance," he said.

It's also difficult for two married people to each find a job that they want here, Denton added.

But Denton said he's noticed that more Virginia Tech graduates are choosing an area for its quality of life and activities, rather than strictly for a career.

One graduate told Denton that he did not want to live more than 150 miles from Virginia Tech so that he could return for home football games.

"I do think quality of life means more to people," Denton said. "Happiness is not your job. That phrase 'Have a life' really resonates with them."

"It seems ... we have those who are tearing up the world, and we have those who are more geographically sensitive," he added.