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Years from now, Tuesday may be remembered as the day the under-50 set took control of Roanoke's future.

It didn't look that way at first. Early returns had two Democrats recently resurrected from Roanoke's political past -- they argued that the city council needed more "gray hair" -- in the lead.

Lori Livingston, 29, and a supporter of the winning independent "For the City" ticket, was feeling dejected.

"I just felt kind of bad, because I felt like, we really love Roanoke and we don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon," the geologist at HSMM and Raleigh Court resident said.

Seeing any other candidates elected would have given her second thoughts, she said. "I don't think that it would make us just pick up and move tomorrow, but it would make me feel just not as confident that the rest of the people in the city have the same mind-set as we do. ... We want to live in a positive, progressive community."

Whether it would be worth staying in Roanoke was part of the buzz all evening long at headquarters for the independent slate.

"I must have heard that a hundred times last night," said Gwen Mason, councilwoman-elect and member of the "For the City" ticket. "This may not be a place I want to raise my family. If we're going to be regressive, maybe this isn't for me."

Ultimately, the tide turned for the independents when results for the South Roanoke precincts came in, and younger, wealthier voters lifted Mason, David Trinkle and Alfred Dowe into office, signaling an apparent shift in which generation will control city hall. The independents also received strong support in Raleigh Court, another neighborhood inhabited by younger professionals with children.

"I'd be hard-pressed not to look at it as sort of a sea change," said Mason, 46 and a mother of two elementary school children. The three independents have six children under 14 among them. "It's our turn to have an at-bat."

The new council will have a majority of four of the seven members at age 46 or younger -- Mason, Dowe, Trinkle and Mayor Nelson Harris.

The "For the City" trio launched its bid at a time when younger, more affluent voters were apparently poised to make their presence felt.

While people under 50 in Roanoke are declining in numbers, those in that age group whose household income is over $50,000 are voting in ever greater numbers.

According to a marketing study of Roanoke by Scarborough Research, nearly 80 percent of people in that age and income bracket always or sometimes vote in local elections. That's up from about 65 percent just two years ago. That group is the fastest growing in terms of voting frequency.

Campaign finance data crunched by the Virginia Public Access Project show that the independents received their largest chunk of individual contributions -- about $34,000 -- from the ZIP codes that cover South Roanoke and Raleigh Court (24014 and 24015). The "For the City" slate received the most money -- about $63,000 -- from a Chamber of Commerce-backed political action committee, an amount that also included a number of contributors who live in South Roanoke.

Dan Frei, a political consultant for the slate, said its campaign included a direct mail piece targeted at 40-and-under voters who participated in the last presidential election.

Of Tuesday's election, Frei said: "It was definitely a generational shift, the passing of the analog to the digital generation."

While Democrats and Republicans portrayed the Victory Stadium imbroglio as a symbol of dysfunction in city government, others saw the stadium as emblematic of the major party candidates' desire to cling to the past and not move the city forward.

"We were just put off by the whole Victory Stadium issue, and it seemed like the rest of the candidates, that's what they focused on," said Livingston, the Raleigh Court resident.

Mason said voters of all ages were turned off by "gridlock on an issue that is essentially meaningless and has been gummed to death for a decade. ... People want their elected leadership to make good decisions and stick with them and follow through, and what they don't want is to see a lot of dillydallying back and forth and a poisonous environment."