WEBVTT

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historians agree. Altoona was built by the railroad and

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just as easily it was torn down. But the

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glory and the devastation caused by Norfolk Southern is a

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story that rings true in another community. 300 miles

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south, Roanoke Virginia is a mirror image of

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Altoona in industry demographics and terrain. A car repair

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shop just like the one in Blair County sits idle

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. The hundreds of people who worked there for years

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ago were forced to find other jobs. And it

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was the mission of economic developers to recreate those

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jobs. It's a psychological blow to people who have

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been here for generations and families who've been here for

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generations and had been employed by the railroad for generations

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. Roanoke elected officials struck gold when they landed the

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Carilion Biomedical Institute, a $100 million dollar partnership between

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local hospitals at two universities. The biomedical institute will

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create the cures and the jobs of the future.

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We do have a foothold into this emerging area into

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new economy kinds of jobs that will certainly pay off

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down the road. The community's comprehensive plan, designed

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just before the Roanoke shops closed has turned the downtown

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into a cultural village center. The Roanoke, Ala

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, Education Center offers adults the opportunity to get their

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associates, bachelors or even masters degrees from 20 different

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universities. The airport now ships international freight and international

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passenger service isn't far behind. Yeah. Blair counties

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blow still stinks. Senator Arlen Specter's court battle to

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keep the shops open was lost and so was the

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communities were poor with big business. Al tunas officials

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tried to create a comprehensive plan for the downtown,

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like the one in Roanoke, but unable to agree

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, they hired an independent firm to come up with

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one. It really is time for, for a

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lot of our elected officials to, to look at

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, uh, maybe john Wooden's quote about it's really

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amazing what can be accomplished when nobody cares who gets

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the credit. Blair County Airport is losing passengers and

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next year it will lose a chunk of its federal

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funding. There is no higher education partnership with Penn

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State, but there is a partnership to complete Interstate

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99. When it's finished, it will link the

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turnpike in Bedford to I 80 in state College,

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creating an innovation corridor that many believe will turn the

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area's economy around. It's almost essential that you have

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good solid transportation, both air and rail and highway

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. To stimulate a regional economy. The region does

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have its own$100 million investment, but this one

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is retailed. The 2000 jobs created by Logan town

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centre will pay relatively little compared to those biotech jobs

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in Roanoke. So al tuna put together a team

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of economic developers to bring in those higher paying jobs

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. Their mission is also to drive up these statistics

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. After the shops closed in roanoke, the unemployment

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rate rose to 2.7%, still well below the nation's

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four average cutbacks in Altoona, however, drove its

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numbers up to 7.1%. Household income in roanoke is

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about 30,000$719. Altona 28,000 to 48 Poverty rates

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15.9 in Roanoke, 17.7 in Altuna. But certainly

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the most telling statistic high school graduation rates, 70

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of people over 25 in roanoke have their high school

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diploma less than half doing Altuna. It seems as

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though all tunes don't blame elected officials for those statistics

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, consensus is they blame Norfolk seven, ironically,

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roanoke ear's wish their elected officials would have waged a

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court battle to keep Norfolk southern in town. Either

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way, both cities say they're doing all they can

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to get back on track. I'm Jennifer Millie 10

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