Community Developments

You’ve probably heard of the Shop Small campaign – a nationwide effort to spend more of our holiday gift-giving dollars at the small, local shops that line our main streets and fill our small towns and neighborhood centers. Shopping small means keeping more of our community’s hard-earned money in our community, helping our local business owners and neighbors. 

If you want to stretch the value of every dollar you spend, in addition to shopping small you can Drive Small: take advantage of transportation options that allow you to get where you need to go, but with fewer miles on your own car. 

By doing things like walking to the local shops, taking the bus to a lunch date, or carpooling to work with friends, you can cut your transportation expenses in half – meaning more money to support our local businesses.

The impact of driving small isn’t just about saving money – it’s keeping money here in the Roanoke Valley. Did you know that about 90% of what we spend on every gallon of gas leaves our local economy? According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, here’s how the cost of a gallon of gas breaks down:

• 20% taxes
• 19% distribution and marketing
• 15% refining
• 47% crude oil

Fully 81% of what you spend on a gallon of gas leaves not only the local economy, but leaves Virginia in some way. 

What’s more, every dollar you spend in our area is more likely to stay here and get spent again and again – about half of every dollar spent at a local business is reinvested locally.
What are some ways you can drive small to help support the Valley’s economy? Here are a few ideas:

• Join Zagster bikeshare to shop and attend events by bike.
• Carpool to work with your coworkers on Mondays, then use what you save to take everyone to lunch at a local restaurant.
• Buy a monthly bus pass for commuting and other trips. Take what you’ll save to visit a local bookstore and buy some reading material for your rides.
• Walk or bike to your neighborhood grocery store.
• Bike with your family to a local show – saving money on gas and supporting live music.

For more information visit ridesolutions.org to explore your transportation options.