
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, April 22, 1993                   TAG: 9304220040
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: GEORGE KEGLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

HEY, IT STILL PAYS TO LIVE IN THE VALLEY

Roanoke Valley living costs edged up 1.4 points in last year's final quarter, but they were still second-lowest among Virginia communities surveyed.

The Roanoke index was 94.7 points in the fourth quarter against a national average of 100, according to the ACCRA Cost of Living Survey. The fourth-quarter figure was up from 93.4 points in last year's third quarter. The results were reported Wednesday by the Roanoke Valley Economic Development Partnership.

The index, especially when it shows the metro area's living costs among the lowest in the state, is "an indispensable tool used by many in the valley to attract and retain industry," said Anne Piedmont, the partnership's research director.

Among Virginia localities that participated, only Lynchburg registered lower living costs.

The survey compares costs of 59 consumer goods and services, priced each quarter by the partnership staff.

Roanoke's costs were down from the fourth quarter of 1990. The Roanoke area did not take part in the national survey in the last quarter of 1991.

Roanoke-area costs were lower for all six major components of the survey than they were two years ago, according to figures provided by the partnership.

The index for utilities stood at 86.8 points, down from 88; health care, 91.4, down from 92.4; groceries, 93.0, down from 93.5; miscellaneous goods and services, 98.3, down from 98.9; housing, 92.6, down from 101.6, and transportation, 99.4, down from 102.5.

Also, a pound of hamburger was priced at $1.49, down 16 cents; a half-gallon of milk, unchanged at $1.41; a dozen eggs, 88 cents, down 16 cents; a carton of cigarettes, $15.17, up $3.34; a pound of coffee, $1.89, down 70 cents.

Also, a 12-inch pizza, $7.49, up 40 cents; a six-pack of beer, $3.57, up 42 cents; a monthly utility bill for an all-electric home, $93.25, up 17 cents; a monthly residential telephone bill, $19.37, down $1.01, and a day's stay in a hospital room, $271.33, up $44.

by CNB