77 replies to this topic

[vdogg]

Hi guys. If you have any suggestions or ideas for how i can make this forum better or more manageable, please post them here. For that matter, if you have any ideas on how to improve urbanplanet or recruit more people you can post that here as well. I will take every issue to heart and try my best to accommodate you guys or bring your  ideas/concerns to admins attention.

[urbanvb]

vdogg, on Apr 4 2005, 06:50 PM, said:

The Hilton Downtown Thread and the Norfolk Hilton News thread have been merged.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Speaking of being merged you think the Va Beach development should be seperate of town center development?.. just a thought.

[vdogg]

guynvb, on Apr 4 2005, 09:09 PM, said:

Speaking of being merged you think the Va Beach development should be seperate of town center development?.. just a thought.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thats a possibility, let me think about it. I need to look that whole thread over again because i think 75% of it is related to towncenter anyway. Not sure if a vabeach development thread can stand on its own, i welcome more input however.

[lammius]

vdogg, on Apr 4 2005, 08:23 PM, said:

Thats a possibility, let me think about it. I need to look that whole thread over again because i think 75% of it is related to towncenter anyway. Not sure if a vabeach development thread can stand on its own, i welcome more input however.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Is there enough going on at the Oceanfront to justify a separate thread for each area?

[urbanvb]

lammius, on Apr 4 2005, 10:42 PM, said:

Is there enough going on at the Oceanfront to justify a separate thread for each area?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well the grand Hilton is open for business and the Ocean club will be ready soon. I cannot think of anything else going on there personally. Oh the convention center is under construction though.

Edited by guynvb, 04 April 2005 - 08:46 PM.

[vdogg]

lammius, on Apr 4 2005, 09:42 PM, said:

Is there enough going on at the Oceanfront to justify a separate thread for each area?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Actually, there is enough at the oceanfront to justify a Va. Beach development thread. We just have to be strict in the way in which we use these threads. The towncenter thread can only be for towncenter. Cityview, HQ, hotels at oceanfront/etc. would be put in the Va. Beach development thread. I would be reluctant to do just a separate thread for the oceanfront, i think that may be breaking things down too much.

[vdogg]

Virginia is one of the fastest growing forums on this site and due to that we will be making some organizational changes within the next few days. Just giving you guys a heads up.

[VAGATOR]

I know most of us real Virginians doesn’t consider Northern Virginia part of the state however,  I feel it deserves a forum on the message board due to its overall importance to the state.

Edited by VAGATOR, 05 April 2005 - 10:07 AM.

[vdogg]

VAGATOR, on Apr 5 2005, 11:07 AM, said:

I know most of us real Virginians doesn’t consider Northern Virginia part of the state however,  I feel it deserves a forum on the message board due to its overall importance to the state.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I have brought this up and had a vigorous discussion with the mods and admin at this site. The concensus for now is that creating a Nova subforum would be too redundant with the Baltimore/Washington forum.  Until activity picks up in that forum i don't think i can justify seperating Nova from D.C.

[wrldcoupe4]

vdogg, on Apr 5 2005, 12:10 PM, said:

I have brought this up and had a vigorous discussion with the mods and admin at this site. The concensus for now is that creating a Nova subforum would be too redundant with the Baltimore/Washington forum.  Until activity picks up in that forum i don't think i can justify seperating Nova from D.C.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

They should rename Northern Virginia FAKE IMITATION NOTHING LIKE THE REST OF Virginia. This place is pitiful even with all its jobs and $$$. Give me anywhere else in VA anyday.

[rusthebuss]

You talked about me not liking Richmond, dude I like NOVA. Its a great place. Why do you feel that way about NOVA?

[lammius]

I don't go along with the whole "Northern VA is so different than the rest of VA, it doesn't belong in VA, etc."  IMO It has lots more in common with the Norfolk and Richmond areas than those latter areas have in common with south central, western, and southwest Virginia.  

As for a northern Virginia forum here, who would post in it?  I haven't seen any northern Virginians yet.  They must be posting in DC.

Edited by lammius, 05 April 2005 - 03:07 PM.

[wrldcoupe4]

rusthebuss, on Apr 5 2005, 04:34 PM, said:

You talked about me not liking Richmond, dude I like NOVA. Its a great place. Why do you feel that way about NOVA?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I feel that way because I go to school up here. I've sat in traffic for over four hours not going over 30 mph until after fredericksburg trying to get home. On a thursday, around 1:30pm. The suburban sprawl up here makes me nauseous. Not to mention no Ukrop's. Thank god they got a Wegman's or else I didn't know what to do. On the positive side, this area does contribute massively to our state economy. There is a lot of opportunity up here that other areas could only dream of having. However, with regards to quality of life... this isn't what I would call my ideal quality of life. I don't like 50 mile radius+ sprawl that could be curbed but isnt. I like an area with commute times of around 20-25 minutes, not 2 hrs. Virtually everyone who isn't from around here that I've talked to on campus about this kind of stuff also agrees they would never want to live up here. Half the people who were raised up here hate it. I guess people see the dollar signs and just suck it up and surrender their lives to the traffic. I'm sure there are some nice places up here hidden away somewhere. It's just not for me. It doesn't have that southern charm. Hell, they dont even serve sweet iced tea in restaurants. If you ask they always say "uhh well we have rasberry tea" THAT isnt SWEET TEA. Sorry about that last rant

[lammius]

wrldcoupe4, on Apr 5 2005, 05:19 PM, said:

I feel that way because I go to school up here. I've sat in traffic for over four hours not going over 30 mph until after fredericksburg trying to get home. On a thursday, around 1:30pm. The suburban sprawl up here makes me nauseous. Not to mention no Ukrop's. Thank god they got a Wegman's or else I didn't know what to do. On the positive side, this area does contribute massively to our state economy. There is a lot of opportunity up here that other areas could only dream of having. However, with regards to quality of life... this isn't what I would call my ideal quality of life. I don't like 50 mile radius+ sprawl that could be curbed but isnt. I like an area with commute times of around 20-25 minutes, not 2 hrs. Virtually everyone who isn't from around here that I've talked to on campus about this kind of stuff also agrees they would never want to live up here. Half the people who were raised up here hate it. I guess people see the dollar signs and just suck it up and surrender their lives to the traffic. I'm sure there are some nice places up here hidden away somewhere. It's just not for me. It doesn't have that southern charm. Hell, they dont even serve sweet iced tea in restaurants. If you ask they always say "uhh well we have rasberry tea" THAT isnt SWEET TEA. Sorry about that last rant

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Different strokes for different folks.  I went to college in Harrisonburg, VA (a peculiar place in the Shenandoah Valley).  If you ask for iced tea there they give it to you sweet without asking.  I hate sweetened tea and find it frustrating at restaurants.  If a place offers the option they should ask "sweetened or not?"  I had to send many a glass of iced tea back and request a different drink because it has come with sweetener in it.  

There's sugar/sweetener on the table.  If you want your tea sweetened use that.

[wrldcoupe4]

lammius, on Apr 6 2005, 01:43 AM, said:

Different strokes for different folks.  I went to college in Harrisonburg, VA (a peculiar place in the Shenandoah Valley).  If you ask for iced tea there they give it to you sweet without asking.  I hate sweetened tea and find it frustrating at restaurants.  If a place offers the option they should ask "sweetened or not?"  I had to send many a glass of iced tea back and request a different drink because it has come with sweetener in it. 

There's sugar/sweetener on the table.  If you want your tea sweetened use that.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

gotta ask for unsweet tea in the south... did you go to JMU? funnn place.

[ace707]

Alright world, I have spent a very large amount of time into making this post so bear with me. I have a major gripe about the over-crowding of subjects threads in our Hampton Roads/Tidewater Metro subforum. I have read EVERY thread in there in the last 3 days and have come to several suggestions for that subforum to not only make it more manageable but also less crowded and neat. I hope anyone who can make changes take these suggestions into consideration. I'm not trying to be forceful in this but, I also want to be understood where I'm coming from.

-We should also take out the "Norfolk City Meeting" thread since no one really went to it and no one really knows much out of it.

-Taking out the suggestion of a "Downtown Navy Condo" thread would be nice since it isn't a real project.

-I think it would also be ok to combine the "Malls and Shopping Centers in Hampton Roads" thread with the "Retail you would like to see in SE VA" thread.

-Combining the "Norfolk-Portsmouth skyline photos", "Norfolk-Portsmouth skyline will be amazing in 2015", and "Norfolk pictures" threads would work and just keep the "Norfolk-Portsmouth skyline photos" as the new combined threads title.

-The "What Should We do with the Juvenile/Schools tower" thread I think should be removed since there are no plans concerning it.

-I also think the "Hampton Roads hospitality work shortage" thread should be removed since there is no interest/conversation in it.

-Both "The cost of Beach's proposed BRT System drops to $21.4" and "businesses weigh in on I-264 overpass plans" belong in the "Hampton Roads Transportation" thread.

-"Firefighters Hope to stall New Development" belongs in the "VA. Beach development" thread.

-"Norfolk passes on building NBA-arena, for now" thread belongs in the "Sports in Norfolk" thread.

I would like to thank vdogg and anyone else who has put considerable time and patience to better organize the forum but it has little effect if we keep putting all these new threads up when they appropriately fall in existing threads. The forum has been filled with many idle threads simply because they got pushed to the next page and the end of the first page contains threads that fall within other threads. C'mon guys, lets not waste space in creating threads that easily fall into other existing threads; it makes the site more crowded, wastes space, confuses guests to the forum, less manageable and less efficient in use. Thanks for your time listening  

Edited by ace707, 06 April 2005 - 11:20 AM.

[vdogg]

[quote name='ace707' date='Apr 6 2005, 11:56 AM']-Taking out the suggestion of a "Downtown Navy Condo" thread would be nice since it isn't a real project.
[/quote]
I am not now, nor will i ever be in the business of censoring others ideas. While not an active project, it is a valid concept that a fellow forumer wanted input on and i see no reason to take this action.

[quote]-I think it would also be ok to combine the "Malls and Shopping Centers in Hampton Roads" thread with the "Retail you would like to see in SE VA" thread.

-Combining the "Norfolk-Portsmouth skyline photos", "Norfolk-Portsmouth skyline will be amazing in 2015", and "Norfolk pictures" threads would work and just keep the "Norfolk-Portsmouth skyline photos" as the new combined threads title.
[/quote]
Good idea, i was actually thinking about doing this. There are still some things i'm working on however so this probably won't happen til later but i will do this.

[quote]-The "What Should We do with the Juvenile/Schools tower" thread I think should be removed since there are no plans concerning it.
[/quote]
Again, this forum is also provided for the free discussion of ideas related to development, not just development itself. This will not be removed.

[quote]-I also think the "Hampton Roads hospitality work shortage" thread should be removed since there is no interest/conversation in it.
[/quote]
Threads with no interest in them will fall to the bottom. After a certain period of inactivity the system automatically archives these threads. As such, there is no reason to take this action.

[quote]-Both "The cost of Beach's proposed BRT System drops to $21.4" and "businesses weigh in on I-264 overpass plans" belong in the "Hampton Roads Transportation" thread.
[/quote]
I will look into this.

[quote]-"Firefighters Hope to stall New Development" belongs in the "VA. Beach development" thread.
[/quote]
Not to sure about this one. A thread with too many pages is just as bad as a forum with too many threads. What i had envisioned for the Va Beach Development thread was a thread that focused only on new development and the progress of those developments. Admittedly we have diverged a few times and when we do i try to fix that. While this article touches on that it also goes into a larger issue of fire protection in Virginia Beach and urbanization trends. It's a tough call but i think for now this should stay where it is.

[quote]-"Norfolk passes on building NBA-arena, for now" thread belongs in the "Sports in Norfolk" thread.
[/quote]
Agreed
[quote]C'mon guys, lets not waste space in creating threads that easily fall into other existing threads; it makes the site more crowded, wastes space, confuses guests to the forum, less manageable and less efficient in use. Thanks for your time listening 
[right]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/right]
[/quote]
Everyones heard the old cliche "one mans trash is another mans treasure", well that applys here. For every person who thinks a thread does not have merit another person does. Thats why, unless it is totally not in keeping with the rules or overall urban content of this site i will not delete threads.  That being said, we only have two pages. I say only because most active forums have many more than that. There is simply no feasible way to keep an active forum to only one page of threads without losing a lot of important content and conversation. Also, I will probably remove your double post of this in Hampton Roads off topic because this is really the proper thread for it.

[krdarden]

ace707, on Apr 6 2005, 11:58 AM, said:

Alright world, I have spent a very large amount of time into making this post so bear with me. I have a major gripe about the over-crowding of subjects threads in our Hampton Roads/Tidewater Metro subforum. I have read EVERY thread in there in the last 3 days and have come to several suggestions for that subforum to not only make it more manageable but also less crowded and neat. I hope anyone who can make changes take these suggestions into consideration. I'm not trying to be forceful in this but, I also want to be understood where I'm coming from.

-We should also take out the "Norfolk City Meeting" thread since no one really went to it and no one really knows much out of it.

-Taking out the suggestion of a "Downtown Navy Condo" thread would be nice since it isn't a real project.

-I think it would also be ok to combine the "Malls and Shopping Centers in Hampton Roads" thread with the "Retail you would like to see in SE VA" thread.

-Combining the "Norfolk-Portsmouth skyline photos", "Norfolk-Portsmouth skyline will be amazing in 2015", and "Norfolk pictures" threads would work and just keep the "Norfolk-Portsmouth skyline photos" as the new combined threads title.

-The "What Should We do with the Juvenile/Schools tower" thread I think should be removed since there are no plans concerning it.

-I also think the "Hampton Roads hospitality work shortage" thread should be removed since there is no interest/conversation in it.

-Both "The cost of Beach's proposed BRT System drops to $21.4" and "businesses weigh in on I-264 overpass plans" belong in the "Hampton Roads Transportation" thread.

-"Firefighters Hope to stall New Development" belongs in the "VA. Beach development" thread.

-"Norfolk passes on building NBA-arena, for now" thread belongs in the "Sports in Norfolk" thread.

I would like to thank vdogg and anyone else who has put considerable time and patience to better organize the forum but it has little effect if we keep putting all these new threads up when they appropriately fall in existing threads. The forum has been filled with many idle threads simply because they got pushed to the next page and the end of the first page contains threads that fall within other threads. C'mon guys, lets not waste space in creating threads that easily fall into other existing threads; it makes the site more crowded, wastes space, confuses guests to the forum, less manageable and less efficient in use. Thanks for your time listening   B)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I certainly agree with you on combining topics so the board isn't over run; however, we should have one topic for ideas and visions so people like me who love to randomly throw out crazy thoughts which may seem a bit far fetched like the Navy condo suggestion but stranger things has happened and San Diego does have a high rise Navy barracks located downtown! Having said that, I definitely think that you are correct about consolidating and merging topics for better organization.

[wrldcoupe4]

vdogg I'm thinking of making a Richmond in Pictures forum. I thought it wouldn't hurt to combine the webcams with the new forum since they both pertain to the same thing pretty much. I was thinking as a subtitle to the forum it would include photos, images, webcams, etc... How do you feel about this?

[vdogg]

wrldcoupe4, on Apr 7 2005, 07:00 PM, said:

vdogg I'm thinking of making a Richmond in Pictures forum. I thought it wouldn't hurt to combine the webcams with the new forum since they both pertain to the same thing pretty much. I was thinking as a subtitle to the forum it would include photos, images, webcams, etc... How do you feel about this?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You mean thread not forum right? If so go for it, excellent idea. As of right now the Hampton Roads forum is fairly self sustaining, so my focus is going to be on Richmond for the coming weeks. We've had a decent amount of new members from that region but there is still gross underrepresentation (is that a word, lol ?)  for a metro area so large. Picture threads are a good way to get the shy ones out there talking and posting, not to mention that i really just want to see more pictures of Richmond here   .