Introduce yourself

[TBurban]

Welcome to the forum, Brent

[tombarnes]

Welcome Brent! I used to live in Gloucester County as well. Do you still have family there?

[Brent]

I have a sister living there (with husband and son), she has recently moved back to Gloucester after spending about 10 years in Denver. My parents live in Newport News now. Between the parents and my sister, I get down there 2-3 times a month.

[Padman]

I've been enjoying this great forum for a while, but I haven't introduced myself. So, here goes.

I'm older than almost all of you (in my 50s). I was born in Richmond into a Navy family, so I travelled a lot when I was very young. We settled in Norfolk when I was about 9 years old, and I've been obsessed with my home ever since, although I lived in the San Francisco area and Stockton for over 20 years, where I eventially finished college and graduate school and became a professional city and regional planner. Prior to that, I played music for a living, travelling a good deal, followed by a 10 year stint as a piano tuner-technician. I later worked as a transportation planner and demographer in Stockton CA for a regional planning agency. I still work as a professional planner, but it's probably best if I don't say where for now so I can keep things objective. I compose music and play keyboards, saxophone and violin. That's what really keeps me going, but it's a gnarly business, so I don't perform much these days.

[rusthebuss]

Good to hear a little bit about you!

[weill]

Nice to hear something about you! I am from the Bay Area too, but I am in Roanoke.

[Telmnstr]

W0rd. I guess I never posted the ABOUT ME eh?!?!

Hampton Roads resident for life. 30 years at this point. GBHS class of 94.

Job and hobby is computers (desktop computers to large supercomputers). Have long history with computers dating back to BBSing in the late 80s/early 90s, running a BBS in early 90s to internet. Own a small computer consulting/hosting company in Virginia Beach, although a bit tired of it. More interested in making things.

Hobbies? Lasers for entertainment. For a while the office had a better setup than any club in Hampton Roads with regards to lights :-) Music (All genres), home theater stuff and movies, and scuba diving.

I invent things and work on wierd projects.

www.757truck.com is one of my newer projects.

www.RockTheSkillCrane.com is another one of my more recent projects (well Matt and myself).

Got about 15 more in the works.

Oh yes, and I tend to lean towards the gloom and doom more recently, after watching the real estate market go nuts right as I was getting to the point where I could purchase a place and get rid of the office I rent. The more I read, the more I'm convinced the RE boom is very bad for our country.

And I don't see a good future for us in terms of jobs given globalization and "the flat earth."

But I think I can deal with that. RE bubble is the one that needs to pop.

[erdogs]

What was I thinking? Edited July 3, 2006 by erdogs

[carolinaboy]

I'm 36 and as the screenname suggests am from NC. However, where I live is only 45 minutes from DT Norfolk, so I have always considered Norfolk as "my" town. I love all of Hampton Roads of course. I'm glad to see all the positive developments happening.

I graduated from East Carolina University in 1994 with a BS in Urban Planning with a minor in Geography. I worked as a Planner for 8 years or so. The last few years I have switched over to the Geography thing working in GIS.

I've only been reading UP for a few months and have not posted many messages, but I love reading all posts from differing perspectives. Maybe one day I can work for City of Norfolk, I don't know.

If I ever do, rest assured I will pay attention to the opinions and ideas on UP.

[urbanvb]

Good to have you on board, Carolinaboy.

[Serbian Underground]

I am 32 years of age from Beograd, Serbia and am currently working for a Virginia Beach land developer whose wife saved my life during the 1999 NATO intervention in the Kosova War. She left the country with a flesh wound and I left behind her with a bullet having gone clean through my shoulder and now I'm working for her husband and I love land development and Urban Planet and America in general. I'm not a ###### but I cried when I walked into Farm Fresh Grocery Store... all that food... incredible. Only in America!!! I thank you for the opportunity to read and to be a part of these forums.

[GoodNews]

I am 32 years of age from Beograd, Serbia and am currently working for a Virginia Beach land developer whose wife saved my life during the 1999 NATO intervention in the Kosova War. She left the country with a flesh wound and I left behind her with a bullet having gone clean through my shoulder and now I'm working for her husband and I love land development and Urban Planet and America in general. I'm not a ###### but I cried when I walked into Farm Fresh Grocery Store... all that food... incredible. Only in America!!! I thank you for the opportunity to read and to be a part of these forums.

Welcome and we are glad to have in this forum.

[vdogg]

Welcome to the forum Serbian.

[rusthebuss]

Welcome to the forum! Hope to hear some of your input.

[erdogs]

Welcome. Wow we've gone international.

[MissSouthNorfolk]

I guess I should finally introduce myself. I'm probably one of the few women on this site. hahhah! I'm surely not as smart as you all but I'll try and keep up. I'm 36 and moved here with my husband almost 10 years ago. We lived in Virginia Beach and a year later bought a house in South Norfolk borough of Chesapeake. We looked in Virginia Beach, Norfolk and then settled on this house.

I was born and raised in Maine. The harsh winters and lack of good paying jobs brought my husband and I to this area. I attended Southern Maine Tech but just short of my associate's degree in Office Management when we moved here. My husband is a Structual Steel Draftsman and IT guy along with some project management. I'm the political one and volunteer with my Civic League and Woman's Club. Last year I started being a sub at my son's elementry to which I just love. I believe to make life better, you have to get involved. My father used to watch city council meetings on tv and yell at the screen. I decided I wanted to have my opinion heard and do something about it. Not just yell. Hahhah.

When I moved here I thought that Norfolk was a large city until I started spending time there. The airport is still small and I find myself traveling to richmond or raleigh for better deals. Jet Blue would be nice here. Some day perhaps this area will definately blossom.

[cpeakesqr]

I think I'm the newest person in these forums, probably one of the youngest as well. I'm 18 from Western Branch part of Chesapeake, think Chesapeake Square... Born and raised here, going to be a freshman at ODU this fall, actually next week, which is surreal. I don't know what I'll be studying, but definately not engineering as alot of you are. I have only recently become interested in urbanization, and recent development projects in our area as a result of seeing the VB town center from 264 and wondering why they built such a large building in the middle of nowhere. Another event that got me interested was sitting on the seawalk in olde town Portsmouth during the 4th of July fireworks show, which was great this year, and seeing the top of the Trader tower being built. So... that's me! This is my first post, YAY!!!

[urbanvb]

Great to have you here, cpeakesqr. Look forward to hearing your input here in the future as well.

[rusthebuss]

Welcome and you're not the youngest here. There are some high school kids on here.

[metalman]

Welcome to the site. Good luck and skill at ODU! I am an ODU alumni. I graduated in 2002 with a B.M. in music education. It is a great school and if you interested in construction and development you'll really love ODU. It is growing by leaps and bounds!

Good luck and have fun next week. College is a great experience.

[erdogs]

I think I'm the newest person in these forums, probably one of the youngest as well. I'm 18 from Western Branch part of Chesapeake, think Chesapeake Square... Born and raised here, going to be a freshman at ODU this fall, actually next week, which is surreal. I don't know what I'll be studying, but definately not engineering as alot of you are. I have only recently become interested in urbanization, and recent development projects in our area as a result of seeing the VB town center from 264 and wondering why they built such a large building in the middle of nowhere. Another event that got me interested was sitting on the seawalk in olde town Portsmouth during the 4th of July fireworks show, which was great this year, and seeing the top of the Trader tower being built. So... that's me! This is my first post, YAY!!!

I have family that live off Dock Landing RD. Welcome to UP. This is the site you want to be on for the latest in new construction. This site forum regularly scoops the VA Pilot.

[vdogg]

Welcome to the forum, great to have another person from Chesapeake on here. I've noticed a recent uptick in members from that area so this is a good trend. Oh, btw, Town Center is not just a tower in the middle of nowhere, it has a friend now with more on the way.

[spiker3]

I posted before i introduced myself, apologies. My name's D.J., i'm a 23 y/o professional workin at MacArthur Center in downtown Norfolk. I live currently in West Ghent, love the area. I've been in the area since i was 6, lived in College Park, graduated from Tallwood in 2000. My father is a structural engineer working in downtown Norfolk as well; he designed Tallwood, Ocean Lakes and Taono (sp?) High Schools, as well as Norfolk Southern Tower (one of my first memories of downtown was watching the demolition of the old 1st Virginia Bank building from the NS tower while it was under construction) I'm encouraged by the development in the Hampton Roads area, long for a major league sports team and look forward osome lively discussions. Thanks

[urbanvb]

welcome, DJ. Great to have you on board!

[NSUREDD]

Hello everyone my name is Matt. I am a social studies teacher in a Hampton Roads schools district. I am home grown, attending I.C. Norcom High, NSU and ODU (undergrad and grad).

I look forward to taking part in the discussions on this page and learning as much as I can. I have students who now read this page to find out how the area is growing. so please keep up the great work.