Norfolk Off-Topic

[vdogg]

In my zeal to delete a link only post, it appears I accidentally deleted the entire thread unfortunately.  I will try to recover it later. In the meantime,  please do not post only links. You must include a short description, paragraph, or excerpt from the link.

[baobabs727]

I suppose the Pokémon GO discussion was also deleted here, but just to give you a little update about the issue for the Freemason neighborhood which was discussed here earlier ... Last month, the neighborhood association voted 17 to 1 to request that Niantic kindly remove three of the four PG stops that are located w/in the neighborhood.  Yes, you read that right. Four (4) stops. In one small neighborhood. Reports have it that there were up to 250 people congregating at 2 and 3 AM... some of whom were seen walking up driveways, standing in landscape bushes, sitting on house steps, riding skateboards, bicycles and cars up private driveways and behind alleyways.  

In any event, the neighbors weren't too pleased and thought they should take action.  Notice how they were not opposed to the game entirely; rather, they simply objected to having four stops! 

However, I don't have any clue as to whether Niantic will ever receive this request or act upon it in a timely manner.  Good luck!

Edited October 8, 2016 by baobabs727

[vdogg]

Yes, unfortunately the information from the old off-topic thread is non-recoverable.

On 10/7/2016 at 1:54 PM, baobabs727 said:

I suppose the Pokémon GO discussion was also deleted here, but just to give you a little update about the issue for the Freemason neighborhood which was discussed here earlier ... Last month, the neighborhood association voted 17 to 1 to request that Niantic kindly remove three of the four PG stops that are located w/in the neighborhood.  Yes, you read that right. Four (4) stops. In one small neighborhood. Reports have it that there were up to 250 people congregating at 2 and 3 AM... some of whom were seen walking up driveways, standing in landscape bushes, sitting on house steps, riding skateboards, bicycles and cars up private driveways and behind alleyways.  

In any event, the neighbors weren't too pleased and thought they should take action.  Notice how they were not opposed to the game entirely; rather, they simply objected to having four stops! 

However, I don't have any clue as to whether Niantic will ever receive this request or act upon it in a timely manner.  Good luck!

Are these stops all located at the pagoda? If so, I believe they are the only ones that can submit that request. That being said, Niantic gets these types of requests all the time, there is a long turnaround time. It may be a while before you hear anything back from them.

[BFG]

City leaders are considering the idea of converting Military Circle into more of a Town Center like setup that includes a light rail stop. I figured it was only a matter of time.

http://pilotonline.com/inside-business/news/municipal-government/norfolk-planners-envision-military-circle-as-future-town-square/article_4c4ea291-22ff-5d44-a3f6-a92206852397.html

[carolinaboy]

18 hours ago, BFG said:

City leaders are considering the idea of converting Military Circle into more of a Town Center like setup that includes a light rail stop. I figured it was only a matter of time.

http://pilotonline.com/inside-business/news/municipal-government/norfolk-planners-envision-military-circle-as-future-town-square/article_4c4ea291-22ff-5d44-a3f6-a92206852397.html

Good. Norfolk and HRT need to expand Light Rail in Norfolk and forget about connecting to that other city.

[BFG]

Strongly disagree on leaving VB out of this. This area needs to look to the future and finally work together. I would say that they need to move forward on Phase 2, connecting to ODU and NOB, and maybe the airport. Don't keep waiting on VB to quit dragging its feet.

Looking at VB's projections, at least Norfolk might have a decent idea of what it could cost.

[Si7i]

So has anyone herd about this? Looks to be about 17-21 stories. Everything I've seen this company post pretty much gets built. On the flip side when this finally goes through planning I could see the design getting dumbed down to a brownish, brickish structure. This is not on the Tarrents Bay property but has front street running down the middle. Looks like it will be next to the front street flats. It is listed under both commercial, hospitality, and residential. 

Edit: upon further research it is a hotel/ entertainment complex and Beau Rivage is associated with  hotels on the water.

Edited October 28, 2016 by Si7i

[BFG]

It's been discussed here before, but it's prolly been close to a year. Supposed to go in the Fort Norfolk/Atlantic City area. I can't wait to see all these developments (esp. this and the River Tower) come together...esp. if they keep their initial designs.

[metalman]

We originally discussed it here-

 

[Si7i]

sorry for the bump, I guess I'm just thirsty for something new to go up. Seems like there has been a slow down in development lately or at least news coverage of things.

[urbanlife]

On 10/25/2016 at 1:15 PM, BFG said:

Strongly disagree on leaving VB out of this. This area needs to look to the future and finally work together. I would say that they need to move forward on Phase 2, connecting to ODU and NOB, and maybe the airport. Don't keep waiting on VB to quit dragging its feet.

Looking at VB's projections, at least Norfolk might have a decent idea of what it could cost.

I think at this point, it would be best for Norfolk to expand light rail throughout Norfolk. Hampton Roads doesn't function like a regional government that can expand light rail throughout the seven cities. So Norfolk shouldn't worry about if VB ever wants to have light rail. It would be more important for the city to expand it within their city limits and possibly work with neighboring cities, like Portsmouth, that might actually want to have access to light rail.

[virginia pe]

2 hours ago, urbanlife said:

I think at this point, it would be best for Norfolk to expand light rail throughout Norfolk. Hampton Roads doesn't function like a regional government that can expand light rail throughout the seven cities. So Norfolk shouldn't worry about if VB ever wants to have light rail. It would be more important for the city to expand it within their city limits and possibly work with neighboring cities, like Portsmouth, that might actually want to have access to light rail.

I don't think Norfolk can make light rail work without Virginia Beach.  They can put all the tracks they want in Norfolk, but the bulk of the riders are in Virginia Beach.  And people from Green Run or Great Neck or Sandbridge are not going to drive to Newtown Road to park their cars,and wait for the next train to take them to downtown or the navy base. If they have driven that far, they will stay in their cars another five or ten minutes to get to their destination.

[urbanlife]

13 hours ago, virginia pe said:

I don't think Norfolk can make light rail work without Virginia Beach.  They can put all the tracks they want in Norfolk, but the bulk of the riders are in Virginia Beach.  And people from Green Run or Great Neck or Sandbridge are not going to drive to Newtown Road to park their cars,and wait for the next train to take them to downtown or the navy base. If they have driven that far, they will stay in their cars another five or ten minutes to get to their destination.

Norfolk is making light rail work now without VB. Running a line to VB isn't a guarantee that they will get out of their cars to use it. It would be best for Norfolk to do what is best for the people of Norfolk. If the people in Norfolk use light rail, it won't matter to them if people from VB sit in traffic. Plus, if Norfolk expands the system within the city, it is the best way to show how a system should work and could work for neighboring cities.

[BFG]

I know the Pilot put out the article about The Tide being the biggest money-loser (or second biggest, I forget), but once you realize it's not meant to turn a profit, and see that it's serving its purpose in spite of its limited run, you can see the future potential here. 

Going to ODU, NOB and the airport will work for Norfolk IMO, with or without VB.

[carolinaboy]

Preferable to run through VB? Yes.

Necessary to run through VB? No.

Expand the system within Norfolk first. Base, ODU, Airport. Stop waiting around for suburbia to get its head out of its butt. Norfolk is the city.....they should act like it and stop waiting around for VB. Having said that, Norfolk really needs an announcement of some major TOD happening specifically because of the TIDE.

 

[urbanlife]

13 hours ago, carolinaboy said:

Preferable to run through VB? Yes.

Necessary to run through VB? No.

Expand the system within Norfolk first. Base, ODU, Airport. Stop waiting around for suburbia to get its head out of its butt. Norfolk is the city.....they should act like it and stop waiting around for VB. Having said that, Norfolk really needs an announcement of some major TOD happening specifically because of the TIDE.

 

Exactly, Norfolk shouldn't be acting like it is the suburb of VB or that it needs VB to do anything, it should be acting like the urban city of the metro. If VB wants to stay a suburbia city, they can do so, but that shouldn't prevent Norfolk from running light rail throughout its city and creating a rail system that works for the people of Norfolk.

[mikeas]

Just an observation.  I haven't been hanging out downtown as much over the past two years as I did the previous several years but the scene has really evolved.  Five years ago Granby Street was a ghost town on weekends until the clubs got going around 9pm-10pm.  Now if you venture down there at 5pm the restaurants are hopping and the streets are busting with families.  I suspect the new residential development on Main Street will bring some life outside of corporate hours that way as well.  I think the common core of downtown will pretty much have no vacant real estate over the next 2-3 years.  Time to ramp up on St Paul and North Brambleton development and integrate West Freemason and Fort Norfolk into one large downtown landscape.

[BFG]

Anytime I've gone down Granby during the week, I've noticed it's busier even during the daytime. I imagine the increase of apartments, and maybe even food trucks, has helped this happen. Like you, I've also seen more activity on Saturday afternoons, which is very encouraging to see. 

Can't wait to see what downtown Norfolk looks like in another 3-5 years!

[carolinaboy]

A lot of momentum down there right now. It took guts by the city staff, planners and of course developers and business owners. Like I discussed in another thread, the city really did a smart thing by focusing its resources on infrastructure. Light rail, Slover library, revamp of TPP, Transit hub, train station, Granby street lights, etc., etc. These are the things that most people want to be near and have access too. They also happen to be some of the things developers can sell to the people that buy or rent apartments, houses, etc. Business owners get an advantage of more foot traffic 24/7 and more people during work hours.

I hope the momentum lasts. Let's get LR linked to ODU, the base and the airport. Let's get that iconic tower. Let's continue to get those jobs in downtown. Let's continue to.......

[BFG]

The Elizabeth River Trail reopened this week. I think, as Fort Norfolk continues growing, this will help link that part of the city to downtown. 

http://wtkr.com/2016/11/11/elizabeth-river-trail-reopens-in-norfolk/

[streetsahead]

This was the crowd at the Monticello Light Rail station after the Illumination parade: 

I think this was the most crowded I've ever seen a light rail station in Norfolk. It gives me hope that light rail can be successful in Norfolk, with or without the help of other cities in the area.

[BFG]

Skyline is looking pretty good with the Main taking shape...

 

[Norva757]

18 hours ago, streetsahead said:

This was the crowd at the Monticello Light Rail station after the Illumination parade: 

I think this was the most crowded I've ever seen a light rail station in Norfolk. It gives me hope that light rail can be successful in Norfolk, with or without the help of other cities in the area.

Its like that every year for events like this...it does well during big events...just need to get it around the city to get more riders...that's the main problem is that it was originally designed with the intent to go to the oceanfront...if they designed it without Vabeach in mind I think it would have been longer and headed in a different direction that would have more ridership in mind. Vabeach really is the downfall of this region

[brikkman]

On 11/20/2016 at 11:28 PM, BFG said:

Skyline is looking pretty good with the Main taking shape...

 

Where did you take that from portsmouths, have any coordinates? I want to take that shot. I was home two weeks ago and wanted to take the shot for my wall here in my bmore home. But didn't have to ride around and find the perfect spot..

[BFG]

Not sure on coordinates, but it's along Crawford Street in Olde Towne...there's a walking path along that street that gives you a great view of the Norfolk skyline.

According to Google, it's at roughly 36°50'25.1"N 76°18'05.7"W.