Hampton Roads Off-Topic Talk

[mikeas]

I was thinking the same thing. Even though security cameras have a slow refresh rate, some of them had to get it. Of course they might not be aimed high enough.

I would think the WVEC or WAVY weather cams would have it assuming they keep recordings...

[varider]

Explanation

"I'm pretty convinced that what these folks saw was the second stage of the Soyuz rocket that launched the crew up to the space station," said Jeff Chester of the Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C.

Residents of the areas around Norfolk and Virginia Beach, Va., began calling 911 last night with reports of hearing a loud boom and seeing a streak of light that lit up the sky, according to news reports."

Edited March 30, 2009 by varider

[Mobius57]

theres a westin webcam?

[varider]

Well guys, I don't think anybody thought HR would have a 500+ foot skyscraper so soon.. How long do you think before a 700 footer?? If you had to guess would you say it would be in Town Center or Downtown?? Looking at other cities across the US gets me somewhat depressed when their skylines are so damn tall.

[Telmnstr]

Other cities have big businesses and corporations to fill the big buildings. This is not that type of area.

[varider]

Wikipedia has VB as the 27th largest urbanized area in america? I didn't know that!

[rusthebuss]

Other cities have big businesses and corporations to fill the big buildings. This is not that type of area.

Well thats up to people like us on this site to change that. We can't talk bad about the area unless we try to make this area better

[Telmnstr]

So how do you think it could be changed?

First, if new rich people came it would take power away from the existing rich people. The existing rich people wouldn't really like that, because they would loose power? I know if I was mega rich, I wouldn't want other mega rich people coming to my block.

Second, I think the big corporations like to be around each other. Financial firms near each other. Marketing firms the same. Internet companies / Data centers are generally around the bandwidth (which is *not* in Hampton Roads).

*Shrug* It'd be cool, but I just honestly can't see it happening. If there was some new industry that spawned, and this was home base for it... then you might get traction. But this isn't an inventive area. There *is* some commercialization of materials stuff out of NASA, some sensor stuff (Oceana and others).

I think the maglev stuff could have been a big boom for us. Had Light Rail been elevated maglev, and that industry got kicked off here... then maybe we could have had something.

I saw today that China has decided that there is no way it can really compete with gasoline cars, so they are going to go full force into making modern electric cars and try to get a head start on that industry that the established companies are mostly ignoring. That seems like good thinking, and perhaps should be a wake up call.

[varider]

Every area has some sort of business that drives the local economy. For Example in Charlotte they have banking. Here in Norfolk we have the military. The difference is Banks require huge skyscrapers and a lot of office space. The military doesn't. That's what must change. But I'd like for us to get a 700 ft. tower with a mix of hotel, condos, parking, and retail. Say 12 floors of parking and retail. 25 floor hotel. 15 floors of condos.That doesn't seem to out of reach. If Granby Tower and the Hampton Inn were combined it would probably have been near 700 feet. I dream for Norfolk to one day have a skyscraper.

Edited April 5, 2009 by varider

[MissySchmidt]

Wikipedia has VB as the 27th largest urbanized area in america? I didn't know that!

Where did you see that? I found this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_of_Unit...atistical_Areas

that shows us at 34th.

[varider]

Where did you see that? I found this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_of_Unit...atistical_Areas

that shows us at 34th.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Largest_urban...e_United_States

[varider]

link

It's not clear what it means, but Hampton Roads has more of its jobs located near its central business districts than any other metro area in the nation, according to a report to be released today.

More than 36 percent of the region's jobs are located within three miles of city centers in downtown Norfolk, Newport News and Virginia Beach Town Center, according to the study to be released by the Brookings Institution.

The report highlights U.S. cities that have significant "job sprawl" - jobs outside their city centers.

"The concern with decentralization of employment is if jobs are located at the fringe of the metropolitan area, that can bring problems," said Elizabeth Kneebone, the report's author and a senior research analyst at Brookings. The problems include lost productivity, difficult commutes and issues finding affordable housing, she said.

The report ranked Hampton Roads above such areas as New York City and Boston. The areas with the most job sprawl are Detroit and Chicago.

"Part of what the Virginia Beach-Norfolk numbers reflect is the structure of the region," Kneebone said. "It's not built around one city. It's polycentric. That means people are much more likely to have a job near a central business district."

The study's implications may be few, local economists said.

[varider]

I think this is great news. I didn't think our jobs were centrally located like that because of all the spread out navy bases and shipbuilding. But i think it is another call for light rail.

[Telmnstr]

I saw the story and it seems odd to me. Maybe it's just that all 7+ cities have a high density of houses and businesses in the city cores, but everyone criss-crosses from city to city? What's the average commute? I know here in my office in downtown Norfolk... 3 live in the ghent area, I live in Freemason (no eStalkerz plz) and the rest all commute from farther away. Some much farther. Looking at other companies it was mostly the same way? This and the other Norfolk tech company were the only jobs where I lived this close. I was driving 45 minutes each way every day before this gig opened up.

[mlsimons]

Question:

How to Hampton Roads' cities compare in regards to local taxes. I talked with someone today who says it cost the most to live in Norfolk than any other city, which he did not understand why. So, if you own a home, how much taxes would you pay in each city if your home was worth the same amount everywhere?

[urbanvb]

I found this site that may answer your questions.

[MissySchmidt]

Question:

How to Hampton Roads' cities compare in regards to local taxes. I talked with someone today who says it cost the most to live in Norfolk than any other city, which he did not understand why. So, if you own a home, how much taxes would you pay in each city if your home was worth the same amount everywhere?

Does this data from "Hampton Roads Performs" on taxation help?: http://hamptonroadsperforms.org/indicators...ns/taxation.php

[varider]

great news. looks like the DOD has decided not to send a carrier from Naval Station Norfolk to Mayport, Florida keeping millions of dollars and thousands of jobs in Hampton Roads. The news said every year a nuclear aircraft carrier is stationed in Norfolk it brings 600 million dollars of revenue into the Hampton Roads economy. I'm sure that would have resulted in a decrease in population as well.

[urbanfan]

great news. looks like the DOD has decided not to send a carrier from Naval Station Norfolk to Mayport, Florida keeping millions of dollars and thousands of jobs in Hampton Roads. The news said every year a nuclear aircraft carrier is stationed in Norfolk it brings 600 million dollars of revenue into the Hampton Roads economy. I'm sure that would have resulted in a decrease in population as well.

No one has decided anything. They just put a hold on the process.

[varider]

I talked a little about this in "Norfolk Retail and Restaraunts" thread but I'm going to bring up here as well... On my Northeast road trip I visited cities such as Philly, Baltimore, DC, NoVa, Richmond, ect. and It was so depressing to see these cities so far ahead of Hampton Roads in almost every aspect of life. We can't keep saying "well they have the business we dont" or "Hampton Roads is strictly military" or those overused excuses for Hampton Roads not nearly being up to its full potential. Norfolk is in a wonderful location with a metro population big enough to support big city business. The infrastructure is coming (light rail, commuter rail, intercity rail) and they are making SOME process, but not as much as you would think. What has to change for businesses to want to to business here and developers coming to the area to bring us wonderful urban mixed use projects? I guess I'm just saddened that Norfolk/ Va Beach isn't a "big city" maybe im overreacting... Who knows..

[urbanvb]

I think what is needed here is the movers and the shakers if you will. We have some intelligent people in the area but the dynamic is missing to fuel what is already here. We need the creative class which are the highly intellectuals - our computer geeks, scientist, bio tech type jobs and more. The foundation is here but we need a boost big time. Our small town mentality needs to go away as we continue to grow into a more urban area.

[Telmnstr]

Agreed. There has been a tiny bit of movement. One guy held a networking event that bought a small mix of people together.

HRTC has their events, but they tend to be mostly sales people. The sales people would love to sell their stuff to other people there, but the audience is other people looking to sell their stuff. It's not bad, and I've been to a number of them and they were fun. But it's different.

I also go to the robot venture meetings every once in a while. This group is mainly military, and I think the motivations are to get money from the gov't. Who wouldn't like money, but I dunno. I see it as people all anxious to run up the debt that I'll be paying in my old age when they're all dead.

It looks like we might have a space in line. A hacker space if you will. Part hang out space, part idea lab, part build things space. We'll see how it goes. 9 people are involved (me being one) "at the top." Once things get sorted out others may join (I think), and perhaps it will expand. It's not going to be a public thing like the techshop thing in Raleigh-Durham. The 9 people at the top have different ideas as to what the space should be, and be for. I think my ideas and vision are the bestest of course, but not everyone sees the same and I have to cave to the group :-) All friends I've known for a long time. Perhaps something will come out of it, we'll see.

I've been kind of lazy lately. Well, there was one project that had success... teehee.

Edited April 13, 2009 by Telmnstr

[varider]

hey guys i read about Hampton Roads recently bailing out SPSA.. i was thinking.. we have a regional trash disposal service and we worked together to keep it afloat. wouldn't it be much easier to make every service this way?? we already have a regional transportation company and a regional trash disposal service why stop there? if i had the power i would regionalize every public service essentially creating the City of Hampton Roads. one representative (the current mayor) from each "borough" would create the city council and the City would vote for Mayor (I'd say Fraim as Mayor && Sessoms as Vice Mayor). How hard could that be?? I mean we would instantly gain national recognition and would most likely be the 8th or 9th most populous city. Everyone in HR has ties and affiliations with different cities. Why not combine into one.

Edited April 15, 2009 by varider

[mlsimons]

hey guys i read about Hampton Roads recently bailing out SPSA.. i was thinking.. we have a regional trash disposal service and we worked together to keep it afloat. wouldn't it be much easier to make every service this way?? we already have a regional transportation company and a regional trash disposal service why stop there? if i had the power i would regionalize every public service essentially creating the City of Hampton Roads. one representative (the current mayor) from each "borough" would create the city council and the City would vote for Mayor (I'd say Fraim as Mayor && Sessoms as Vice Mayor). How hard could that be?? I mean we would instantly gain national recognition and would most likely be the 8th or 9th most populous city. Everyone in HR has ties and affiliations with different cities. Why not combine into one.

Yeah, but we would still only be the 33/34th biggest metropolitan. I will never be on board for calling the region Hampton Roads officially. If consolidation was to ever occur (which I support) I would only support the area being called its historic center "Norfolk," regardless of what I hear about VB having the biggest population, or about Norfolk having a bad rep, or "Hampton Roads" being more neutral. I will never be ok with Norfolk becoming a borough, unless it was the borough located within the "city of Norfolk."

I hate, and will always hate, the name "Hampton Roads!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" We have had it forced upon us by politicians, a shotgun wedding so to speak. I would rather us not even regionalize than to regionalize as Hampton Roads.

Now that you know how I feel about it, I will calm down and be a little more cooperative. Yes, I do believe in regionalism. I believe in a MPO with taxable authority. And since VA is a "Dillon rule state", that will not be allowed. So the next best thing is for a regional gov't to be able to lobby the state for infrastructure funds, as well as effectively prioritize the money that the region can raise for transportation projects. Also control a regional gas tax and (one day) intercity tolls. Lets not fool ourselves, one day we will have our tolls back. These issues are a little more complex, the easiest benefits to realize are in the efficient consolidation of public services; trash, HRT, fire, police, etc. But also, regional cooperation leads to more effective growth management and zoning. I'm currently doing research for a final paper on the effects of urban sprawl as a result of the fragmented gov't. Which most research I've found so far is in support of regionalism as a means to prevent poorly planned sprawl. It'll be interesting to see what I come up with.

[varider]

I don't think as many tourists would visit the City of Norfolk as they do Virginia Beach.. Maybe they would I don't know.

I'm all for Norfolk keeping the namesake. The City of Norfolk pop. 2 million (2030 estimates). 4th largest city in the country. 2nd largest on the East Coast. Sounds good

What about Richmond and Hampton Roads becoming a combined statistical region sort of like Baltimore- Washington- NoVa? It would have a population of probably 4 million.

Edited April 15, 2009 by varider