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urbanfan

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Huh?? Are you joking me?

Please link!

If you're referring to the Framework for the Future thing ... that's only a rough sketch ... Anything concrete?

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No, nothing concrete. Just future plans. As we all know they can quickly change at a moments notice.

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I really wouldn't be surprised if municipal workers and shipyard engineers go out to each lunch there during the day or something. If I could I'd go down there during the work day but, alas, I'm at work myself.

Anyone else from the area want to volunteer?

By the way, those pictures from the VASCIC site look fantastic. I think I took the top one once upon a time and put all sorts of notes in the margins about downtown to dispel people's unfounded talk about the area (for people who just don't take the time to go there).

It's not a terrible place, really. I actually go bike riding down there when I get a chance. I wouldn't be surprised if crime was extremely low. It's certainly lower than in Denbigh (no offense to any Denbigh dwellers here).

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On the crime note, it isn't downtown proper that's scary as all hell, it's the East End just across 664. DT NNews is nice and has potential a ways down the road---but the East End has a much longer road before it even comes remotely close to desirable again.

Denbigh is notorious for petty crimes---larceny, burglaries, muggings, etc. It has some murders, but the East End is notorious for homocides. 2 or 3 years back, 29 of NNews' 36 murders occurred there... :( Nonetheless, I think NNews has done a diservice to DT proper.

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On the crime note, it isn't downtown proper that's scary as all hell, it's the East End just across 664.  DT NNews is nice and has potential a ways down the road---but the East End has a much longer road before it even comes remotely close to desirable again.

Denbigh is notorious for petty crimes---larceny, burglaries, muggings, etc.  It has some murders, but the East End is notorious for homocides.  2 or 3 years back, 29 of NNews' 36 murders occurred there...    :(  Nonetheless, I think NNews has done a diservice to DT proper.

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Well to be honest, the East End has made enormous strides since the 90s. You might have heard about Mariner's Watch ... I think I alluded to it several times in this post somewhere and definitely on Skyscrapercity ...

It's an infill project for the East End beachfront that will be new urbanist with shops, condos, apts, homes, and a marina in an upscale setting.

There's some other infill development projects down there that I can't identify off the top of my head but they do look promising.

In all honesty, the East End is potentially the most lucrative real estate in Newport News and I think some people are starting to catch on.

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Well to be honest, the East End has made enormous strides since the 90s. You might have heard about Mariner's Watch ... I think I alluded to it several times in this post somewhere and definitely on Skyscrapercity ...

It's an infill project for the East End beachfront that will be new urbanist with shops, condos, apts, homes, and a marina in an upscale setting.

There's some other infill development projects down there that I can't identify off the top of my head but they do look promising.

In all honesty, the East End is potentially the most lucrative real estate in Newport News and I think some people are starting to catch on.

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It's cleaned up---but it has a long ways to go before it's up-to-par with the rest of the city.

Mariner's Watch I have definitely heard about---and I think that in a way it'll be a test to see what the future of the East End holds.

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  • 3 weeks later...

It looks like me and Peninsulakiddo aren't the only ones who don't like Walmart  :lol: . NN rejects walmart plan

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Didn't see that one coming! I guess the people were so angry the city realized that they would back lash on the city if they allowed it to be built. I still think Walmart isn't done yet. They will find another location to build close to that site where the city already has it zoned commercial.

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Didn't see that one coming! I guess the people were so angry the city realized that they would back lash on the city if they allowed it to be built. I still think Walmart isn't done yet. They will find another location to build close to that site where the city already has it zoned commercial.

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Actually, this vote does not really effect whether or not the walmart gets built. All this vote does is send a recommendation to the city council on whether the commission agrees or disagrees with the walmart construction. The real decision comes from the city council. And the city council can do whatever they want. Walmart has already said they plan to continue getting necessary approval from the corps and others and will come before the city council later to find out if they get it. Which, they probably will, considering trees with no development = little taxes. Walmart with hundreds of cars and revenue streams = lots of cash.

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No Vdogg, you guys are not alone.  I'm a Wal-Mart boycotter.  I'm sure the buggers aren't done with NN yet.

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I saw that this morning in the paper and smiled :) It isn't a nail in the coffin yet, but a VERY good step in the right direction. That is such prime property that could be turned into so much more...

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There really is no reason to hate Walmart. They make things affordable to people with low income and they employ more people than these little grocery stores and give jobs to people that other wise would be on welfare!

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I admit whole-heartedly that I shop at WalMart for sheer convenience, but if I had simple alternatives I'd betray the corporate Satan in 2 seconds.

They employ people with minimal benefits and mediocre salaries, and they're trying to do this in a middle-upper class NNews neighborhood which doesn't benefit anyone. They run local businesses out of their shops and have immense economic impacts---both good and bad---wherever they go.

They're also vindictive. I've probably mentioned it before, but when Wal Mart was refused by a small NJ town they put up a store in the next town and crippled the local businesses. WalMart is cutthroat and taking over most mainstream retail. I'm sorry, but that doesn't scream wholesome family values and friendly neighborhood store to me.

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I admit whole-heartedly that I shop at WalMart for sheer convenience, but if I had simple alternatives I'd betray the corporate Satan in 2 seconds.

They employ people with minimal benefits and mediocre salaries, and they're trying to do this in a middle-upper class NNews neighborhood which doesn't benefit anyone.  They run local businesses out of their shops and have immense economic impacts---both good and bad---wherever they go.

They're also vindictive.  I've probably mentioned it before, but when Wal Mart was refused by a small NJ town they put up a store in the next town and crippled the local businesses.  WalMart is cutthroat and taking over most mainstream retail.  I'm sorry, but that doesn't scream wholesome family values and friendly neighborhood store to me.

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That is business in general. Look at all the banks being bought out and killing jobs and stuff but i don't hear the same kind of talk. Its a grocery store what kind of benefits do you think they deserve. From what i've seen they have alot better benefits than people working in a Food Lion or a Farm Fresh. It helps the cities economy and helps generate alot tax revenue.

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That is business in general. Look at all the banks being bought out and killing jobs and stuff but i don't hear the same kind of talk. Its a grocery store what kind of benefits do you think they deserve. From what i've seen they have alot better benefits than people working in a Food Lion or a Farm Fresh. It helps the cities economy and helps generate alot tax revenue.

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As far as I know, they don't get benefits. Optical care if there's an optical center in that specific WalMart and that's pretty much it. They also go after teenagers who are under their parents' policies so that they don't have to provide any benefits to them.

Banking is different because there isn't one large monopoly. Bank of America and Wachovia are enormous companies, but neither has a true strangle-hold on their business. Wal Mart has cornered food products, cosmetics, entertainment, and most-of-all: TOYS. Toys R Us is losing about 1% market share every year. Meanwhile, Wal Mart is getting almost 1% gains every year. It's a rather sad situation when you can't go TO A TOY STORE TO GET TOYS anymore. Other companies like IBM, Microsoft, AT&T have all been in Wal Mart's position before, and all of them with the exception of Microsoft have fallen from their glory. I can only hope the same happens to Wally World some day.

And as far as helping the economies of the cities Wal Mart goes into, analysts can't decide whether or not it really helps. While the few million in taxable dollars to the city is nice, the 20-40 acres of land a WalMart absorbs can make as much as 5X that amount if something else were built (mixed-use or town-center-styled retail)

Edited by PeninsulaKiddo
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As far as I know, they don't get benefits.  Optical care if there's an optical center in that specific WalMart and that's pretty much it.  They also go after teenagers who are under their parents' policies so that they don't have to provide any benefits to them. 

Banking is different because there isn't one large monopoly.  Bank of America and Wachovia are enormous companies, but neither has a true strangle-hold on their business.  Wal Mart has cornered food products, cosmetics, entertainment, and most-of-all: TOYS.  Toys R Us is losing about 1% market share every year.  Meanwhile, Wal Mart is getting almost 1% gains every year.  It's a rather sad situation when you can't go TO A TOY STORE TO GET TOYS anymore.  Other companies like IBM, Microsoft, AT&T have all been in Wal Mart's position before, and all of them with the exception of Microsoft have fallen from their glory.  I can only hope the same happens to Wally World some day.

And as far as helping the economies of the cities Wal Mart goes into, analysts can't decide whether or not it really helps.  While the few million in taxable dollars to the city is nice, the 20-40 acres of land a WalMart absorbs can make as much as 5X that amount if something else were built (mixed-use or town-center-styled retail)

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how is buying smaller banks by bigger banks any different??? Its the same scenerio. Where the big boy buys the little guy. IBM and those others fell due to unwillingness to change with the times.

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how is buying smaller banks by bigger banks any different??? Its the same scenerio. Where the big boy buys the little guy. IBM and those others fell due to unwillingness to change with the times.

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Wal Mart is literally destroying businesses across America, paying minimal wages, and taking suburban sprawl to new heights. Their taxes could easily be produced by other businesses and even greatly exceeded. Their employment can be more-than-matched. I don't see the benefits of ANOTHER Wal Mart in our area.

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They also refuse to let their workers unionize. Wal-Mart employees are the largest un-unionized workforce in the country (and it's my personal belief that they'll be the largest workforce period before long!). There's a story of a Wal-Mart in Quebec that closed because workers wishing to unionize held a demonstration. It's been a few years but a link might be findable.

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They also refuse to let their workers unionize.  Wal-Mart employees are the largest un-unionized workforce in the country (and it's my personal belief that they'll be the largest workforce period before long!).  There's a story of a Wal-Mart in Quebec that closed because workers wishing to unionize held a demonstration.  It's been a few years but a link might be findable.

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I am not too familiar with how unions work but how can a company refuse to let workers unionize.. isn't this is personal decision?

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As far as I know, they don't get benefits.  Optical care if there's an optical center in that specific WalMart and that's pretty much it.  They also go after teenagers who are under their parents' policies so that they don't have to provide any benefits to them. 

Banking is different because there isn't one large monopoly.  Bank of America and Wachovia are enormous companies, but neither has a true strangle-hold on their business.  Wal Mart has cornered food products, cosmetics, entertainment, and most-of-all: TOYS.  Toys R Us is losing about 1% market share every year.  Meanwhile, Wal Mart is getting almost 1% gains every year.  It's a rather sad situation when you can't go TO A TOY STORE TO GET TOYS anymore.  Other companies like IBM, Microsoft, AT&T have all been in Wal Mart's position before, and all of them with the exception of Microsoft have fallen from their glory.  I can only hope the same happens to Wally World some day.

And as far as helping the economies of the cities Wal Mart goes into, analysts can't decide whether or not it really helps.  While the few million in taxable dollars to the city is nice, the 20-40 acres of land a WalMart absorbs can make as much as 5X that amount if something else were built (mixed-use or town-center-styled retail)

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You must not know much about Walmart. Everyone gets benefits that has worked there for a specified amount of time. And they are decent benefits. I know this because my mother is a manager there. Walmart gives people entry positions with room for improvement. My mother is not even a head manager at walmart and is already making 60,000+/yr with christmas bonuses in the 10,000 - 12,000 range. Granted, not everyone makes this money, you have to work to get there. There is nothing wrong with a company paying minimum wage to workers who are young and have no experience. In fact I would expect It. As far as going after teenagers, that is just wrong. Over half of the registers I have seen on this side of the water are occupied by middle aged to latter aged people. Some teens yes, but not even half. Younger teens are less reliable, therefore walmart would rather not hire them. But they do. I know this because my mother was head of hiring at the newport news walmart for some time. At least get some facts before spewing off things. I would much rather shop elsewhere, and i do, but I don't hate walmart, they do what no other store seems to want to do which is to look out for the consumers. Tell me any other store that goes out of its way to find the lowest price for you. If anything, the other places are asking themselves how much can I charge and get away with it. As far as gobbling up retail establishments, target and super k seem to do just fine.

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