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vdogg

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Gotta admit, I'll miss the glass entrance, but looking at the pictures, I definitely agree it's got early-80s written all over it, as does the food court. The renderings look very impressive.

 

That being said, I lived in Lynnhaven in my childhood/teen years, even into early college, so the food court (especially Aladdin's Castle arcade!) all hold a soft spot in my heart. It's a bittersweet upgrade.  :thumbsup:

Edited by BFG
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Gotta admit, I'll miss the glass entrance, but looking at the pictures, I definitely agree it's got early-80s written all over it, as does the food court. The renderings look very impressive.

 

That being said, I lived in Lynnhaven in my childhood/teen years, even into early college, so the food court (especially Aladdin's Castle arcade!) all hold a soft spot in my heart. It's a bittersweet upgrade.  :thumbsup:

 

I totally agree with you, I moved away in 2001 and haven't been back since, but Lynnhaven Mall was such a staple in my childhood and teenage years.  I spent so much money in Aladdin's Castle, it was like a nightclub for kids.

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Speaking of Lynnhaven Mall, I work in that area, and there's several office parks and towers* along Lynnhaven Parkway, but no hotels. There's one sketchy spot beside Chuck E. Cheese ( :P), but nothing really noteworthy. And with all the offices, I'm sure plenty of people come down here on business, but don't necessarily want to stay at Town Center or the beach. Seems like there's no space to put anything, not even in that business park near Walmart, but.....

 

How would the old Lord & Taylor spot sound for a smallish chain, like a Hilton Garden Inn? It would only have to be 3-5 stories, but it seems like there's plenty of room for 100 or so rooms and maybe a pool...I know there would have to be a ton of renovations, but that space has sat empty for at least a decade.

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Mayor Sessoms delivered his State of the City address earlier today, which outlines future goals including LRT expansion, the new arena and a second runway at Norfolk International Airport. His goal is to complete this by 2020.

 

Here's the transcript from his speech:

http://www.vbgov.com/government/departments/media-communications-group/state-of-the-city/Pages/2014-state-of-the-city.aspx

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http://www.vbgov.com/media/pages/videos.aspx#video=395372611622

City Manager addresses CBDA

Interesting that Weldon Cooper estimates Va  Beach has reached the 450k residents milestone.

Alludes to five star hotel development at rudee inlet.

 

The way the City of VB has been talking lately, we could see a massive construction boom in the next decade. 

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I was down at The Strip earlier, along 31st St. There's a lot of development there with the condos along Laskin Rd., but I was amazed at how much that end of Atlantic Ave. had boomed (see pic below). I dunno how long all that has been there (I know the Mayflower is old), but there's a little bit of a skyline forming down there. The new Cavalier (and renovated Cavalier while we're at it) are going to make that stretch look really nice! Extending LRT down to that stretch of the beach could do wonders.

 

Also...really glad they got rid of that puky tan color for the Mayflower, although I'd love to see it go back to the original red brick facade.

 

post-25048-0-54304100-1430633317_thumb.j

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I'm helping out with the AAU Junior Olympics at the Convention Center and then at NSU. The former is hosting gymnastics events, and the turnout has been pretty solid. I've seen teams from Ohio, Illinois, Iowa and Texas.

The Junior Olympics were here in the late-90s and I could see it staying here for a few more years, esp. if the arena gets built anytime soon. 

Regardless, a huge win for the area! 

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Tonight a very important Council workshop will be broadcast live on the vbgov website as well as channel 48. The first order of business is a light rail update from the transportation secretary. The second order of business will be a full briefing on town center phase 6. I plan on watching both but will likely not be home in time to see everything. If someone is able to watch and then post details in the respective threads it would be appreciated.

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I can't believe I'm saying this, and maybe this is because everything is coming out at the same time that is giving me this impression, but perhaps we are going a little bit overboard with these public/private partnerships. The original goal of these partnerships was to spur economic development in an area where it would not otherwise occur. It has gotten to the point now where developers pretty much expect this type of assistance, and that is not good for the city. In larger cities like Charlotte,D.C, etc., the limit of the city's involvement is approving or rejecting a proposal based on certain criteria. Partnerships like the ones that are prevalent in our area are rare. I think the city has reached the point of maturity where we can expect these developments to stand on their own two feet. We need to reduce, not eliminate, the use of TIFs and start letting this money go back into the general fund. It is time that the entire city starts benefitting from the revenue generated by these projects. No, John Moss didn't hijack my computer, but even a broke clock is right twice a day....

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I know this is really off topic, but what is wrong with the people on city-data & the Virginia Pilot comments its like entering bizarro world. I find myself wanting to fight their opinions,  as they are hurting the areas reputation but I can't find the will to want to. My brain already pegs them as crazy. All the other cities boards are for architecturally discussion and debate but ours is never filled with that. Its in a constant state of bashing. Some insight would be nice is all, I'm just not understanding it.

There's probably a lot of people stationed here that didn't want to be here at one point....

Just an example this was a discussion of 5 most sterile downtown Capture.PNG.ff532feda37da1aa20b24d75dba5

 

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1 hour ago, Si7i said:

 

There's probably a lot of people stationed here that didn't want to be here at one point. 

It's mostly this.  It's one thing to live in a place if you choose to be there, completely different if you're ordered to.  Many folks try to get stationed over in San Diego.  Many are from other locations and miss home.  When I first moved here almost 20 years ago the very conservative nature of the area grated me a bit tbh. Over time I've grown to like the area, mostly because I like living near the beach. For some folks that's not enough though, so they passive-aggressively lash out at a situation they cannot change by posting nonsense online.  Most of the true locals I've met,  while they may complain somewhat, like the area. This is true even if they choose to move away for better opportunities. 

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2 hours ago, vdogg said:

It's mostly this.  It's one thing to live in a place if you choose to be there, completely different if you're ordered to.  Many folks try to get stationed over in San Diego.  Many are from other locations and miss home.  When I first moved here almost 20 years ago the very conservative nature of the area grated me a bit tbh. Over time I've grown to like the area, mostly because I like living near the beach. For some folks that's not enough though, so they passive-aggressively lash out at a situation they cannot change by posting nonsense online.  Most of the true locals I've met,  while they may complain somewhat, like the area. This is true even if they choose to move away for better opportunities. 

I agree wholeheartedly. I'm about to move to Chicago because there's more opportunity for advancement within the healthcare industry (not to mention a more integrated transportation system), but I still love the greater Hampton Roads area. I feel that it's been a great place to grow up, get my Masters, and start my career. I hope to come back at some point, but I'm definitely not leaving because I hate the area.

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Artisan shops and a coffee house coming to the arts district in VB.

http://www.pilotonline.com/news/local/cluster-of-artisan-shops-coffee-house-planned-for-th-street/article_594c40c3-0c51-591b-8d04-7d89e850afe6.html

Cool that they're developing the area close to the arena site, but it really does seem like they're trying to create what's happening in Norfolk...

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Linked below is the recent State of the City Address. Nothing really groundbreaking here but it does reference TC expansion and growth and his desire to expand light rail.

http://www.vbgov.com/government/departments/media-communications-group/state-of-the-city/Pages/2016-state-of-the-city.aspx

Edited by urbanvb
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I noticed a couple of buildings that were along Witchduck Road, have since been demolished. One was a warehouse (I think) at the corner of Southern Blvd., beside the old railroad tracks. The other building was right at the 264 off-ramp, at the stop light. There was some two-story building there, I believe.

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