Jump to content

What is Hampton Roads?


varider

Recommended Posts


  • Replies 45
  • Created
  • Last Reply

I'm not saying one city in Hampton Roads is amazing and comparable to places such as Miami, Atlanta, Charlotte, etc. But put every city together and it's one of the best metros in the country. downtown norfolk, town center, oceanfront, williamsburg outlets, greenbrier, city center, peninsula town center, harbour view, light rail, busch gardens, water country, ocean breeze, admirals hockey, tides baseball, beautiful landscape, good colleges, school systems. It's the combination that makes this area great. Consolidate into one city and It would be one of the best in the nation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

"I made this thread to try and spark some discussion about the significance of the hampton roads metro, what is this place we call home? Are we moving in the right direction? Here are a few questions to start the topic off.

Is Hampton Roads a major player in the national/ global economy?

What is the region known for other than the military?

Does the area have enough high paying corporate jobs?

Will the area ever get a true professional sports team?

What role does the region play in the state and the east coast?

Is HR a great place to live?

I want your guys input because I really can't get a fix on the area. It's the fifth largest metro in the south and top 10 in GDP. Top 20 in tourism dollars. Virginia Beach is the most populated city in the state, while Norfolk is 2nd, chesapeake 3rd. Norfolk has a growing downtown, but is it a big city? Or just a old navy town? Outsiders are willing to comment too. What do you think?"

You said that you wanted to spark discussion, but after reading through the past two pages I think you wanted to spark agreement with your preconceived notions. But I'll add a little fuel to the fire.

1 Are we a major player? Only at two times in an economic cycle: when there is higher port activity (from either higher exports or, more often, higher imports, such as over the last 7-8 years, much less-so now as port activity has plunged), and when there is an increase in military spending (immediately post-9/11; as the last decade has provided both these criteria simultaneously, I hate to say this but I think the growth in income, construction, and services over the past few years is probably the best we'll see for a little while). At all other times we fade back into relative anonymity.

As for the global economy, meh? What companies exist in Hampton Roads that have a global reach and are either headquartered here or have a major presence? I'm not talking about the port, or the military; services? Financial operations? The sorts of companies that, literally, impact the daily lives of individuals in a service-oriented economy? Foreign investments could easily, literally, shift overnight to other ports in the US; could the same be said for Wal Street, or the Loop?

2 Throughout most of the US, outside the Mid-Atlantic, the area isn't known for much of anything beyond the Historic Triangle or beaches, if even the military (although that's the response I've gotten most). The association is well-deserved, though. How many people are directly employed at Norfolk, or Oceana, or Little Creek, or on Langley, NASA-Langley, Eustis, etc.? And there are other installations. How many basic service-sector (retail, etc.) jobs exist as a result of the military presence? Would Hampton be bothering to rebuild Coliseum Central if Langley AFB were moving tomorrow? Probably not.

The military question has been mentioned a few times throughout this thread, but I'll mention it again. Because of this unparalleled reliance on the military, we are being strangled. We are strangled by the military's budget, as our regional growth is, to a large degree, determined by its fluctuations. We are thus strangled by the government, as the civilian government (see: Congress) holds all the pursestrings and, often, has no idea what to do with it. God help us all. This has produced a slowed and inconsistent pattern of growth. This also leads into 3...

3 Corporate jobs. Hampton Roads has some very, very wealthy individuals, that's not even a question. I have to say it, though, I completely agree with Tel on the issue of corporate jobs -- we shouldn't be measuring our success by the extreme and unrepresentative successes of just a few (many of whom do flee the region, anyway), but rather by the successes of an innovative class, or entrepreneurs, etc. Defense contractors maintain a stable economy, but out of the major cities we admire and plaster comparisons to all over UP, which ones have economies primarily propelled by defense contractors? Does New York, or Boston, or Chicago? I know someone will shoot back with, "Well this article says that Boston has seen a 300% increase in Defense..." -- Whatever. That's not what these cities are known for. They're known for finance, for telecommunications and other services, and, particularly in Boston's case, for higher and postsecondary education. We have William and Mary, for schools in the highest-tier of American higher education, and most people wouldn't necessarily know that Williamsburg is a part of Hampton Roads (most people I have encountered outside the region think W+M is a private school anyway, so what do they know?).

What else are these three cities I mentioned - New York, Boston, Chicago - known for? Their urban character. Their walkability, their density, multiethnic and multicultural neighborhoods, and so on. Hampton Roads is, intrinsically, unwalkable. Even with the starter line of the Tide, even with, 20 years henceforth, a few spurs on the Southside, probably a million+ will be left out of the transport network. We are a suburban region slaved to the use of our personal transportation - cars - and because of how decentralized our region is that is going to be extremely difficult to reverse. Our decentralization also makes #2 difficult -- how do we associate ourselves with anything when we can't even define ourselves? We have no single "core city" (we have, what? 4, 5? Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Hampton, Newport News, maybe Portsmouth? And a smattering of suburban ones, Chesapeake, Suffolk, Poquoson, which will never have a prayer at ever being confused with a 'city'). We all believe that Norfolk or Virginia Beach are major cities, but, regardless of population figures and growth, that is scarcely recognized outside of Virginia. How many polls or threads have been posted by one of us asking the rest of us to define the region? What is the title of this very thread?

I will gladly give HR credit where credit is due. We have a leg-up on many cities with our natural beauty - the water, our parks and beaches, generally nice weather. But these factors do not typically define an urban space. New York is known for iconic architecture, for Broadway, for the Met. Boston has the Commons (I'll take Town Point Park, thanks), for its historic architecture, and for Tufts, Harvard, MIT, etc. all within a few miles. Savannah, Georgia probably is better-known on a national scale and it's scarcely larger than Portsmouth. But it is a defined space with a recognized character. Even if VBTC turns into a downtown core like the one we are all hoping for, will it ever have that character? VBTC isn't as bad of architecture as we've seen out elsewhere in the region (which deserves its own thread), but that said, is it outstanding architecture? Will VBTC ever have the foot traffic and impact on daily lifestyle that, say, Lynnhaven Mall has had? The Oceanfront has a great shot at it because it incorporates a denser-than-normal atmosphere with natural beauty - the beach. But let's go back to the military, which is again strangling growth potential at the Oceanfront.

4 Superfluous question.

5 For the state, we're significant -- we are the third (quasi) urban anchor of the whole state, along with Northern Virginia and Richmond. Outside the state, much less-so. Tel's comment about the "cul-de-sac" that is our region is valid. I feel like some Congressman from our region in the 1940s or 1950s pissed off the rest of Congress and so they built the interstates around us instead of through us. This is worthy of note, however. All the other major cities along the East Coast are not just destinations, but they are means of getting to other destinations. How does one get from Richmond to Philadelphia? By way of Washington, Baltimore, and, if we want to go there, Wilmington. How does one get from Raleigh-Durham to Philadelphia? Just add Richmond. And a whole bunch of nothingness in-between.

6 Now, in spite of everything I have said before, I will say this: Hampton Roads is a great place to raise a family. It is stable, it offers all the basic amenities (great number and variety of schools, public and private - income pending, parks, some great museums, etc.). That said, I would be worried as my kids reach high school-age. From my own, recent experiences there, I don't think this region is as good. Good kids in a boring, insulated, and privileged (see: York County) environment can make bad, supid decisions. And they often do. You can never really insulate your children from drugs or alcohol, underage sex or violence. They happen everywhere and will always happen everywhere. That said, I would want to provide my child(ren) with an engaging environment that is constantly changing so that they have less want for these diversions, and even less "need" for the diversion. I think I would have been much better-off in my high school days in a much more-urban setting than lower York County, but I can't assume that would be the case for everyone (in fact, I'm certain that isn't the case).

Once kids are done with high school, though, where do they go? Will they come back to HR to live? I can really only speak for myself here (although many of my friends from high school have graduated college and are not coming back). I do not plan on coming back anytime soon. I'll always have a sort of interest in the region and a personal investment in its continued improvement, development, and other changes... but it isn't my first choice residence. I am here now only because I couldn't afford to go elsewhere for college. Now, I wouldn't trade the last three years at CNU for the world -- I have made amazing friends, met wonderful people, and learned a great deal about myself and my place in the world. But I'll always wonder how things would have been different had I gone to New York.

Hampton Roads has a lot of work ahead if it wants to become a major urban area (major in the sense of actually being urban, not suburban or rural, and major in the sense of being recognized elsewhere as such). It needs to, seriously and definitively, curtail suburban development. The Green Line in VB is a good idea, but it's bent a few too many times and needs to be extended around into Chesapeake and Suffolk. Meanwhile, transportation issues in the region absolutely CAN NOT continue to be ignored. The Tide is a start, but it only deals with a very narrow section of the region. Urban development needs to be both (actually) urban and imaginative. CMSS should be forbidden from operating within a 100-mile radius of Virginia borders, but I fear that's impossible. Creating dense, multi-use urban communities (rather than superficial "developments" with seas of parking lots - defeats the purpose, no?) in areas that are already more dense than average will be beneficial. For example, redeveloping the areas along Warwick near CNU and, similarly, along the same area stretch on Jefferson to create pockets of walkable, urban areas -- this is why I have always thought Port Warwick was poorly situated. Either, it should've been built along Warwick near CNU (creating a vibrant, youthful, and walkable community, like a college town feel), or along Jefferson next to City Center, for much the same reasons. They're just slightly too far apart to be walkable. And who in their right mind would want to cross Jefferson Ave?! But I digress -- There are similar examples in Hampton, Virginia Beach, and elsewhere. I guess it boils down to long-range, higher-density, REGIONAL/URBAN planning. We need to stop going one block at a time, then skipping over highways to build "high density areas" -- build one, interconnected corridor, instead.

Sorry I hijacked another thread with my novella. I hope it didn't come across as doom and gloom, but rather deliberate and blunt. I have constructive ideas, I just don't think they're ever implemented in a cogent, meaningful way, so I see no "glorious revolution" in HR growth ahead...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Uhm, I don't know what made you believe that I wanted everyone to agree with my "preconcieved notions," the truth is I don't know what to make of this area. I love it, but it seems like everyone else hates it.I've been other places, and IMO there's no place like home. 95 % of the metro is suburban or rural because that's how the majority of people want to live. The demand for sububan life in Chesapeake is way greater than the demand for urban living downtown or in ghent. But the thing is, we're never going to be like a convential metro with one central city where the majority of the activity is, with small suburbs surrounding. We're a collection of 7 medium sized cities that all fight for the same things. In 50 years, we've sprawled from norfolk and princess anne county, all the way to suffolk, smithfield, poquoson, moyock,nc. It's horrible really. But that doesn't mean it can't be reversed! It needs to start now. All development needs to occur along the transit lines, developers need to stop building mega subdivisions that take up tons of space, every single city must begin to develop around their urban centers, the oceanfront needs to say "#@$%" the FAA and develop how it has planned in the Resort Plan. It's so much that needs to be done, but why don't we stop bashing it constantly and try and do something to change it? Or keep saying things like I saw Tel posted on another forum, "the area does not deserve to grow" What kinda crap is that?Whatever. I hope when I get a little older I can truly try and make a change, but peopl a so narrow minded in my opinion, I don't know if i can. Yeah, we rely on our port and our military, but doesn't every place rely on certain things? Say Charlotte's banks relocated, don't you think they'd be screwed? Or San Diego lost it's miltary installations? Detroit has already been screwed by it's automakers. We're not doing half bad around here. Stop b****** about what the area doesn't have and what's wrong with it, if you don't want to do anything to fix it. We can still survive and prosper with the way we're set up, as long as each city strengthens it's urban core, works together (REGIONALISM!) to better each other, and change the suburban mentality and the small town attitudes. I'm only 15 and want to make a change, how come all of you on this website just want to talk?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

http://smartregion.org/2009/07/alternative...for-the-region/

So what does this mean for the city and the region?

For one, preliminary projections estimate that the Beach could see an increase of 300 new jobs in the first year of offshore wind farm construction. That number increases to more than 1,100 in the third year. But those are merely initial figures. Besides construction-related jobs, the growing wind energy industry could mean the creation of new manufacturing positions, research and development-related careers, as well as transportation-oriented jobs.

In Virginia Beach, we

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Uhm, I don't know what made you believe that I wanted everyone to agree with my "preconcieved notions," the truth is I don't know what to make of this area. I love it, but it seems like everyone else hates it.I've been other places, and IMO there's no place like home. 95 % of the metro is suburban or rural because that's how the majority of people want to live. The demand for sububan life in Chesapeake is way greater than the demand for urban living downtown or in ghent. But the thing is, we're never going to be like a convential metro with one central city where the majority of the activity is, with small suburbs surrounding. We're a collection of 7 medium sized cities that all fight for the same things. In 50 years, we've sprawled from norfolk and princess anne county, all the way to suffolk, smithfield, poquoson, moyock,nc. It's horrible really. But that doesn't mean it can't be reversed! It needs to start now. All development needs to occur along the transit lines, developers need to stop building mega subdivisions that take up tons of space, every single city must begin to develop around their urban centers, the oceanfront needs to say "#@$%" the FAA and develop how it has planned in the Resort Plan. It's so much that needs to be done, but why don't we stop bashing it constantly and try and do something to change it? Or keep saying things like I saw Tel posted on another forum, "the area does not deserve to grow" What kinda crap is that?Whatever. I hope when I get a little older I can truly try and make a change, but peopl a so narrow minded in my opinion, I don't know if i can. Yeah, we rely on our port and our military, but doesn't every place rely on certain things? Say Charlotte's banks relocated, don't you think they'd be screwed? Or San Diego lost it's miltary installations? Detroit has already been screwed by it's automakers. We're not doing half bad around here. Stop b****** about what the area doesn't have and what's wrong with it, if you don't want to do anything to fix it. We can still survive and prosper with the way we're set up, as long as each city strengthens it's urban core, works together (REGIONALISM!) to better each other, and change the suburban mentality and the small town attitudes. I'm only 15 and want to make a change, how come all of you on this website just want to talk?
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Haha, I really don't know. One day It sorta just came to me. I had just finished a trip to Philadelphia with my dad and that's when my love of urban environments started, then like a week after that we went downtown norfolk and I saw all the people walking, buildings being constructed (it was like 2007), people eating outside, busses running, tides playing, etc. and I was like "this place is awesome.." I'm sure I don't know as much as you guys about urban planning, I know a good amount for my age.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's pretty cool. For me its been interesting trying to connect the things I can see with my eyes in the built environment...with the things I can't see so easily: public policy and politics. I have found this is where the biggest discrepancies occur. Most folks have no real idea what the public policy is or why. They only know what they see (which may be only 1 atmosphere) and they assume using their common sense what the public policy/politics are that explain the environment.

So basically where I'm at now. I'm realizing that the public policy is key...it can be the biggest restriction as well as the saving grace. Hope that makes sense.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is a good discussion. Based on the last few comments, I have to make a couple. I spent much of my youth in Norfolk, watched the fruits and the mistakes of urban renewal in downtown, and dreamt of this area becoming a major regional economy and a more urbanized environment. I left for California (fled more like it), where I became an Urban Planner in the Bay Area, which was and is a wonderful urban laboratory, full of new ideas, good universities and research centers. I really believe that it's important to get away and experience how other people think and how they live. The world is becoming ever more competitive and more cosmopolitan. I'd advise anyone in the area with aspirations of being a professional planner to try to attend an accredited planning program located in a geographic area that offers something new and positive to learn. Don't stay here, at least not for all of your professional education.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is a good discussion. Based on the last few comments, I have to make a couple. I spent much of my youth in Norfolk, watched the fruits and the mistakes of urban renewal in downtown, and dreamt of this area becoming a major regional economy and a more urbanized environment. I left for California (fled more like it), where I became an Urban Planner in the Bay Area, which was and is a wonderful urban laboratory, full of new ideas, good universities and research centers. I really believe that it's important to get away and experience how other people think and how they live. The world is becoming ever more competitive and more cosmopolitan. I'd advise anyone in the area with aspirations of being a professional planner to try to attend an accredited planning program located in a geographic area that offers something new and positive to learn. Don't stay here, at least not for all of your professional education.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

http://hamptonroads.com/polls/should-state...on-roads-region

Here's a comment I found interesting:

Virginia Beach needs to continue to develop the way it has at Town Center and the Laskin Road oceanfront area. This is a wise investment not just for the tourist industry, but for locals to enjoy as well. We need more high rise buildings, public squares with fountains along with outdoor cafes, fine restaurants and shops. Let's put the days of greasy spoon resaurants and silly t-shirt shops behind us and move to a more sophisticated metropolitan style of living in this city.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

http://smartregion.org/2009/09/rise-of-tec...-hampton-roads/

Hampton Roads is also home to a technology community that other metro areas can only envy.

It might have started with the shipyard in Newport News or the aeronautics lab that grew into NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton. Add the world-renowned Jefferson Lab and the burgeoning Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center, and you have a vibrant technology hub that in 2007 provided 4,500 high-paying jobs while pumping an estimated $365 million into the local economy

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
  • 3 weeks later...

That doesn't surprise me. Although, I'm not sure what metros were ranked under us. The HRBT and I-64 West are, by far, two of the worst choke-points in the region. You can't rely too much on these rankings (other than population size and the like), though; they're not always the most accurate things in the world.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

That quote came from ODU's State of the Region Report by Dr. Koch. Here's the link: http://bpa.odu.edu/f...009_sor_ch6.pdf and the source of the info: Inrix National Traffic Scorecard: 2008 Annual Report and the rankings are listed on: http://scorecard.inr...Metros_2008.asp

Also, to learn more about traffic congestion in Hampton Roads, which is one of the performance metrics measured on Hampton Roads Performs: http://hamptonroadsp...-congestion.php

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

http://www.wvec.com/news/local/New-coalition-to-promote-Va-wind-power-81767857.html

VIRGINIA BEACH (AP) -- The mayors of two coastal Virginia cities, a congressman and industry leaders have created a coalition to promote offshore wind energy.

Organizers of the Virginia Offshore Wind Coalition announced Friday in Virginia Beach their goal is to create the "Silicon Valley of wind energy on the East Coast."

The coalition includes Virginia Beach Mayor William Sessoms Jr., Norfolk Mayor Paul Fraim, U.S. Rep. Glenn Nye and developers, manufacturers and utilities.

Josh Prueher of Earl Energy and the coalition said development of a wind power hub in Virginia has the potential to become an $80 billion industry creating more than 10,000 jobs.

The coalition said it will work with the General Assembly in achieving its goal.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.