Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > General U.S. > City vs. City
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 11-30-2016, 12:39 PM
 
8,090 posts, read 6,892,981 times
Reputation: 9225

Advertisements

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dyadic View Post
Neither of those location have:


1. The largest naval base on the planet.


2. One of 10 Class 1 railroad.


3. The 5th busiest shipping port in the nation.


4. Home to the NATO Allied Command.


It is more than just some historic city near Virginia Beach. It is the hub of the entire region. I would venture to say that Norfolk importance to the nation is on a much higher tier than NOLA, Memphis, or Nashville.
To be honest, MOST people who know Norfolk know it as a military town. People who know Hampton Roads know Norfolk is a military town surrounded by other military towns. For this reason, Norfolk really has no peers, because there is no other such concentration of military towns in a single metro.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 11-30-2016, 12:44 PM
 
Location: Portsmouth, VA
6,514 posts, read 8,386,968 times
Reputation: 3822
To have heard of Hampton Roads in general you'd need some connection to the region either through the military, having lived here, having family here, etc. I had honestly never heard of any of the cities in this region before I'd moved here. But I'm from Ohio all I knew was the Midwest, the Northeast, West Coast and deep South. Didn't know that much about Florida outside of cities like Miami.

And I'm still learning. The only thing I would say is, how did I not know about this area. But I had only heard of San Diego in passing (although I did/had heard more about that city than Norfolk).

My understanding from some of the Navy stationed here is that San Diego is the preferable option. Which is interesting because I know someone from San Diego that hates it there.

This is the conclusion I arrive at; there are a lot of port cities you hear about in passing but unless there is some other reason to hear about, positive or negative, like we're always hearing bad things about Baltimore, there's no reason to lose sleep thinking about them, until it applies to you.

Had I never moved here, it would have been another 10 years being completely ignorant of the place. That says nothing about Norfolk or Hampton Roads though. That has more to do with the fact that no one is evangelizing this place. Not sure what tourism boards around here are doing about that but it is a well kept secret, albeit one that is kept out in the open.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-30-2016, 12:54 PM
 
1,556 posts, read 1,895,238 times
Reputation: 1595
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mutiny77 View Post
In terms of name recognition and cachet, he has a point. Plus Nashville, NOLA, and Memphis are the primary cities of their metro areas and aren't as economically one-dimensional as Norfolk.
Economically it is two dimensional. Military and various cargo ports (both rail and water). My overall point is that Norfolk's importance nationally is on a level that NOLA, Nashville and Memphis will never have.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-30-2016, 01:09 PM
 
37,792 posts, read 41,479,186 times
Reputation: 27052
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dyadic View Post
Economically it is two dimensional. Military and various cargo ports (both rail and water). My overall point is that Norfolk's importance nationally is on a level that NOLA, Nashville and Memphis will never have.
But that's literally only because of the military presence and one BRAC decision could change that.

But for what it's worth, Hampton Roads has a higher GDP than Memphis and NOLA.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-30-2016, 01:21 PM
 
1,556 posts, read 1,895,238 times
Reputation: 1595
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mutiny77 View Post
But that's literally only because of the military presence and one BRAC decision could change that.

But for what it's worth, Hampton Roads has a higher GDP than Memphis and NOLA.
BRAC changing it's decision is highly doubtful because there isn't a natural harbor in United States like Norfolk. That's what makes it so unique.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-30-2016, 01:44 PM
 
37,792 posts, read 41,479,186 times
Reputation: 27052
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dyadic View Post
BRAC changing it's decision is highly doubtful because there isn't a natural harbor in United States like Norfolk. That's what makes it so unique.
Unlikely but it could happen. Norfolk would still be important without the military presence, but much less so.

It's a double-edged sword for Norfolk. It gives it more importance than it would otherwise normally have, but it seems to have also led to complacency among city leaders. Other cities without a natural geographic advantage have to work hard at growing and prospering, and it's clear that cities like Nashville are doing just that.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-30-2016, 05:03 PM
 
Location: "The Dirty Irv" Irving, TX
4,001 posts, read 3,215,919 times
Reputation: 4821
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mutiny77 View Post
Unlikely but it could happen. Norfolk would still be important without the military presence, but much less so.

It's a double-edged sword for Norfolk. It gives it more importance than it would otherwise normally have, but it seems to have also led to complacency among city leaders. Other cities without a natural geographic advantage have to work hard at growing and prospering, and it's clear that cities like Nashville are doing just that.
Or even more so than Nashville, DFW. It has no natural advantages besides being in he middle of the country.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-30-2016, 05:11 PM
 
Location: "The Dirty Irv" Irving, TX
4,001 posts, read 3,215,919 times
Reputation: 4821
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mutiny77 View Post
But that's literally only because of the military presence and one BRAC decision could change that.

But for what it's worth, Hampton Roads has a higher GDP than Memphis and NOLA.
I did notice the higher GDP. It isn't really that big of a surprise seeing what has happened to NOLA and the general decline that Memphis had gone through. The Navy is a pretty big spender too.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-30-2016, 05:51 PM
 
37,792 posts, read 41,479,186 times
Reputation: 27052
Quote:
Originally Posted by Treasurevalley92 View Post
Or even more so than Nashville, DFW. It has no natural advantages besides being in he middle of the country.
Dallas was an early rail hub so it has a logistical geographic advantage.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-01-2016, 09:17 AM
 
Location: "The Dirty Irv" Irving, TX
4,001 posts, read 3,215,919 times
Reputation: 4821
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mutiny77 View Post
Dallas was an early rail hub so it has a logistical geographic advantage.
Yeah, but nothing about Dallas's specific location made that inevitable, no harbor, and the trinity river isn't much of a river, in fact, the river flooded all the time until they built the levies. Norfolk is tied down to a very specific place.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > General U.S. > City vs. City

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top