So you hate Hampton Roads? What do you suggest to better it? (Virginia Beach: oceanfront, apartment)

[Kevin_R]

I've been reading around this forum for some time, and i must say I've become very aggravated with the amount of I HATE HAMPTON ROADS slander. What do you suggest the Hampton Roads area do? I've read post after post of why isn't Hampton Roads like this metro or that metro, why is it so much traffic blah blah blah blah...Hampton Roads IS an up and coming metro whether you want to believe it or not. Every metro has started from somewhere, Rome wasn't built in a day. How can you possibly hold a metro like Hampton Roads to the same standards as a New York, or DC? I was born here and enjoy the area it is HOME to me. I'm not going to move to Jackson, Ms then complain that its no beach in the city. Ever area is unique and has something different to offer. Why not focus on the unique qualities and not the ones that plague every metro, such as crime or traffic? If there is one problem i have with Hampton Roads is the lack of a unifying governing body. Every city has a different vision and no city really wants to be the "FOLLOWER CITY" . If Hampton Roads can some how merge it would move this area leaps and bounds. What do you suggest?

[Dothan1020]

I lived in the city of Hampton when I moved from Richmond and liked it much better and I never understood all the complaining, like if you're not content and all you are going to do is complain then leave you are wasting your time, ya know?

[The Dissenter]

Originally Posted by Kevin_R

I've been reading around this forum for some time, and i must say I've become very aggravated with the amount of I HATE HAMPTON ROADS slander. What do you suggest the Hampton Roads area do? I've read post after post of why isn't Hampton Roads like this metro or that metro, why is it so much traffic blah blah blah blah...Hampton Roads IS an up and coming metro whether you want to believe it or not. Every metro has started from somewhere, Rome wasn't built in a day. How can you possibly hold a metro like Hampton Roads to the same standards as a New York, or DC? I was born here and enjoy the area it is HOME to me. I'm not going to move to Jackson, Ms then complain that its no beach in the city. Ever area is unique and has something different to offer. Why not focus on the unique qualities and not the ones that plague every metro, such as crime or traffic? If there is one problem i have with Hampton Roads is the lack of a unifying governing body. Every city has a different vision and no city really wants to be the "FOLLOWER CITY" . If Hampton Roads can some how merge it would move this area leaps and bounds. What do you suggest?

While I don't hate Hampton Roads, there is not a lot of logical reason to move back there other than it being my hometown. Here are some ideas.

1. More solid white-collar jobs in different fields. Tourism, shipbuilding, and defense can only do so much.
2. Quit losing young college grads to Richmond and Northern VA.
3. Cooperation between the 7 cities.
4. Have one central city emerge for name value. Norfolk seems most closest to this.
5. Counter-act the thug culture of the area.
6. Hook a major sports team.

[Lethal2007]

Originally Posted by Kevin_R

I've been reading around this forum for some time, and i must say I've become very aggravated with the amount of I HATE HAMPTON ROADS slander. What do you suggest the Hampton Roads area do?

Thanks for asking, and here is exactly what I recommend for the South side

1. Bulldoze everything that is not in the Waterside, St. Pauls, Brambleton circle, north west to the rail yards, and north to 38th Street, and everything inside of Ballentine and Lafayette to the Zoo. The use of this land for residential single family like Park Place and Huntersville, and slums like Young Terrace is ludicrous. This land should be all zoned high rise commercial and residential. Any existing medical complexes or schools in the area can be kept. This area will be constructed as very walkable, and have tree lined streets, lots of benches, and police beat cops. I wish that Norfolk didnt use so much of their downtown on cemeteries, but I dont advocate moving them, so instead, we will just ban new burials in Norfolk.

2. Get rid of Portsmouth altogether. Annex west to about Frederick and South to the shipyard to Norfolk, give the rest to Chesapeake. Chesapeake would give up everything south to Providence, east to Military and west to the Elizabeth River. Do exactly the same thing with the annexed portion of Portsmouth and Chesapeake as you did with the rest of Norfolk. Most of this section should be nothing but high to midrise commercial and residential.

Now that we've constructed a downtown thats actually worth a crap

3. Get rid of the Scope, get rid of Chrysler Hall. They are dilapatated, and are taking up good downtown land, rebuild an arena that is large enough for NHL or NBA. You can build this where Chesterfield Heights used to be, and build a couple parking garages in the area that might be useful to Norfolk State and could be shared.

4. Speaking of Norfolk State, I would favor grants to help them eject the random housing and buildings unrelated to Norfolk State out of the campus and condence the campus some. I would also favor removing major roads such as Park Ave out of the campus.

5. Since weve already bulldozed all that crap along E. Virginia Beach Blvd (like the houses that have on street parking from Ballentine to Park Ave), we need to widen all of Virginia Beach Blvd to 4 lanes at least on each side all the way to the the Virginia Beach ocean front from Monticello. The back ups on this road where it shrinks to 2 or 3 lanes are insane (such as the Newtown intersection). This will require knocking down some businesses and houses past the Ballentine bulldoze point. Oh well. The only real problem I see is Booker T. Washington High School, and Im not sure what to do about that. Maybe we do all the road widening southward. The craziness of 264 getting off right in to Downtown Norfolk needs to go. This exit needs to be much further back, and feed in to Virginia Beach Blvd.

6. Construct an excellent public transportation system. I think the major hub should be constructed between Ingleside and Ballentine on E. Virgina Beach Blvd. Here there will be several parking garages, and it will be a stop for the rail line, and a number of buses. I dont know if that track going through is still in use, but if it is, it needs to go. Light rail will have several destinations. There will be a stop possibly on the corner of east city hall and St. Paul. A stop on Bousch close to the TCC, another stop by Sentara and CHKD, a stop by ODU, and stops on either side Norfolk State, to be used by students and for Harbor Park and the new Arena. This could possibly be covered by one line. Another line should be constructed to go to the Zoo, Bon Securs and the Naval Base. A third line will go across to Portsmouth and stop at the Naval Hospital and the Shipyard. The downtown tunnel needs to be widened. Express buses should be added that go between the following and the hub station, Janaf/Military Circle, Towncenter/Pembroke, Lynnhaven Mall, Dam Neck/Oceana, Greenbrier, Princess Anne Park/Amphitheatre/Sportsplex, VB Convention center. Express Bus lanes should be built wherever possible. Park and Ride stations will be at PA Park, Town Center, Convention Center. There also needs to be a high capacity, high end fairy, like the Staten Island fairy. I would build 1 terminal right near Harbor Park (which would be right near a train stop as well) 1 terminal near Portsmouth Naval, and 1 terminal where the Ford plant was. 1 fairy between the three should be sufficient.

7. A tremendous campaign needs to be developed by the region. Corporations who will build large office towers will get free land, and corporations who will relocate their HQ here will get whatever tax breaks we can hand them. We can use the fact that we have so many local colleges and an excellent public transportation system as well as our geographic benefits to try to lure in business.

8. When we have significant corporate presence, do what we can to make sure the military leaves. I know that is a Federal matter, but we can jack up taxes on government contracts or whatever else we can to make doing business too expensive, and the Navy can sail down to Jacksonville.

Originally Posted by Kevin_R

I've read post after post of why isn't Hampton Roads like this metro or that metro, why is it so much traffic blah blah blah blah...Hampton Roads IS an up and coming metro whether you want to believe it or not. Every metro has started from somewhere, Rome wasn't built in a day.

Hampton Roads is actually not a growing metro at all. Its growth has practically stopped, with most of that being in Chesapeake and Suffolk. Norfolk, Portsmouth and Hampton have been losing people or been basically flat for years. Virginia Beach, which once was the source of most of the areas population influx, has slowed to less than 5% growth. Turns out, the only thing it had going for it, affordable housing, has dissapeared, and nobody wants to come here any longer.

Originally Posted by Kevin_R

How can you possibly hold a metro like Hampton Roads to the same standards as a New York, or DC?

Thats funny, because, Hampton Roads is one of the oldest colonizations of Europeans in North America. Norfolk was incorporated in 1705, which makes it not too much younger than Boston or NYC. It has better weather, and just as good of natural port as New York City or Boston, plus it is generally better for growing and is nearly smack dab in the middle of the eastern sea board. You absolutely could not dream up a better place than Hampton Roads. Yet, Hampton Roads basically rotted as a backwater tobacco field for decades while NYC and Boston became some of the most important cities in the country and the world. So when you are saying that you cant compare Norfolk to NYC or Boston, you absolutely can compare them. There is no other reason for Norfolk not being a world class city other than it being an abject failure.

On top of that, how on earth do you explain cities that were founded way after Norfolk, that not only eclipsed Norfolk, but buried it. Cities like Chicago, Indianapolis, Cleveland, Charlotte, Nashville, Atlanta......

Originally Posted by Kevin_R

I was born here and enjoy the area it is HOME to me. I'm not going to move to Jackson, Ms then complain that its no beach in the city. Ever area is unique and has something different to offer.

What does Hampton Roads have that you cant find somewhere else better? There is nothing unique about here. Its like a giant stale suburb.

[Coconut1]

Taking all 7 cities and putting them under a county government umbrella would be a start...

[D train outta nowhere]

1. Rename Mount Trashmore. I know it was all funky and attention-grabbing, and the recycling movement has been huge, but the name is no longer cute. It's an embarrassment. "What are the top attractions in Hampton Roads?" "Well, we have Mount Trashmore..." "Ooh! Let me book tickets right away!!!"

[sevenfiveseven]

I am a native of the area too and understand how the OP feels but I know Hampton Roads is not perfect either.

How I want to see VA Beach evolve:

1. I would not bulldoze all the neighborhoods, However I would like town/city center to continue to grow western going towards Newtown Rd. I would not mind seeing a lot of the loan shark car dealerships relocated (maybe to the kempville area) and replaced with more mixed use office, retail, apartment buildings.

2. Continue to remodel the OceanFront. Some of you make your smart comments about it not being South Beach or Myrtle Beach but our beach is no slouch. With some improvements to the current property and throw in some classy hotels, retail, bars/clubs and its a whole new game.

3. Transportation system.

4. I noticed Green Run (labeled the "ghetto") seems to be the only neighborhood that tries to stand out and have its own identity in Virginia Bech, I would like to see that from the rest of the subdivsions.

5. Va Beach and Norfolk to somehow be a cohesive unit.

6. Hampton Roads and Military to come to some common ground and understand we are no longer a small town and need to progress, but that we need them to stay as well.

7. I want to see more homepride, more people like the OP. It aggrevates me too when someone thinks they can go on tirade about my hometown and get away it.

As a S/N there are many things that are unique about HR, one being the amount of beaches as well as several other things in regard to nature. Of course the suburbs and stripmalls are stale, they are stale everywhere.

[Lethal2007]

Originally Posted by sevenfiveseven

I am a native of the area too and understand how the OP feels but I know Hampton Roads is not perfect either.

How I want to see VA Beach evolve:

1. I would not bulldoze all the neighborhoods, However I would like town/city center to continue to grow western going towards Newtown Rd. I would not mind seeing a lot of the loan shark car dealerships relocated (maybe to the kempville area) and replaced with more mixed use office, retail, apartment buildings.

1. How would you recommend to fix the traffic and transportation problems in that corridor? The Independence/Va Beach Blvd intersection (and the intersections all around there) is already a nightmare and unsafe for pedestrians. You are proposing to add additional traffic and pedestrians to this?

2. How would you propose we handle the unaffordability of the units being constructed in that area?

3. How would you prevent further construction from turning in to exactly what Towncenter turned in to? A bunch of restaurants and law offices? Town center never provided anything that we were sold on it doing.

Originally Posted by sevenfiveseven

2. Continue to remodel the OceanFront. Some of you make your smart comments about it not being South Beach or Myrtle Beach but our beach is no slouch. With some improvements to the current property and throw in some classy hotels, retail, bars/clubs and its a whole new game.

Why would classy hotels move in? The oceanfront is dirty, the water is dirty, and Virginia Beach is generally a low class vacation spot. In effect it is a wannabe Myrtle Beach or South Beach. Even if you bulldozed out the old decaying buildings that make up the strip, and knocked down the 1960-1970 era hotels, and kept the homeless and the bums back to Birdneck, and actually cleaned up the cigarette butts off the beach, you still couldnt fix the water quality

Originally Posted by sevenfiveseven

3. Transportation system.

What do you recommend for this?

Originally Posted by sevenfiveseven

4. I noticed Green Run (labeled the "ghetto") seems to be the only neighborhood that tries to stand out and have its own identity in Virginia Bech, I would like to see that from the rest of the subdivsions.

That would require people to pony up money. Virginia Beach, being infested with conservatism, is populated by people who are only concerned with what affects them directly and presently. If you sent a donation plate around the average Virginia Beach neighborhood to put a sign up or throw a block party or two, youd get no donations, but you probably would get several people calling the police on any party or construction noise.

Originally Posted by sevenfiveseven

5. Va Beach and Norfolk to somehow be a cohesive unit.

This is impossible. They are two different animals. Va Beach is slow, backwards and conservative and Norfolk is probably the most liberal and progressive thinking city in the area.

Originally Posted by sevenfiveseven

6. Hampton Roads and Military to come to some common ground and understand we are no longer a small town and need to progress, but that we need them to stay as well.

We'd be better off without the military in the long run. Housing cost would drop, and we would be forced to develop a real economy, not one that just leeches off the government.

Originally Posted by sevenfiveseven

7. I want to see more homepride, more people like the OP. It aggrevates me too when someone thinks they can go on tirade about my hometown and get away it.

What is there to be proud about? There are no pro sports teams, we dont have some world famous industry, we arent a world famous resort, the population is transient and mostly identifies with wherever they came from. Many of the people who grow up here cant wait to leave.........really, what do we cling to? Yorktown Battlefield? The Navy? The only reason most people even know where Virginia Beach is, is because it has the words "Virginia" and "Beach" in it, which naturally makes them think a coastal Virginia city. Thats sad for a city over 400k people.

Originally Posted by sevenfiveseven

As a S/N there are many things that are unique about HR, one being the amount of beaches as well as several other things in regard to nature. Of course the suburbs and stripmalls are stale, they are stale everywhere.

The difference is, suburbs are suburbs and cities are cities on much of the east coast. What other metro area, has for their biggest city, something that looks like Virginia Beach? Virginia Beach doesnt even have a corporate skyline. Its tallest buildings are mostly hotels.

As for the amount of beaches, you ever been to South Florida? They have a ton of beaches, and they are CLEAN.

[UHgrad]

Originally Posted by Lethal2007

The oceanfront is dirty, the water is dirty, and Virginia Beach is generally a low class vacation spot. In effect it is a wannabe Myrtle Beach or South Beach. Even if you bulldozed out the old decaying buildings that make up the strip, and knocked down the 1960-1970 era hotels, and kept the homeless and the bums back to Birdneck, and actually cleaned up the cigarette butts off the beach, you still couldnt fix the water quality

Why does this keep getting repeated? The water is not dirty in Virginia Beach, the water has sediment in it because of the proximity to the bay and rivers as well as the things that live in it but it is not unclean. Clear does not equal clean.

Virginia beaches rank fourth in water quality - Daily Press

NRDC: Testing the Waters 2010

Originally Posted by Lethal2007

This is impossible. They are two different animals. Va Beach is slow, backwards and conservative and Norfolk is probably the most liberal and progressive thinking city in the area.

LOL, this is the crux of the matter I think for most of the people that get on here and bash the area. I agree, if you are a liberal secular progressive that likes to be around the same then definitely you will get frustrated around here. haha

[UHgrad]

To answer the OP question:

- Get rid of this idea about Hampton Roads. There is a southside, there is a peninsula, and there are the sticks. You will never get the whole region to work together since they are culturally different, far apart, and separated by large waterways. If you want to consolidate get Norfolk, VB, Chesapeake (out to Great Bridge), and Old Town Portsmouth together and have them work regionally on transportation and business issues. On the other side of the water you can get Hampton, Newport News, and York County etc. together. This idea that VB has anything to do with Newport News or York County is silly.

- Extend light rail or develop a Bus Rapid Transit system that goes to the beach, VB town center, Oceana, Naval Station Norfolk, ODU, an Ocean View as well as some kind of line that goes from the a southside transit center to a peninsula transit center. (this is in the works)

- Build VBSU (Virginia Beach State University) in that big parcel of land off Princess Anne and focus on science and technology. There is no reason for all of our good students to run off to UVA and VT then move to Northern Virginia and Raleigh after they graduate for better jobs.

- Incentivize more private sector (high tech) business to move to the area with tax benefits etc... (being done currently) The private sector job market is somewhat lacking but the economy as a whole is not bad at all compared to the rest of the country.