VIrginia Beach Town Center Developments and News (Norfolk, Hampton: low crime, home)

[iknowftbll]

Since I will be moving to Virginia Beach, even on a part time basis, I’ve taken an interest in the long term health and development of the area. I am especially interested in the Town Center area since the home I am buying is just a few blocks away from there. This is a great neighborhood and has loads of potential that can help bring VB on par with other cities of comperable size.

I am glad to see at least one new development that will bring jobs and foot traffic to the area:

https://www.google.com/amp/pilotonli...33e1e.amp.html

Hope this goes through with minimal delay.

I’m dreaming big but I’d love to see a small arena built and a minor league hockey and basketball teams relocate to the area. Id also love to see a minor league baseball stadium built but I know there’s already one in Norfolk.

I realize space is a premium and it would cost millions to buy out and re-zone some of the industrial streets around the TC but I am just throwing out ideas for the sake of discussion. TC has a lot of potential and can eventually be elevated to a true functional downtown with the right vision.

Curious what some of the locals who are more familiar with the area have to say.

[Babe_Ruth]

IKnow,
Hi.. when you say you're buying in a nice area, just blocks from Town Center, is it Thalia (?)
If so, my feeling about developing/expanding Town Center in to a larger 'functional' downtown (from a Thalia perspective), is they would be against it. A lot of the area surrounding TC area was content suburban neighborhoods for years. Town Center is a synthetic, inorganic downtown that was dropped on them. Historically a downtown grew from industry & ppl moved to large cities seeking financial opportunities. Then when those opportunities shrink/collapse the downtown collapses, leaving behind a crime-ridden shell, bad school system etc. Virginia Beach's population growth was in large part fueled by ppl escaping Norfolk's (school system) collapse in the 70s. Not sure why VB is determined to create a fake downtown, which could skip the prosperity part of the cycle (VB is already prosperous), but go straight to the part where Town Center decays & eventually destroys surrounding property values & turns P.A. school district undesirable (?)

VB already has a successful vision, to be a suburb. Why fix what isn't broken (?) Peace.

[Reina721]

I know they are trying to take steps to attract potential employers and residents, but development in HR is and always has been quite slow. If you’d like, you can go to Vbgov and check out their master plans for strategic growth in certain areas. It will take many years to accomplish, so I wouldn’t exactly wait with bated breath.

TC is a nice place to hang out, but I wouldn’t quite call it “downtown” in the traditional sense. Still, it’s nice that they are expanding.

The sports arena/home team has been on the table for years, but serious changes will need to occur before anything happens. In the meantime, there’s always a good old Tides/Admirals game in Norfolk.

You’re right that VB and HR in general has tremendous potential. It’s unfortunate that a lot of the leadership don’t seem to know what to do with it. I grew up in VB and still love it, but it’s frustrating as an adult to see that they are afraid to think outside the box. But that applies to many facets of life, so there you have it.

Hope the area is to your liking when you make the move!

[iknowftbll]

Originally Posted by Babe_Ruth

IKnow,
Hi.. when you say you're buying in a nice area, just blocks from Town Center, is it Thalia (?)
If so, my feeling about developing/expanding Town Center in to a larger 'functional' downtown (from a Thalia perspective), is they would be against it. A lot of the area surrounding TC area was content suburban neighborhoods for years. Town Center is a synthetic, inorganic downtown that was dropped on them. Historically a downtown grew from industry & ppl moved to large cities seeking financial opportunities. Then when those opportunities shrink/collapse the downtown collapses, leaving behind a crime-ridden shell, bad school system etc. Virginia Beach's population growth was in large part fueled by ppl escaping Norfolk's (school system) collapse in the 70s. Not sure why VB is determined to create a fake downtown, which could skip the prosperity part of the cycle (VB is already prosperous), but go straight to the part where Town Center decays & eventually destroys surrounding property values & turns P.A. school district undesirable (?)

VB already has a successful vision, to be a suburb. Why fix what isn't broken (?) Peace.

Thank you for replying and your insight into the area.

I will respectfully disagree with your assessment and believe it’s a little outdated. I’m only vaguely familiar with Virginia Beach’s history but know it didn’t incorporate until the suburban era had more or less already started. I’m from Colorado and see a lot of similarities between Virginia Beach and Colorado Springs. Colorado Springs is the state’s second largest city at about 465,000 and a small (for a city of its size) metro area of about 750,000. Colorado Springs has been incorporated far longer than VB but didn’t begin growing until right around the same time VB incorporated. In 1960 it had just 70,000, and at the current pace of growth should come in a little under 500,000 in the next census. There is a distinct suburban feel in CS same as VB, though there actually is a traditional downtown area. It’s small for a city CS’s size, and for much of the city’s growth was ignored. Now the city is pouring tens of millions into its center a, trend common to many of the nation’s largest cities.

The residents of Thalia May have objected to the TC when it was developed but now that it’s built it’s obviously a successful venture. I am aware that it’s not a historic or organi downtown but that doesn’t mean it cannot be further developed, or that further development will not be successful. In fact, further development would be consistent with the urban renewal trend of other cities VB’s size.

[iknowftbll]

Originally Posted by Reina721

I know they are trying to take steps to attract potential employers and residents, but development in HR is and always has been quite slow. If you’d like, you can go to Vbgov and check out their master plans for strategic growth in certain areas. It will take many years to accomplish, so I wouldn’t exactly wait with bated breath.

TC is a nice place to hang out, but I wouldn’t quite call it “downtown” in the traditional sense. Still, it’s nice that they are expanding.

The sports arena/home team has been on the table for years, but serious changes will need to occur before anything happens. In the meantime, there’s always a good old Tides/Admirals game in Norfolk.

You’re right that VB and HR in general has tremendous potential. It’s unfortunate that a lot of the leadership don’t seem to know what to do with it. I grew up in VB and still love it, but it’s frustrating as an adult to see that they are afraid to think outside the box. But that applies to many facets of life, so there you have it.

Hope the area is to your liking when you make the move!

I’ve gathered that about VB and Hampton Roads as a whole. It does seem like development is slow and there isn’t a lot of unity of effort between the communities in this area for some of the larger initiatives.

Untapped potential notwithstanding I am confident I will enjoy my time down there.

[Babe_Ruth]

Originally Posted by iknowftbll

I will respectfully disagree with your assessment and believe it’s a little outdated..urban renewal of VB..

Hi again..
Urban renewal is for cities like Detroit, that were destroyed by White flight & urban ills.
What leads u to believe VB needs/desires an urban renewal ?
I would submit, people live in VB to escape/elude urbanization. I never hear ppl complaining about having to drive 10 minutes from VB to go to a Tides game (?) Outside of self-interested developers, can u cite a large push (grass roots) to build a sports stadium in VB ?
I'm kinda puzzled, you've never lived in VB, know little of it's historical population growth.. but are convinced it needs an urban renewal. It's the largest city in the Commonwealth, with a very low crime rate for it's size, good school system.. What specific objective is your theoretical renewal seeking ? Peace

[randomlikeme]

There is minor league hockey in Norfolk.

[jobber123rd]

Regarding baseball: there is (was?) an effort to build a 5,000 seat stadium near the Virginia Beach Sportsplex and place an independent league (Atlantic League) team there, but there hasn't been much word about it lately. Look up Virginia Beach Neptunes or Wheeler Field for more information.

In any case, from Town Center, it's easier to get to Harbor Park than the Sportsplex/Landstown area anyway. Between the Tides and the Admirals (over at Scope), there's action 11 months out of the year; the only gap occurs after the Tides wrap up their season in early September.

[iknowftbll]

Originally Posted by Babe_Ruth

Hi again..
Urban renewal is for cities like Detroit, that were destroyed by White flight & urban ills.
What leads u to believe VB needs/desires an urban renewal ?
I would submit, people live in VB to escape/elude urbanization. I never hear ppl complaining about having to drive 10 minutes from VB to go to a Tides game (?) Outside of self-interested developers, can u cite a large push (grass roots) to build a sports stadium in VB ?
I'm kinda puzzled, you've never lived in VB, know little of it's historical population growth.. but are convinced it needs an urban renewal. It's the largest city in the Commonwealth, with a very low crime rate for it's size, good school system.. What specific objective is your theoretical renewal seeking ? Peace

I use the term “urban” renewal loosely. I realize I’m comparing a predominantly suburban city to places where there is a historic core that sometimes needs to be renewed and this doesn’t necessarily apply to VB. Still the idea that VB could focus on the area it has that most resembles a traditional downtown has its merit as evidenced by the TC’s draw. There is a market for TC and the city can easily accommodate expansion of the TC area.

The other issues you cite are non starters. You’ve latched onto that word “urban” and everything YOU associate it with and seem to have missed the point of my comparison to other cities. Expanding and improving TC doesn’t automatically equate to higher crime and lower quality schools. Nor would it wholly recharacterize VB as a whole. The city would remain predominantly suburban in nature and I don’t see anything wrong with that. I’m not trying to reinvent the whole city, I’m just trying to discus ways to improve one specific area of it.

[iknowftbll]

Originally Posted by jobber123rd

Regarding baseball: there is (was?) an effort to build a 5,000 seat stadium near the Virginia Beach Sportsplex and place an independent league (Atlantic League) team there, but there hasn't been much word about it lately. Look up Virginia Beach Neptunes or Wheeler Field for more information.

In any case, from Town Center, it's easier to get to Harbor Park than the Sportsplex/Landstown area anyway. Between the Tides and the Admirals (over at Scope), there's action 11 months out of the year; the only gap occurs after the Tides wrap up their season in early September.

I wasn’t aware of the hockey team in Norfolk but I was aware of the Neptunes. Doesn’t seem like there’s much effort afoot to get that team a home to play in. Hopefully I’ll learn otherwise in the coming weeks.

Something else I wonder may be a possibility is the city luring a MLS team into the area. I’ve seen a few posts here and there lamenting the lack of major league sports in VB and MLS, while not a substitute for any of the major big-4, would still be a good place to start. Soccer is a growing sport and a suitable MLS stadium still wouldn’t be anywhere close to the level an NFL or MLB stadium would cost.