Virginia Beach vs Norfolk

[citydweller]

Is light rail coming to Durham? What about Raleigh?

[Pyroninja42]

Originally Posted by Coconut1

Prominent to who and what money?

There's quite a bit of money here. I don't know where the hell the money's coming from, but there's a lot of money.

[qolspony]

Originally Posted by citydweller

Is light rail coming to Durham? What about Raleigh?

Yes. Building should start in 2019 (tentative). Raleigh is not interested at this time. Chapel Hill, which is also part of the TRIANGLE has express interest.

[Becky500]

Well Norfolk, VA has opened the Norfolk Premium Outlets. There are some that enjoy it and some that dont. To decide you need to visit the place for yourself.

[jillybean720]

Originally Posted by Becky500

Well Norfolk, VA has opened the Norfolk Premium Outlets. There are some that enjoy it and some that dont. To decide you need to visit the place for yourself.

This thread is from 2.5 years ago...

[murksiderock]

Originally Posted by Babe_Ruth

BBB, hey brother, appreciate your post.. it gave me a much needed laugh today.

I guess you're not intimate with the denizens of Norfolk destroying Waterside, the issues MacArthur has had with local kids, the demise of Military Circle, etc, etc.
One of this project's strengths (imo.) is it's close proximity to Va Beach, so maybe it'll attract the predominately suburban, White demographic that you're demonizing, but which typically upholds businesses, as opposed to destroying them.

If you have kids in Norfolk public schools, please tell me more about the progressive, forward-thinking institutions of lower learning Norfolk boasts too.. peace.

This was an incredibly racist post...

[murksiderock]

I will say that nearly 13 months after coming here, I've witnessed the re-opening of Waterside and the grand opening of The Main. I'm not sure if their economic impacts on the city, but I have to believe at the very least they've helped to diversify Downtown Norfolk...

I came here favoring Norfolk, but I year later, I think Virginia Beach is more my style. Its shortcomings for me are few (small downtown, widespread suburbia, no light rail), but its advantages are wonderful. I can live with a small downtown in city that's growing, and I can choose to live and/or frequent those parts of town that have acceptable levels of urbanity. The pros definitely outweigh the cons...

Culturally, Norfolk doesn't do it for me. It has a handful of interesting areas, but I dont cinc it nearly as charming as I once thought before I moved here. It is more blue collar, which is authentic and positive, but that blue collar nature doesn't fit my personality. The suburbia is widespread in Norfolk, too; I would say a third of the city at most is truly urban. That's not enough to sway me towards the city. There also seem to be few experiences in one city that can't be had in the other. The Chrysler is enjoyable, but I've been to better art museums, it isn't a place I need to visit more than twice a year. Ghent is nice and (along with some other Norfolk neighborhoods) DOES present a different atmosphere than found in VB...but it's also small and only quasi-urban, in the sense that it doesn't have the pedestrian activity, build, public transit, etc of a thoroughly urban, core-city neighborhood...

To each their own, I live in VB and work in Norfolk and have met people who prefer one over the other. I tend to view Norfolk and VB as dual cores but different parts of the same larger city. I know that isn't the popular opinion of locals, but I believe overall growth would be so much more enthralling if the cities and their citizens viewed each other as parts of the same whole and marketed The Southside in that fashion. The Bronx has a markedly different atmosphere from Queens, but they are the same city. I prefer the Virginia Beach side of town, but both have their benefits...

[Babe_Ruth]

Originally Posted by murksiderock

This was an incredibly racist post...

Murk, Instead of the boring, standard dodge of 'its racist'.. why not address or refute my statement. Former businesses @ Waterside (Have a Nice Day Cafe, etc) had their traffic dry up bcuz their customers got tired of getting robbed in Waterside's parking garage. MacArthur instituted a curfew out of self-defense. They got tired of minors from Young & Park Place loitering around & bothering paying customers.. Norfolk's school system started losing students in catastrophic droves due to forced bussing in the 70s.. What part of these events do u specifically (& dismissively) view as racist fantasy, and not matter of record (?)

If u wanna psychoanalyze each others' posts, instead of talk local history & demographics, etc. I can do that..

You're probably childless & rootless. Which is why you're concerned w/superficial things like how authentic u perceive a city's core, (or how quaint it's blue collar class is).. as opposed to being concerned with kids' safety, school system, etc. You've only been here 13 months (did I interpret your post right ?) and are passing thru, and u view yourself as a Seven Cities expert; Am I close (?)

[murksiderock]

Wow, looks like I touched a nerve! Hahahaha...

The book has been out on you for awhile, Babe. Why so defensive?

[Lockdev]

Originally Posted by murksiderock

Wow, looks like I touched a nerve! Hahahaha...

The book has been out on you for awhile, Babe. Why so defensive?

You touched a nerve with a lot of good people from this area. Norfolk has so much potential, but much of what Babe said is true. The high crime deters a lot of good people from moving to and visiting the area.

It's a fact that these neighborhoods have high crime and produce a lot of criminals. Calling out facts like these have nothing to do with being racist.