Virginia Beach on FORBES Top 10 Least Family Friendly List (Norfolk: oceanfront, hotel)

[GarciaForever]

Way to go Virginia Beach! It's so expensive to live here you made the Forbes 10 Least Family Friendly List!

In Depth: America's Most And Least Family-Friendly Cities - Forbes.com

[Rita Mordio]

Give it up for Meyera Oberndork, she definitely needs a round of applause. She used her time as Mayor to make Virginia Beach into an uber-expensive tourist trap. Gotta love her...


*claps*

[janeannwho]

Not into local politics as I should be, but it seems that the safety net of federal monies keeps this town expensive. The funny half buiit downtown seems a step in the right direction for a city, but the ocean front is so disappointing. Would be great to see the franchises all stay in the city centre and have the ocean front be an explosion for local entrepeneurs in both retail and entertainment. I had to stay down there for a month in February and there was nothing to do, so we all went to Murphy's, Abbey Road, and Mahi Mah's and ate and drank every night. Would have been nice to have a few things to choose from down there, like a concert hall, a movie theater, something.

[ChessieMom]

Yeah I totally don't understand the lack of a theater down there.

[darzz1]

Originally Posted by GarciaForever

Way to go Virginia Beach! It's so expensive to live here you made the Forbes 10 Least Family Friendly List!

In Depth: America's Most And Least Family-Friendly Cities - Forbes.com

NOT Suprising!

[Erma]

Well, Dolly Parton wanted to open a dinner theater down there 20 years ago. Holy hell was raised because the theme would have been a confederate type. She's not hurting in Myrtle Beach though and from what I understand Obendork was against it to begin with and it turned into this big racial thing. The Sandler Center is a wonderful theater/concert hall in Town Center. I don't think we should be building up the boardwalk area for that stuff. We've stuck enough money in it over the years. Other areas of the city should have more attention.

[Erma]

Here's an artical where VB was given an A- for kid friendly cities. Seattle tops the list which seems kinda funny to me.
Seattle, Des Moines Top List Of Kid-Friendly Cities

The average large city has a population of about 350,000 (about the size of Wichita, KS), including approximately 91,000 children under the age of 18. The large cities range in size from more than one million in San Antonio to just over 191,000 in Irving, TX. Santa Ana, CA has the highest proportion of children (34.2 percent), while Madison, WI has the lowest (17.9 percent).
The overal ranking of large cities is as follows:
1. Des Moines, IA: A plus
2. Spokane, WA: A plus
3. Madison, WI: A
4. Fremont, CA: A
5. Yonkers, NY: A
6. Glendale, CA: A
7. Kansas City, MO: A
8. Indianapolis, IN: A
9. Fort Wayne, IN: A minus
10. St. Paul, MN: A minus
11. Raleigh, NC: A minus
12. Tacoma, WA: A minus
13. Anchorage, AK: A minus
14. San Jose, CA: A minus
15. Greensboro, NC: A minus
16. Portland, OR: A minus
17. Lincoln, NE: A minus
18. Lexington, KY: A minus
19. Virginia Beach, VA: A minus
20. Grand Rapids, MI: B plus
21. Rochester, NY: B plus
22. Pittsburgh, PA: B plus
23. Omaha, NE: B plus
24. Louisville, KY: B plus
25. Oakland, CA: B plus
26. Honolulu, HI: B plus
27. Jersey City, NJ: B plus
28. Austin, TX: B plus
29. Wichita, KS: B plus
30. Buffalo, NY: B plus
31. Irving, TX: B plus
32. Plano, TX: B plus
33. Colorado Springs, CO: B plus
34. Scottsdale, AZ: B plus
35. Augusta, GA: B
36. Aurora, CO: B
37. Sacramento, CA: B
38. Newark, NJ: B
39. Charlotte, NC: B
40. Anaheim, CA: B
41. Riverside, CA: B
42. Arlington, TX: B
43. Long Beach, CA: B
44. Garland, TX: B
45. Milwaukee, WI: B
46. Akron, OH: B
47. Columbus, OH: B
48. Mesa, AZ: B
49. Tucson, AZ: B
50. Norfolk, VA: B minus
51. Jacksonville, FL: B minus
52. Fort Worth, TX: B minus
53. Albuquerque, NM: B minus
54. San Antonio, TX: B minus
55. Chesapeake, VA: B minus
56. Glendale, AZ: B minus
57. Hialeah, FL: B minus
58. Toledo, OH: B minus
59. Santa Ana, CA: B minus
60. Cincinnati, OH: B minus
61. Tampa, FL: B minus
62. Corpus Christi, TX: B minus
63. Stockton, CA: C plus
64. Lubbock, TX: C plus
65. Richmond, VA: C plus
66. Tulsa, OK: C plus
67. Nashville, TN: C plus
68. Las Vegas, NV: C plus
69. Montgomery, AL: C plus
70. St. Petersburg, FL: C plus
71. Fresno, CA: C plus
72. Oklahoma City, OK: C plus
73. Mobile, AL: C
74. El Paso, TX: C
75. Baton Rouge, LA: C
76. Bakersfield, CA: C
77. Memphis, TN: C minus
78. New Orleans, LA: C minus
79. Shreveport, LA: C minus
80. Birmingham, AL: C minus
For a complete list of all cities, go to KidFriendlyCities.org/.

[janeannwho]

Originally Posted by Erma

Well, Dolly Parton wanted to open a dinner theater down there 20 years ago. Holy hell was raised because the theme would have been a confederate type. She's not hurting in Myrtle Beach though and from what I understand Obendork was against it to begin with and it turned into this big racial thing. The Sandler Center is a wonderful theater/concert hall in Town Center. I don't think we should be building up the boardwalk area for that stuff. We've stuck enough money in it over the years. Other areas of the city should have more attention.

I guess it just depends on perspective. If I were travelling down here from Washington to spend a week or weekend getting away from the city, the last thing I would do is spend time in a manufactured downtown area, but I might like to take my kids to a movie on a rainy day without having to drive to a mall to do it. As a kid, having spent my summers on the Jersey Shore, the idea of being able to go almost anywhere in our bathings suits and flip flops/barefoot without having to ask for rides or find buses was a great freedom. I love vacations like that now, where I can do as I please with a minimum of driving. I like the town center and hope it expands alot, but that is as a resident. When I was a tourist, I just wanted to chill down at the beach.

[Erma]

You're right, it does depend on perspective. I would think after spending all day on the beach with the kids and the things they have going on down there, the adults would want to get away at night. If they had a theater at the beach, it would most likely be seasonal, because it wouldn't get the yearly support from the locals. Why go to the beach when we have to pay for parking and the hotel guests don't? That would end up being a big issue that the tax payers (again) have to pay for.

[Trevor92]

Originally Posted by Erma

Well, Dolly Parton wanted to open a dinner theater down there 20 years ago. Holy hell was raised because the theme would have been a confederate type. She's not hurting in Myrtle Beach though and from what I understand Obendork was against it to begin with and it turned into this big racial thing. The Sandler Center is a wonderful theater/concert hall in Town Center. I don't think we should be building up the boardwalk area for that stuff. We've stuck enough money in it over the years. Other areas of the city should have more attention.

I really think we can simplify the discussion and say the Va Beach should have both. Let's take a step back and consider that Virginia Beach has more than 425,000 residents and there are more than 1.6 million in the Hampton Roads MSA according to City Data. There's also a beach here that attracts many tourists. The point is that there's no reason we shouldn't have a built up downtown area away from the oceanfront, as well as a built-up oceanfront with tourist attractions so the city can meet the needs of residents and tourists. It's true that we only need one Sandler Center and one Virginia Beach amphitheatre, but this area is still missing out on so many tourist attractions that other areas have because of the consistent mis-management by so many including the outgoing mayor.

It's also unfortunate how several politicians and others in Virginia Beach and Norfolk try to turn everything into a big racial thing in a ploy for votes. But Virginia Beach really missed out when they had an opportunity to get a Dixie Stampede, which is a fantastic event for the entire family. In fact, Pigeon Forge is a lot better of a tourist destination than Virginia Beach IMO with a residential population of just over 5,000, because there's far more tourist attractions and themed events, especially in regards to Wild West and North vs. South themed events that draw more than 11 million every year. And if anybody here has never been, it's really worth the trip for a summer vacation.