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Grew up in Va Beach and now live in Morrisville and the only thing I miss about Va Beach is the water everywhere, the smell of the saltwater, crabbing, fresh fish, and my friends/family. Every time I go back I get a sense of nostalgia and the thought that I should move back with my family so my kids can experience my childhood there.
Then I come back to reality and realize how terrible the population growth has been on the infrastructure, the insane traffic, the concrete everywhere, the lack of diversity, and and economy built on tourism and the military, and I realize my family and I are just fine here.
The difference in the perception of both is the one that everyone seems to be missing...
Virginia Beach is basically a coastal Cary on steroids. It's largely a suburb. It's major draw is the beach, and comfortable suburban living. It's economy is military and tourism based and outside of that isn't much to speak of....
But it's a suburb. It was formerly Princess Anne County and a bunch of small jurisdictions until combining together in the 60s to form the City of Virginia Beach. The comparison to make to Raleigh is Norfolk--while the city proper of Norfolk is smaller, in function they are similarly-sized (Norfolk also has much smaller city limits than Raleigh); Norfolk is to whom you'd compare Raleigh in terms of urban scale, amenities, and such. Virginia Beach is Cary/Fuquay/Apex...
Both Raleigh and Norfolk are the heads of a larger multimodal region. Raleigh itself would have a metro of slightly over 1.3 million; Norfolk itself would have a metro of slightly under 1.2 million...
Virginia Beach is not going to have the same esteem as Raleigh because most people recognize it is a suburb and isn't the "city" of the region. The Oceanfront is nice and is rapidly evolving as a nightlife and resident destination, which is a change from my childhood when the Oceanfront was just the beach. Outside of The Oceanfront, however, there isn't much draw to Virginia Beach, but that shouldn't be taken as me saying there is nothing to do there. But you'd find a city with more depth, character, diversity, everything in Raleigh, if your comparison is Virginia Beach or Raleigh..
Norfolk or Raleigh would be a real conversation starter, though. Yet Norfolk will almost always be obscure in the national lexicon because of being surrounded by overgrown suburbs in a region that never fully embraced it as the major city and instead found ways to work against each other. It is still quite comparable to Raleigh, though...
Yes, but, Raleigh is basically a suburb on steroids too. Since VB merged with its surrounding county, comparing VB and the City of Raleigh isn't a true comparison. The population densities of VB and Wake County are not all that different (911 versus 1,253 per square mile). Raleigh's population density is about half of Norfolk's...they aren't really comparable as far urban-ness.
... overall North Carolina just seems "cleaner" (less trash, restaurants "cleaner)...
this... I never really traveled through VA (non NOVA areas) until recently, and the difference in optics regarding cleanliness was like night and day. Kinda surprised me.
It seems that most of the wealth in the Hampton Roads region resides in VA Beach, and supposedly Suffolk but I've only been through that city. Most of Norfolk, Portsmouth, Cheseapeake, Newport News, and Hampton outside a few areas seemed, questionable at best. There doesn't seem to be much of a professional draw to the area, at least nowhere close to the Triangle. Most people are employed via the military or tourism.
The infrastructure of the region is awful. Not a lot that can really be done about that when the area is surrounded by water, but the two tunnels that make up I-64 running from Norfolk to Hampton are a huge clusterf---. If there's an accident in the tunnel, well hope you have a good book to read in your car because you're not going anywhere for awhile. And trying to drive the streets of VA Beach in the summer can make ones blood boil.
It's not a bad area. I could live there if I had to, but it's also an area that I feel doesn't live up to what it could be, and a lot of that has to do with as someone else mentioned earlier that all the cities want to be the "big boy" and everyone else is the "little brother".
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Originally Posted by UserNamesake
didn't other people, including you, in this thread just down the area for being primarily military, touristy and sketchy?
Again, HR/VB is barely mentioned, if at all, on the national lists of desirable locations. You don't hear people scrambling to move to Hampton Roads/VB as you do with Raleigh-Durham. It's just odd to me.
Same with Jacksonville. the most populous city in the southeast doesn't get as much national interest as Raleigh...
Jacksonville is really not as big as you might think it is. The city and the county it resides in are almost one in the same. So when you enter Duval County from just about anywhere, you are also entering the city of Jacksonville. While it may be the largest city population-wise in the SE (although Charlotte may have passed it already?), it's actually the 4th largest metro in its own state.
As to why it doesn't garner a lot of national interest, not sure.
Last edited by Canes2006Champs; 07-05-2017 at 06:42 PM..
this... I never really traveled through VA (non NOVA areas) until recently, and the difference in optics regarding cleanliness was like night and day. Kinda surprised me.
I noticed that too and I'm a native of Wayne County, so that's saying something! Lol!
The infrastructure of the region is awful. Not a lot that can really be done about that when the area is surrounded by water, but the two tunnels that make up I-64 running from Norfolk to Hampton are a huge clusterf---. If there's an accident in the tunnel, well hope you have a good book to read in your car because you're not going anywhere for awhile.
Another issue with the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel is that people get scared of the tunnels and hit their brakes and creep through, causing long backups. I've had the displeasure of driving through there a couple of times and both times that's happened. It drove me nuts. I asked my cousin (who lives in Norfolk) about it and she said it happens all the time. I'm glad I don't commute there!
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It's not a bad area. I could live there if I had to, but it's also an area that I feel doesn't live up to what it could be, and a lot of that has to do with as someone else mentioned earlier that all the cities want to be the "big boy" and everyone else is the "little brother".
Kinda makes you wonder how much potential in Hampton Roads there would be if there was serious cooperation between the cities. They seem to be their own worst enemy and hold themselves back as a result.
Jacksonville is really not as big as you might think it is. The city and the county it resides in are almost one in the same. So when you enter Duval County from just about anywhere, you are also entering the city of Jacksonville. While it may be the largest city population-wise in the SE (although Charlotte may have passed it already?), it's actually the 4th largest metro in its own state.
As to why it doesn't garner a lot of national interest, not sure.
I don't think Charlotte has passed yet. Nipping at its heels. Charlotte is 60-65 percent of Mecklenburg. that's a pretty large surface area, so if Jacksonville makes up 80 percent or more of Duval the surface area must be huge for Jacksonville.
And when you say metro pop, are you speaking to urban core numbers?
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Originally Posted by LM117
I noticed that too and I'm a native of Wayne County, so that's saying something! Lol!
LOLOLOLOL
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Originally Posted by LM117
Kinda makes you wonder how much potential in Hampton Roads there would be if there was serious cooperation between the cities. They seem to be their own worst enemy and hold themselves back as a result.
I don't think Charlotte has passed yet. Nipping at its heels. Charlotte is 60-65 percent of Mecklenburg. that's a pretty large surface area, so if Jacksonville makes up 80 percent or more of Duval the surface area must be huge for Jacksonville.
Jacksonville covers 95% of Duval County. Jacksonville is almost 900 square miles; Charlotte is about 300. Charlotte is almost 3 times denser than J'ville.
Another issue with the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel is that people get scared of the tunnels and hit their brakes and creep through, causing long backups. I've had the displeasure of driving through there a couple of times and both times that's happened. It drove me nuts. I asked my cousin (who lives in Norfolk) about it and she said it happens all the time. I'm glad I don't commute there!
Watching for the ones who slow down in the tunnels is how you easily spot the non-natives and visitors.
Jacksonville covers 95% of Duval County. Jacksonville is almost 900 square miles...
that's huge.
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