Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
(I consider Alexandria the primary city of NoVa because it’s a real city even though Fairfax is the population, employment and retail center of the area, for example).
I tend to think of Alexandria and Arlington together as the urban core, so to speak, of NoVA--basically the old Alexandria County when it was a part of DC.
I've always thought of Virginia Beach as a completely separate area than Norfolk. I graduated from ODU and lived there a while afterwards and I always found that people separate the two, especially the locals. You see it in things like the Tide light rail system, which was proposed and built while I lived there. VA beach was essentially like "keep those Norfolk folks outta here" lol. VA beach retains that VA county "keep those city residents in the city, they bring crime with them" attitude. Its a similar thing to what you see in Baltimore vs the county just to a lesser degree. I do agree that there are areas where the lines are blurred like in the area near Janaf or Virginia Wesleyan where a non local likely wouldn't be able to tell the difference but the people purchasing property there definitely know which side of the line they fall on. Those areas are also the areas that border VA beach so it makes sense. VA beach doesn't really have neighborhoods that resemble core Norfolk(park place, lambert's point, huntersville, ghent etc.) Admittedly, I always found VA beach hard to view as a city city and hate hate hated town center when I lived there so I may be biased.
Norfolk is definitely the historical urban core of both the southside and of the entire hampton roads metro area. The only reason that Virginia Beach may seem like the primary city of the are is because it is the largest city in Virginia by population and it has easier name recognition. If Norfolk did not exist Virginia Beach would be no more than a resort city like Ocean City,MD or Myrtle Beach. The port in Norfolk and the Naval Base are the two instistutions that allowed the area to grow into a prospering mid sized metro area. The only reason that Virginia Beach is the most populated city in Virginia is because all the counties in the Norfolk area consolidated into independent cities to prevent Norfolk from annexing land. Unlike southern cities like Charlotte or Jacksonville, Norfolk does not have the land area to maintain a significantly larger population without high density development. The majoirty of people in southeastern virginia prefer to live in the suburbs instead of in high density urban areas. Some people may be more familar with the name Virginia Beach, but many people have no idea how the city looks. They assume it is just a beach city similar to Ocean City, MD. Virgnia Beach is definitely an attractive suburb that functions as one of the core cities of the region. It has developed its own urban core that complements that more established urban core in Norfolk. People that say Virginia Beach is bland compared to Jacksonville must be strictly comparing the two cities and not the metro area. Jacksonville has a nice sized downtown, but outside of that it is sprawling subrubs similar to Virginia Beach. I would also argue that Virginia Beach Oceanfront has a much more attractive design than the beach communites near Jacksonville. Not to mention the area has much more history and amusement parks.
Jacksonville has a nice sized downtown, but outside of that it is sprawling subrubs similar to Virginia Beach. I would also argue that Virginia Beach Oceanfront has a much more attractive design than the beach communites near Jacksonville. Not to mention the area has much more history and amusement parks.
I disagree with this. Jacksonville definitely encompasses a ginormous amount of land and has quite a bit of suburban area because of that. This blanket statement doesn't give credit to the more walkable/vibrant neighborhoods in Jacksonville like Riverside, San Marcos, Springfield, Brooklyn, or Murray Hill that I don't think VA Beach has any answer for. Oceanfront is subjective, I don't agree that VA Beach's Ocean area is better. The JAX beach cities are quite built up and they are usable pretty much year round. I'm also not sure if VA Beach has an answer for Ponte Vedra either.
When it comes to character I think it's 50/50 Jacksonville is definitely held back by leadership that lack a vision, and I do think Norfolk's city center is more attractive on the whole. As a place to live Jacksonville is just more upward. More diversified economy, less dependent on defense industries and growing much faster. The JAX area offers more to do in general in my experience. The waterways around VA Beach don't augment the area quite like the St. Johns River does for Jackonsville. The rivers/bay in Norfolk area make it more difficult to get around, and the area less cohesive from what I experienced.
I disagree with this. Jacksonville definitely encompasses a ginormous amount of land and has quite a bit of suburban area because of that. This blanket statement doesn't give credit to the more walkable/vibrant neighborhoods in Jacksonville like Riverside, San Marcos, Springfield, Brooklyn, or Murray Hill that I don't think VA Beach has any answer for.
I agree concerning Jax's inner neighborhoods. Perhaps when he said "downtown" he really meant the urban core which would include those neighborhoods
In terms of physical size (land area), Jacksonville itself (~750 sq mi) is larger than VA Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, and Portsmouth combined (~670 sq mi) with a population of about 100K less than the combined VA cities. That's a pretty interesting tidbit there...I crunched the numbers myself as I was curious to see how they compared in that regard.
Quote:
The JAX area offers more to do in general in my experience.
What can one do in Jax that they can't do in Hampton Roads besides attend an NFL game?
I agree concerning Jax's inner neighborhoods. Perhaps when he said "downtown" he really meant the urban core which would include those neighborhoods
In terms of physical size (land area), Jacksonville itself (~750 sq mi) is larger than VA Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, and Portsmouth combined (~670 sq mi) with a population of about 100K less than the combined VA cities. That's a pretty interesting tidbit there...I crunched the numbers myself as I was curious to see how they compared in that regard.
Yes exactly I was refering to the urban core which would be more comparable to Norfolk. I was also going to mention the how the land area of Jacksonville compares to the land area of the cities in hampton roads. If Norfolk was able to annex land from the former Princess Anne county and Norfolk county then it would probably be a city very similar to Jacksonville. I also agree that besides sports Jacksonville doesn't offer more entertainment than the hampton roads area.
Quote:
More diversified economy, less dependent on defense industries and growing much faster. The JAX area offers more to do in general in my experience.
I'm also curious to know what are the major industries that Jacksonville offers other than defense. Both areas seem to have really similar economies. Honestly overall both areas offer much of the same benefits. I would choose Norfolk/Virginia Beach area over Jacksonville due to its four seasons, historical areas, and proximity to major cities in the mid atlantic region such as DC and Baltimore. However if you prefer year round warm weather than Jacksonville would probably be the better choice.
I'm also curious to know what are the major industries that Jacksonville offers other than defense. Both areas seem to have really similar economies. Honestly overall both areas offer much of the same benefits. I would choose Norfolk/Virginia Beach area over Jacksonville due to its four seasons, historical areas, and proximity to major cities in the mid atlantic region such as DC and Baltimore. However if you prefer year round warm weather than Jacksonville would probably be the better choice.
JAX's economy is a mix of healthcare, insurance, and it is also a pretty substantial secondary corporate hub for some pretty big banking and insurance brands. Most of the new residents moving there are educated and getting jobs in these fields. I'm not even sure if defense is the number 1 employer in the area.
JAX's economy is a mix of healthcare, insurance, and it is also a pretty substantial secondary corporate hub for some pretty big banking and insurance brands. Most of the new residents moving there are educated and getting jobs in these fields. I'm not even sure if defense is the number 1 employer in the area.
Copying this from a post I made a couple weeks ago. As you say, it is a popular nearshore hub for banks (BOA, Chase and Deutsche Bank have major presence along with TIAA Bank's headquarters). I'm just sharing what I know about Jax, but this is not a comparison as I don't know about VB and certainly it must have some very large companies as well. Anyway, here is a snapshot of large companies BASED IN JAX, as I was responding to whether Jax has any Fortune 500s:
Yes, 3 for 2021 which is lower than in previous years.
FNF - Fortune #241 with $12.6B revenue FNIS - Fortune #248 with $10.8B revenue CSX - Fortune #292 with $10.6B revenue
Southeastern Grocers used to be a Fortune 500 but it went private a few years ago. It is on the Forbes Largest Private companies list at #52 with $7.7B revenue
Then there is Guidewell Inc which is a "non-profit" healthcare and insurance company, but is the largest of them all. Its most recent annual revenue reported was $19B. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GuideWell
The following all exceed $1B annual revenue:
Landstar - logistics. Fortune 1000 Fanatics - largest sports apparel company. privately held but would easily be Fortune 1000 Black Knight - financial services. just fell out of Fortune 1000 Dun and Bradstreet - business consulting. just missed Fortune 1000 Acosta Sales and Marketing - private Crowley Maritime - shipping. private Regency Centers - one of the largest US REITs Ring Power - construction equipment. private Gate Petroleum - private Haskell - construction and design company. private
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
