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Old 09-20-2010, 10:39 AM
 
Location: Atlanta
492 posts, read 1,022,425 times
Reputation: 419

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Give your opinion, share some examples, or share a story of the Provincialism you have experienced here in Hampton Roads.

If you have had any exposure to life in the Tidewater/Hampton Roads area, then you're probably aware of how divided the cities can be at times (local governments as well as citizens).

I am from Norfolk and that is where my family and roots are. But I have lived in Virginia Beach for quite some time and spend a great deal of my time between the two cities. I basicly consider myself a hybrid of the two or a Norfolk/Beach boy for a more local terminology. But with that said, I still consider Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Suffolk, NN, and Hampton as part of my community, even if I only seldomly go to these cities to shop or visit family members. To me, that is what I find so special about the area. The only other place I feel that has this unique setup (a better setup too) is NYC.

Ive been keeping up with the building of Norfolks light rail, The Tide, and never have I really noticed how ridiculous the division in the area was on the citizen level until I began reading comments on articles in the local newspaper online. Its just plain silly at times. But what really bugs me out the most is that there are people who really only care about their city and their city alone, forgetting that the success of their city depends on the success of the region as a whole.

SN: Virginia Beach citizens tend to be the worst when it comes to this. Not just on the topic of light rail, but in general. Its more of the older generation though.
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Old 09-20-2010, 01:12 PM
 
275 posts, read 868,083 times
Reputation: 144
I work for one of the news outlets in the area, and we frequently get calls from a lady who lives near Oceana. She usually calls to rant about stuff happening in VB and how corrupt she thinks they are.

However, she has also complained about how light rail is a bad idea, and is of the mentality that it'll bring crime to VB (the stereotypical VB response). She's also said that she doesn't go to Norfolk because there's too much crime there. She's the perfect example of someone who gets their views of the other cities based on what they hear on the news.

I also have a friend graduated from CNU in '05, and lived in NN from freshman year up until last year, when she moved back to Chesapeake. She said she was amazed at all the funny looks she got from people when she said she lived in NN. People think that every square inch of that city is the hood.
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Old 09-20-2010, 03:39 PM
 
361 posts, read 1,461,140 times
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I live in NN and used to work in Cpeake, and I too would get funny looks when I told people that I lived in NN....People in Cpeake feel as if theirs is the only locality that has no crime, which is quite the contrary.
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Old 09-21-2010, 11:54 AM
 
1,700 posts, read 5,912,956 times
Reputation: 1584
I think most of us who grew up or live/lived in HR have felt the effects of the seven cities constantly competing. As far as provincialism goes, I went to high school with a girl who hated even driving in Norfolk, and I could never understand that. She would lock her doors the second she left VB and entered Norfolk. And she would give weird looks to someone, like me for example, who would actually show affection towards or say something good about Norfolk. Very ignorant girl. And what makes it worse, is that she lived in an area of VB that wasn't exactly desirable either.

I think I'm like you though, VA7cities. I was born in Norfolk, and lived there as a child. My family has owned a business in Norfolk for 35+ years, so I spent an immeasurable amount of time there growing up and I worked there myself for 6 years. I've always split my time between Norfolk and VB and both play an equally important role in my life.
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Old 09-21-2010, 12:35 PM
 
Location: Thornrose
894 posts, read 2,305,228 times
Reputation: 1308
I never understood this either. Other than the names and governments of the cities, the area as a whole is pretty similar. You have all these cities that literally border each other. You would have to be crazy to believe that criminals arrive at Va Beach's or Chesapeake's borders and go, "Well, we can't go any farther in. We're not welcome in these cities." You can't break any metro area down into a city vs city battle as to which is safer or whatever. You need to go by neighborhoods. Not all of Norfolk is crime ridden, and not all of Chesapeake is a utopia. I don't understand why the cities can't just get along and stop trying to compete with each other. I have the same thing to a smaller degree in my area. Two small cities within the same county; Staunton/Waynesboro. People from Waynesboro think they live in the greatest town ever, and hate on Staunton, while Staunton does the same thing to Waynesboro. Very juvenile.

On another completely off topic subject, I always thought it would be cool for the Hampton Roads area to merge into one large city with each city as it's own borough, like NYC. Just redraw the Chesapeake, Va Beach, and maybe Suffolk city lines and bring back the original counties that would surround the new city. The total population would still be bigger than each of the cities now. Even with smaller city lines. That way the area would be much more united and under one government, the area would prosper much, much faster. But, that will never happen.
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Old 09-21-2010, 02:25 PM
 
18 posts, read 52,461 times
Reputation: 18
ShadowBat, I couldn't agree more. I've fantasized about that a lot--call it Virginia City (Hampton Roads sounds too weird for a large metropolitan area). I'd even be in favor of all the "boroughs" remaining almost completely autonomous (if this is possible), as long as they called the area one city. Besides Virginia Beach, the cities in this area have horrible name recognition outside of the mid-Atlantic region. Whenever I tell my friends from back home that I'm in Norfolk, none of them have a clue that I'm in a metropolitan area of 1.7 million people. Increasing this area's name recognition could be good for tourism and for bringing in new business/residents. But, alas, it will never happen.
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Old 09-22-2010, 07:10 AM
 
Location: Virginia Beach, VA
203 posts, read 474,858 times
Reputation: 132
Actually, a bunch of criminals from all the Hampton Roads citys already come to Virginia Beach to do there crimes. I can't tell you how many people we arrested breaking into houses and cars who said they came to Va Beach because they heard it was easier to get away with stuff here.
Each city has its bad areas and nice areas. I also don't think light rail will be a good idea. The mindset of folks in this region will prevent them from riding it. They all want to use their own car to go where they want when they want. Looking at the park and ride lots, there are some big companies that use it and military, but that is it. Only a few other companies participate in that program now.
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