So, what's going on in YOUR Hampton Roads neighborhood today?

[D train outta nowhere]

Originally Posted by LilyLady

Maybe we won't have the cookout. It's raining. Wonder how I can cook a steak inside and make it taste like it was cooked outside on a grill?

They have "Liquid Smoke" flavoring at the store - but that's cheating!

P.S. - The Food Lion over off of Pleasant Valley is o.k., sometimes they don't have what I'm looking for. (Time to go to Farm Fresh.) I like that there is a lot of natural light in there. I also thought this remodeling project was interesting - seems like in the '90s(?) the thing to do was make as much of your store as gleaming bright white and antiseptic as possible. But the new trend is to drop off some neutral looking brown tiles in some areas of the store and some woodwork hanging from the ceiling to give a more natural look. I approve

Does anyone else sort of 'boycott' Harris Teeter because of the prices? I am a starving artist and I go in about every six months to stuff my face with free samples and escape before spending > $50. Their deli items are awesome.

My thoughts on the Rosemont Forest park: the kids never pick up their trash. I will contact Parks & Rec about a new trashcan closer to the b-ball court. I never see anyone in there after dark though, had you Spazkat?

[goofy328]

Originally Posted by D train outta nowhere

http://www.wavy.com/dpp/news/crime/multiple-victims-in-vb-shooting (broken link)-

KEMPSVILLE -

Was welcomed home yesterday to blinding police strobes and crime-scene tape, a double-shooting in our midst. Not to be inflammatory, but I didn't realize Green Run was spilling over to the rest of Kempsville. I'm going to save to move somewhere with one of those electric gates, or a small town in a "fly-over state" where people throw away their trash in trash cans, and it's safe to live. Am I backward, or unhip, or do I not just "get it"?

Hopefully there is something positive going on in where you live. Please help restore my faith. I guess you could say, "Well, it's not D.C.," or, "Well, it's not Baltimore."

"Let's be careful out there!"

I never understood the angst about the older cities (or in this case Virginia Beach) in Hampton Roads. This place is nothing like DC or Baltimore. It is nothing like Ohio or Michigan. In fact Virginia, in most respects, is a lot safer than a lot of places I've been. I think it is all about what Virginia is like now, with the transient population, relative to what it is has been, when people were actually born and raised here. Transients simply are not invested in this place like the locals are, and have a hard time getting the same type of foundation the locals have. Housing prices are up, you can rent a whole lot, but you can't buy much of anything. Entire 'hoods and ghettos have been created. It simply isn't the same as it used to be. Where I stay at in Virginia Beach you never hear about any problems, but then again they are probably not reported either.

[D train outta nowhere]

I totally hear you about DC and Baltimore. You could hardly turn on the t.v. unless you wanted to get blasted by the top five stories being homicides on a daily basis. Woe unto you if you navigate without a GPS.

Regarding the "transients" here though, I don't know if I understand. The transient nature of the area leads to a lot of home renting vs. home buying? Or do you mean like creating a local business here and settling for the long haul...? Lots of transient types retire here, that's for sure. I am not originally from here, nor do I intend to stay forever, but I'd like to keep this home I have in K'ville.

[goofy328]

Originally Posted by D train outta nowhere

I totally hear you about DC and Baltimore. You could hardly turn on the t.v. unless you wanted to get blasted by the top five stories being homicides on a daily basis. Woe unto you if you navigate without a GPS.

Regarding the "transients" here though, I don't know if I understand. The transient nature of the area leads to a lot of home renting vs. home buying? Or do you mean like creating a local business here and settling for the long haul...? Lots of transient types retire here, that's for sure. I am not originally from here, nor do I intend to stay forever, but I'd like to keep this home I have in K'ville.

No what I am saying is that this area seems to have opened up tremendously since 2000. From what I have heard from the locals, back in the day you could buy a home for like $70,000. These days, if you pay that much you might end up with a foreclosure in the ghetto. Transient types with a plan can retire and star their own businesses, to be sure, but if they are relying on some job they aren't going to get anywhere. But I could go to the Midwest right now and still find a relatively decent place for that amount of money. So what has changed between now and then here that hasn't changed in the heart of the country? And these transients come in from Ohio, Michigan, other parts of the country. If they do not have a solid plan, aren't networking and aren't starting businesses how are they going to get something here they can't get back home.

Try looking for a job in this area and you find a bunch of low paying cell center positions. The real jobs you have to go through those low paying positions, or be in the military or work in city government to find out about. No one is advertising those positions that are truly desired.

I remember what it was like back in the 90s in the Midwest, East Coast, West Coast. You read about cities having hundreds of murders per 100,000. If you watched the news, and did your own math, given that you might hear about 4 or 5 murders each night when you watch the news.

You may hear about Newport News, only if they feel like reporting on it. When I came here back in 2006 you heard plenty about NN every night. Now you may hear about them once or twice a week; I guess it is not newsworthy. They call it bad news, but that is the norm for a city the size of NN in other states.