How would you improve Portsmouth? (No joke answers please) (Virginia Beach: real estate, house)

[Cyborger]

If you don't like Portsmouth or don't think it can be improved, please just ignore this thread. But if you do believe that there are somethings that can be done to improve this city, please let me know.

[RosemaryT]

I love Portsmouth. I was born and raised there.

Right now, the leadership is killing it. Jerks and morons are running the city into the ground. How these folks keep getting elected is a real puzzle.

It's also time to abandon the public school system and give Portsmouth families vouchers, so they can choose which schools they want to support.

I'm a product of Portsmouth Public Schools and I can tell you - 40 years ago - they were THE PITS. I moved out of the city because I did not want my children anywhere near that insanity.

Lastly, Portsmouth needs to be more progressive. All those railroad tracks have been torn up and yet nothing's been done with them. They should have done a "rails to trails" with those tracks. Portsmouth's downtown is nice, but more can be done to enhance the "quaint" factor. Many of the store's entryways reek of urine. Say what you want about the homeless, but they really do drive away the tourists, and Portsmouth NEEDS tourists.

It's quite a turn-off to gaze upon the historic architecture of downtown Portsmouth and have to smell the horrors of old urine, fermenting in 98-degree heat. Ick. I've traveled to New England and they have these gorgeous little downtown areas, but without the problems of the homeless.

And then there's the pathway to that new Jordan Bridge. My gosh, have you driven in Portsmouth, along the approach to the Jordan Bridge? That's the WORST part of town. The city should have redeveloped that blighted area into something prettier. If that was all you saw of Portsmouth, you'd think it's worse than Detroit.

Rose

[jm3409]

I would keep things open later.. some of the gyms close too early and it's hard to get to them after a long day at work. My gym's last classes start at 6:30 which is hard to make sometimes when I don't get home until 6:15. The bars should be open later too! 1am is too early!

[vafilmbuff757]

it needs a "town center" like what hampton, newport news and va beach has. or it can revaltilize the downtown area. the biggest problem with portsmouth is there are no attractions. nothing to want people to visit and not much to want ppl to stay. the funny thing is geographically portsmouth is prime location your 15 mins from anywhere in hampton roads

[goofy328]

Originally Posted by vafilmbuff757

it needs a "town center" like what hampton, newport news and va beach has. or it can revaltilize the downtown area. the biggest problem with portsmouth is there are no attractions. nothing to want people to visit and not much to want ppl to stay. the funny thing is geographically portsmouth is prime location your 15 mins from anywhere in hampton roads

I agree with this post. Portsmouth is very strange in that while it is very much a city it lacks destinations. I was driving through Portsmouth the other day and was contrasting the urban atmosphere there with that of Norfolk. Portsmouth is like, an entirely different type of city than Norfolk.

But Norfolk seems to have more destinations, and seems to be more vibrant, and less ambiguous, than Portsmouth. Portsmouth really reminds me of Youngstown, OH, or even Dayton, OH, in that you know that you're in a city but what is there to do here and why should I even bother. Those towns lack the focus that the larger cities do, and Portsmouth seems to lack that focus here in Virginia.

I doubt that downtown will ever be the destination that some would like it to be. Portsmouth has already decentralized, and without billions of dollars of investment, there would never be enough of a draw to bring people back into the downtown area. I'm a huge believer of people allowing downtown to take care of itself and for those few brave pioneers that want to take downtown real estate on, as opposed to creating a comprehensive plan for downtown, or, as in the case of Virginia Beach, creating a downtown, because that rarely works (though it seems to for Virginia Beach). I take cities more on a neighborhood basis, people should not have to go downtown for anything that they do not want to go there for, IMHO.

Spread your density throughout the city. Create, or revitalize, 10, maybe 15, vibrant neighborhoods across the city that can hold their own against downtown through mixed/use development. Nothing over 10 or 15 stories would be necessary. Then you have a more interesting city. Portsmouth should have a Ghent, a Town Center, a Hilltop, Larchmont, Laskin, all within the city, and downtown would just be icing on the cake.

[randomlikeme]

I like Old Towne Portsmouth far more than I like VB's town center. Bier Garden > YardHouse.

[Beckster2001]

When we first moved to Hampton Roads we lived in Olde Towne Portsmouth and then we bought a small house in Port Norfolk. We moved away because we did not feel Port Norfolk (or Portsmouth for that matter) was a safe place to raise kids. We have been back for the Children's Museum which is great, the Sports HOF and Roger Brown's. Also really do love City Park. If Portsmouth worked on it's schools, I think everything else would fall into place making it a more desirable area for families.

[ZER0]

Fix the roads, improve the traffic problems (around the bases and the tunnels are a nightmare), and lessen crime. Only suggestions I can give. Those we're contributing reasons as to why I moved to Williamsburg.