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It comes down to poverty. Norfolk has more people living below the poverty line. Someone else pointed out white flight in the old days, perhaps that is true as well.
Don't worry. Over time all the new pressboard boxes, wrapped in vinyl will decay. Green Run and other areas of Virginia Beach once looked new and beautiful. What's new today is old tomorrow. Somewhere else will be the new hotness.
Norfolk does have high crime. Someone else mentioned how downtown is safe. I can think of multiple shootings, gunfire near TCC during the middle of the day. I've seen warnings about armed robberies (the wealthier white folk stumble home to their condos from the bars at 2AM, perfect targets, probably got stuck up with a pencil).
I don't see a bright future for Norfolk. The higher dollar earners in the towers in downtown most likely all retreat to their McMansions in Chesapeake (464), Suffolk/Western Branch (164) and Virginia Beach (264). Sure a few people might own pimp condos at the tops of the new buildings, but often they are wealthy enough that they still own places elsewhere as well.
The new apartments going up have leaked asking rents around $1700/month for a 2bd. I don't think that is very realistic. I've worked for two tech companies in downtown Norfolk, both private VC funded, and the employees who don't already own nice houses elsewhere (most anyone who is older and bought before the mania) wouldn't have the income to go for that. One tech company folded (finally) a few weeks ago.
Someone else pointed out job listings for Norfolk. You need to be careful when looking at those numbers. Many of the private gov't contractors list positions that are available. They collect the resumes, then use that info to bid on contracts. Several of them may compete against each other in this process. It may distort the numbers.
I live in Norfolk for the time being, but would much rather have a contemporary 1 story with an inground pool and 3 car garage, elsewhere. I don't think that Norfolk is ghetto while other cities aren't. I know VaBeach has slums, I know Ptown has slums, Bad News represents (Newport News people seem to be involved in many of the shootings here in Norfolk). Chesapeake has bad areas.
At the end of the day, what concerns me is how boring the non-thugs are.
Anyone that is shocked at the conditions in Norfolk did not do their homework before living or working there. I have lived in Hampton Roads for over 40 years, I have been driving to downtown for 25 years, nothing has changed over those years. Norfolk has been and will continue to be a sub-standard high crime city. That is just something you have to deal with if you are going to work or live in Norfolk.
There has been the same pothole in the road in front of my office I think for the past 25 years. The same bums have been hanging out in the alleyways for the past 25 years, the only thing that has changed is that they are now 25 years older. Sure Norfolk has tried to sugar coat downtown over the years by building new developments but it's not how pretty the buildings look, or what big name businesses you have downtown that makes a city, it is the positive human element and that is something Norfolk is lacking. So anyone hanging around thinking that Norfolk is going to change for the better is going to have a long wait.
Sure every city has high crime low income areas, but when people talk about Va Bch they can only name off a handful of bad areas, the same can be said for Chesapeake and other cities. But when people talk about Norfolk all they can talk about is the handful of areas that are not bad, that is why at 5pm everyday the roads out of Norfolk are jammed with cars, people dont want to live in that element, they want to live the American dream out in the burbs in a safe area with a white picket fence and great schools they can send their kids to and.............well you can finish the rest.............
So until Norfolk starts thinking about improving the quality of life for its citizens and not just about the all mighty dollar the surrounding cities will continue to flourish because that is where everyone will be living, eating and spending they hard earned money
The roads are 3rd world in Norfolk it seems. They are doing some work to fix it, at a glacial pace. Look at the new bridge near PETA. That road was horrible before.
I try to figure out what it is about this area. Perhaps generation warfare. Old people think young people should make very little money, or at least that's the way the businesses operate. There just isn't much going on, and I think the older folks don't want anything going on. They want the young people to overpay for their housing, but then disappear. Look at the battle over the use of Town Point Park.
The downtown Norfolk council (a group that works to promote their friends, which is fine) put out some survey. I tore it up, perhaps negative. But then I gave a bunch of cool, modern, new suggestions and ideas. They didn't bother to reply. So I won't give them any more ideas. These city groups seem to be willing to pay $75,000 to $300,000 for ideas, then don't seem to appreciate free ones. What can ya do?
Perhaps the area just isn't progressive enough, and that's where it falls down.
Do you think that race plays a factor in the reason why Norfolk is getting a bad rap? In the year 2009, do we still have people believing they all white is better and all black creates an urban problem? I see the word urban in a lot of threads. I am assuming that it means Black.I was born in Norfolk but I have been in another state for the past 15 years. I plan to move back but I am interest in the crime. I can see that race is still a problem just by reading these posts. I believe that I can identify the race of the person by the way that they talk about Norfolk. I am not surprised and I think I will move back and make my own decision. I am sorry that I chose this format to research my hometown. Have a good day.
Do you think that race plays a factor in the reason why Norfolk is getting a bad rap? In the year 2009, do we still have people believing they all white is better and all black creates an urban problem? I see the word urban in a lot of threads. I am assuming that it means Black.I was born in Norfolk but I have been in another state for the past 15 years. I plan to move back but I am interest in the crime. I can see that race is still a problem just by reading these posts. I believe that I can identify the race of the person by the way that they talk about Norfolk. I am not surprised and I think I will move back and make my own decision. I am sorry that I chose this format to research my hometown. Have a good day.
Statistics do not lie. Norfolk has the highest crime rate in the area, and that is seperate from race. I suppose, if a person made the observation that Detroit is crime ridden, you would check, see that the city is largely black, and think its a racial argument. No, its not dude.
Indianapolis, IN has a crime rate nearly twice the national rate, and has the racial make up of Virginia Beach, how do you like those apples?
Do you think that race plays a factor in the reason why Norfolk is getting a bad rap? In the year 2009, do we still have people believing they all white is better and all black creates an urban problem? I see the word urban in a lot of threads. I am assuming that it means Black.I was born in Norfolk but I have been in another state for the past 15 years. I plan to move back but I am interest in the crime. I can see that race is still a problem just by reading these posts. I believe that I can identify the race of the person by the way that they talk about Norfolk. I am not surprised and I think I will move back and make my own decision. I am sorry that I chose this format to research my hometown. Have a good day.
Race alone? No. Poverty? Yes.
You can't deny that a large chunk of the crime comes from the poor areas in Norfolk. And in Norfolk they happen to be black. If you went to other areas it would be white or other races. I think it's more of an issue of education and lack of income, and lack of good upbringing than race. It just so happens that the poor people make lots of kids and don't raise them well. On top of this the black community has sold itself out with the more popular rap stuff that gets their kids all hyped up on ghetto dreams.
It doesn't just hurt Norfolk, it hurts our entire country. It's an issue everywhere. But it's not P.C. to say poor people that can't afford to raise kids shouldn't be allowed to make them.
And if you look at the television or the crime stats, most of the violent crimes (in Norfolk) come from the black part of the community, which is most likely the poor people. I know business people of all colors. I wouldn't hesitate to do business with them. I've been wronged by more white people than black, personally. The people I really hate are all white (so am I).
The empoverished people that are violent and don't work towards improving their situation (often living on assistance forever) are a burden on society. Norfolk has a large share of these people.
If our gov't and people declared a war on poverty (instead of a war on drugs) (Yes, I'm biting on Tupac "changes") and was able to jump in and steer all the poor kids in the right direction, it'd take years for the changes to show up. Every year that nothing is done, our country slips more and more. *shrug* Also note, Tupac said in Chances that we'd never see a black president. It's only been ~10 years or so since he died. Go figure.
You can't deny that a large chunk of the crime comes from the poor areas in Norfolk. And in Norfolk they happen to be black. If you went to other areas it would be white or other races. I think it's more of an issue of education and lack of income, and lack of good upbringing than race. It just so happens that the poor people make lots of kids and don't raise them well. On top of this the black community has sold itself out with the more popular rap stuff that gets their kids all hyped up on ghetto dreams.
It doesn't just hurt Norfolk, it hurts our entire country. It's an issue everywhere. But it's not P.C. to say poor people that can't afford to raise kids shouldn't be allowed to make them.
And if you look at the television or the crime stats, most of the violent crimes (in Norfolk) come from the black part of the community, which is most likely the poor people. I know business people of all colors. I wouldn't hesitate to do business with them. I've been wronged by more white people than black, personally. The people I really hate are all white (so am I).
The empoverished people that are violent and don't work towards improving their situation (often living on assistance forever) are a burden on society. Norfolk has a large share of these people.
If our gov't and people declared a war on poverty (instead of a war on drugs) (Yes, I'm biting on Tupac "changes") and was able to jump in and steer all the poor kids in the right direction, it'd take years for the changes to show up. Every year that nothing is done, our country slips more and more. *shrug* Also note, Tupac said in Chances that we'd never see a black president. It's only been ~10 years or so since he died. Go figure.
I guess it's a matter of having goals in life.
I completely agree. Everyone in this country has the same opportunities as everyone else regardless of where you came from, what color you are..etc. Just because someone was raised in a bad area doesnt mean they're automatically destined for a life of crime and theres nothing at all they can do about it. Nobody told them to pick up the crack pipe, or join ta gang.
If people, especially in Norfolk would get their a** up and better themselves instead of depending on welfare and food stamps they can live a good quality life. It really is all about how bad you want something and how hard you work for it.
I completely agree. Everyone in this country has the same opportunities as everyone else regardless of where you came from, what color you are..etc.
This is just plain bunk. You mean to tell me that, Paris Hilton has the same opportunities as I do? Get real. Paris Hilton, at birth, never had to work a day in her life. I was born in to poverty. My only opportunity for education was public school. Paris Hilton could go to any school, and have any tutors she wanted or needed. I was restricted by some combination of cost/grades/connections to the colleges I could attend, Paris Hilton could go to any one she wanted to, regardless of the cost, or her grades. Her daddy could pull a few strings and Paris Hilton, dumb as a rock, would be in Yale.
Everyone is not born equal in anything other then the law. Everyone does not have the same opportunities. In life, you simply make the best of the hand you are dealt.
This is just plain bunk. You mean to tell me that, Paris Hilton has the same opportunities as I do? Get real. Paris Hilton, at birth, never had to work a day in her life. I was born in to poverty. My only opportunity for education was public school. Paris Hilton could go to any school, and have any tutors she wanted or needed. I was restricted by some combination of cost/grades/connections to the colleges I could attend, Paris Hilton could go to any one she wanted to, regardless of the cost, or her grades. Her daddy could pull a few strings and Paris Hilton, dumb as a rock, would be in Yale.
Everyone is not born equal in anything other then the law. Everyone does not have the same opportunities. In life, you simply make the best of the hand you are dealt.
I can understand your debate and might even agree with some of it to a point but you lost all credibility when you used Paris Hilton as your example....you do know that Paris Hilton was kicked out of school and had to earn her GED right? ..So you fail as far as your response because your own example shows that just because you have money everything is not just handed to you like you think....you still have to earn it.........
Last edited by rtandc; 06-25-2009 at 10:38 AM..
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Something else that has ruined Norfolk's rep...
