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Old 10-09-2015, 04:14 PM
 
Location: Raleigh, NC
1,098 posts, read 1,546,038 times
Reputation: 1432

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I agree that merging honestly won't do a whole lot, especially recognition-wise. It's a nice thought that merging would make all of our problems go away... but they won't. We'd probably end up with a significantly bloated municipal government instead of seven municipal governments of varying efficacy (let's face it-Portsmouth's is a total fiasco). While I think the region needs to cooperate and coordinate better (they're doing much better in that regard than in the past), merging is probably just going to create a mess in the future.
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Old 10-09-2015, 05:03 PM
 
Location: Queen Creek, AZ
7,327 posts, read 12,333,607 times
Reputation: 4814
What about making two cities - Virginia Beach on the Southside and Williamsburg on the Peninsula? The reason why I chose those two names as those seem to be the two most popular tourist destinations in Hampton Roads.
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Old 10-10-2015, 01:58 AM
 
Location: VB
553 posts, read 616,447 times
Reputation: 397
Quote:
Originally Posted by spencer114 View Post
The cities wont merge and even if they did it would be meaningless with regards to any kind of national recognition. Media market size is the only thing that matters and no amount of merging will change the fact that only 1.7 million people live there. It has the recognition that it warrants. No more, no less.

It can still be an underrated metro (I think its wonderful) but economy and population creates national presence. Where something appears on a meaningless list (largest cities lists) doesn't.
The TV market size of HR is larger than that of Memphis and New Orleans, but I'd guess that both of those have more "national presence." I'm not qualified to compare the economy of each of those areas; I'll leave that to you or others.
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Old 10-10-2015, 06:57 AM
 
Location: Virginia Beach
27 posts, read 36,262 times
Reputation: 43
Largest Cities in the United States - Current Results

It would put us right behind Austin, TX and right in front of Providence, RI. Still a fairly short list for a country of this size.

Last edited by Beach Bus Bum; 10-10-2015 at 06:58 AM.. Reason: misspell
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Old 10-10-2015, 09:09 AM
 
Location: VB
553 posts, read 616,447 times
Reputation: 397
Quote:
Originally Posted by Beach Bus Bum View Post
Largest Cities in the United States - Current Results

It would put us right behind Austin, TX and right in front of Providence, RI. Still a fairly short list for a country of this size.
Despite the title of that page, it is actually a list of largest metropolitan areas, not cities. HR as a single city would have the 5th largest population in the US. The Southside alone as one city would be 10th or 11th (about as populous as San Jose, CA).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o..._by_population
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Old 10-10-2015, 05:21 PM
 
Location: Virginia Beach
27 posts, read 36,262 times
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Correct...it would make Hampton Roads the 5th most populous "city" (The Region - Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance). Which, of course, would be the summation of this metropolitan area.

Let's not kid ourselves...it will never happen. And the region will continue to suffer because of it...and special interests will destroy it, and blah blah blah.
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Old 10-12-2015, 07:52 PM
 
797 posts, read 1,430,087 times
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Most realistic thing happening is Norfolk and Portsmouth merging and that's a bit far fetched
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Old 10-13-2015, 12:16 PM
 
1,209 posts, read 2,620,247 times
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We are already a region, we have a regional planning district commission, ODU puts out State of the Region reports, we already have HRT for regional transportation, we already have HRSD as the regional sanitation district. What would a merger do that we don't already have? Maybe save a bit on duplicated services? Cut down a bit on redundant bureaucrats? I really don't understand the fixation with this like it is some silver bullet...

Not to mention there is little incentive for the "nicer" cities to join with the "crappy" cities...

Why would York County, Poquoson, or Williamsburg want to merge with high crime Hampton or Newport News?

Why would Virginia Beach or Chesapeake want to merge with high crime, corrupt, and flood prone Norfolk or Portsmouth?

Honestly, why would anyone want to merge with Portsmouth? There are some great parts but the city government is one giant clusterf**k and there are huge crime and flooding problems.

NOVA is doing just fine with a bunch of independent cities and counties up there. And honestly, for the most part, we are doing just fine down here.

The issues here aren't gonna be solved by some merger. The issues here are the lack of a diverse economy (over-reliance on military/DOD), high housing costs compared to wages, poor "non-car" related transportation options, and big time issues with flooding/sea-level rise. I don't know how you fix those, especially the last one (aside from condemning a bunch of low-lying properties), but merging into one or two big cities isn't gonna do it. It'll just turn us into one big mediocre city instead of a few nice ones and a few crappy ones. LOL

Last edited by UHgrad; 10-13-2015 at 12:28 PM..
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Old 10-13-2015, 05:03 PM
 
3,848 posts, read 9,322,033 times
Reputation: 2024
Quote:
Originally Posted by UHgrad View Post
We are already a region, we have a regional planning district commission, ODU puts out State of the Region reports, we already have HRT for regional transportation, we already have HRSD as the regional sanitation district. What would a merger do that we don't already have? Maybe save a bit on duplicated services? Cut down a bit on redundant bureaucrats? I really don't understand the fixation with this like it is some silver bullet...
It's not a silver bullet, and you're right, it won't fix anything.

But I'll add, the most corrupt city in Hampton Roads these days is by far Virginia Beach.
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Old 10-13-2015, 05:23 PM
 
Location: Raleigh, NC
1,098 posts, read 1,546,038 times
Reputation: 1432
Virginia Beach isn't the most corrupt. But I do believe there's quite a bit of corruption, ESPECIALLY between developers and the local government. Norfolk's probably more corrupt.
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