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Old 02-05-2010, 01:18 PM
 
8 posts, read 54,679 times
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Recently moved to the area (you may have already read my previous posts) and have been wanting to explore the area. I've been wanting to find some good neighborhoods to stroll and to find a good local coffee shop/deli or two. I've heard great things about the Ghent neighborhood, but in going there today I wasn't all that impressed. I do not mean any disrespect, and feel that I may have been not in the "heart" of the area. I walked up 22nd St for a bit and back, starting where the new apartments were built with a ton of property to lease below. Can someone please let me know if I'm missing something? Thank you kindly.
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Old 02-05-2010, 01:28 PM
 
Location: Miramar Beach, FL
2,040 posts, read 3,862,408 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rcquestion View Post
Recently moved to the area (you may have already read my previous posts) and have been wanting to explore the area. I've been wanting to find some good neighborhoods to stroll and to find a good local coffee shop/deli or two. I've heard great things about the Ghent neighborhood, but in going there today I wasn't all that impressed. I do not mean any disrespect, and feel that I may have been not in the "heart" of the area. I walked up 22nd St for a bit and back, starting where the new apartments were built with a ton of property to lease below. Can someone please let me know if I'm missing something? Thank you kindly.
Fairgrounds Coffee is on Colley Ave. You might also want to check out the neighborhood right next to the Chrysler Museum, some beautiful homes in that area. That is my favorite area of Norfolk.

Last edited by emeraldgirl; 02-05-2010 at 01:48 PM..
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Old 02-05-2010, 02:41 PM
 
1,477 posts, read 6,016,416 times
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21st street from Granby St to just pass Colley Ave and then along Colley Ave from Princess Anne Rd to 21st Street again is the main shopping/restaurant area for Ghent......I dont think there is much there myself but that is just me....Many people love the area...
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Old 02-09-2010, 09:32 AM
 
Location: Miramar Beach, FL
2,040 posts, read 3,862,408 times
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Originally Posted by rtandc View Post
I dont think there is much there myself but that is just me....Many people love the area...
Yeah, the area is definitely not for everyone. I never went to Ghent when I lived at the beach and never had any desire to go there. Once I had actually moved to Ghent, though, I really enjoyed living there.
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Old 02-09-2010, 05:04 PM
 
3,848 posts, read 9,319,497 times
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It's really not that great of an area in terms of 'stuff.' The only reason I think it gets hyped so much here is because it's the only semi-liberal vibe around here.
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Old 02-09-2010, 06:30 PM
 
134 posts, read 544,764 times
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Its the most dense neighborhood in all of Hampton Roads and has walk-ability. It would be nice for it to grow some more, time will make it better.
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Old 02-10-2010, 10:55 AM
 
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I enjoy looking at all of the old houses. That's really all I ever get out of it.
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Old 02-11-2010, 07:56 PM
 
Location: Miramar Beach, FL
2,040 posts, read 3,862,408 times
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Originally Posted by mikeas View Post
Its the most dense neighborhood in all of Hampton Roads and has walk-ability. It would be nice for it to grow some more, time will make it better.
I think Ghent has real potential but it almost seems like the area can't move forward. Maybe eventually....
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Old 02-12-2010, 05:24 AM
 
1,477 posts, read 6,016,416 times
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Originally Posted by EMERALDGIRL View Post
I think Ghent has real potential but it almost seems like the area can't move forward. Maybe eventually....


I don’t know if Ghent ever will, you have to understand the history of Ghent especially East Ghent and how it came to be....The Ghent neighborhood has a very nasty past. Many homes built in Ghent came about because of one of the biggest lies ever told by the local government of Norfolk depending on who in history you want to believe.

Parts of Ghent/East Ghent at one point was a very high end neighborhood dating back to the late 1800”s early 1900’s but like many neighborhoods fell into despair and by WWII parts of Ghent contained many low income homes. The city/housing authority came in and bought/condemned many of these homes from homeowners, many not wanting to sell but the city promised to rebuild the area back with low cost affordable homes. The city turned face, broke their promise and developed it back into what was then considered higher end homes forcing many people to leave the area….Again that is the popular version of what happened in a nutshell…Below is one link of many that you can find about Ghent…

But whatever side you wish to believe what took place in Ghent really stopped the progress of both redevelopment and new development of/in many other neighborhoods around Norfolk for a number of years because people thought the city would lie again on their promise of how the neighborhoods would be developed

Many people also credit the Ghent issue in Norfolk for Va Bch exploding in population (not sure I buy into this theory). Much of the political uprising over Ghent came in the 60"s and many people left the city of Norfolk over it. Va Bch started to see a major increase of building and population around the same time...

http://www.arch.virginia.edu/learnin...walinGhent.pdf

Last edited by rtandc; 02-12-2010 at 06:22 AM..
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Old 02-12-2010, 11:16 AM
 
51 posts, read 149,148 times
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Depends on you personal experiences. If you just lived around small mediocre cities all your life then it's "cool" but if you've actually lived/visited real cities with real urban neighborhoods then no, there's nothing great about it.
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