vtfan18

The great thing about Chipotle (other than their food) is they attract a crowd. Next time you're there, take a moment to pay particular attention to the numbers that place can draw. I've been in there at different times of day, weekdays, weekends and that place is always packed. Norfolk needs more national brands such as this to attract the crowds. You'll then find that business for other nearby establishments will pick up- which is one reason why so many national brands piggy back off one another.

Has anyone noticed...TCC just put up fences around the "park area" between Granby and the mall to start site work for the TCC student center.

I've complained numerous times about Norfolk doing a very poor job of communicating the reasons, benefits, and future potential of light rail. I finally came across something I think would help Norfolk better illustrate and sell the idea. I don't think this has been previously posted but there are 91 pages of comments about light rail so I'm not completely positive. But this is an animation that takes Norfolk's current animation one step further. Norfolk's light rail animation falls short because it only shows the general public what light rail will look like. It does not show them what the city could look like or what life could be like with mass transit. This animation was created for the city of Kansas City and its a great selling point in my opinion. As a side note, the images in this animation (mixed use buildings) are fairly indicative of how I would I would plan St Paul's. Enjoy! Imagine Kansas City Animation

The City does a very poor job of communicating its ideas and vision for the long term. Community Center is a stupid idea for the long term but not such a horrible idea for the short term. Razing the structure is still a couple years off. As businesses begin to close down and leases expire the City needs to do something as a temporary measure so the building does not become a wasteland. It'd be stupid to try and attract new retailers/businesses at this stage. It's also dumb to sink a ton of money into the project. The City is essentially waiting for as many leases to expire as possible which buys time for a vision/plan to be developed. Now if that vision is great or just so-so, we'll all have to wait and see. The flip side is the City still has a commitment to the retailers in Waterside, they just can't turn their back on those business owners. The city should have done a much better job communicating this plan as a temporary measure because ordinary citizens will be disappointed if they have high expectations in the short term.

This is exactly the current state of Tidewater Gardens. The person who receives the housing is working in order to meet the requirement but the other family members do not.

I plan on attending but I can already tell I'll walk out of there feeling powerless and completely frustrated. It's amazing to realize how dumb (I literally mean dumb) business owners on Granby St and around St Pauls sound when they stand at events such as these and give their opinion on what should be incorporated. I heard it yesterday at a meeting about the closing of Granby St for light rail work. It makes you wonder how people stay in business!?!?

The first four are under construction and so is Town Point Park. Not sure if it'll begin in 09 but I know the TTC student center is under design, that's definitely going to happen.. The Market Square Station will happen with Light Rail. So they're actually moving forward with quite a few projects. We may not agree with everything Norfolk is doing but they certainly have a lot going on in a recession.

Yes...there are two separate addresses, 427-429. Although, right now the first floor is combined into one space.

Yes, he's got quite a nice collection of expensive cars.

La Galleria and Bobbywood are auctioning all of their restaurant equipment. The folks from Zedd are out back loading up trucks. The sign is a little unclear...I'm not sure if they are auctioning the restaurants too but the equipment, furniture, etc are definitely going!

Just to answer some of your questions from above. Bobby Wright owns the Gym Downtown and the building. The Subway is owned by a franchise owner (one of my neighbors) who obviously leases from Bobby Wright. The other "gym" has been in the works for a very long time leading us to believe it's on hold. Not to mention the viability of another gym in the area raises questions. Golds and the YMCA are the most popular for obvious reasons.

Downtown Norfolk's population base and layout makes it hard to attract the vast majority of fast food chains. Their site location is largely a component of foot/vehicle traffic and parking. Many chains prefer to have their own parking lot for customers. Norfolk's population is not large enough to make up for not having their own parking lot. Pedestrian traffic is ok during the day but completely dies after 5pm. But I would like the convenience of a fast food chain or two downtown.

Looks too much like the Franklin building which looks too much like a government services building which looks too much like everything else. Glad to see the lot and building next door being improved. But its a catch 22...we are missing a great opportunity to redevelop this area across Brambleton. Unfortunately, it'll only be greatly improved if a developer can assemble large parcels of land across Brambleton but that task is going to be difficult.

As promised, below is a link to a blog covering our LEED project. Hope you guys enjoy. We'll be holding an open house when the project is complete to educate folks on LEED and green building in general. Let me know if anyone is interested in attending. Thanks so very much! 1434 Lead St LEED Project

There is a new Chinese restaurant going in next to Bugatti's. The build out is taking place right now. I've been waiting for a Chinese place to open up in/near downtown, now it'll be within walking distance. I hope its good!