Norfolk4Life

:scared:remember! all politicians are honest. trust the government, they are here to help. lol... yeah right...

also i think the dominion building there is like 8 stories taller

they have been in areas downtown, but not in places like the freemason side of Boush

it will be a neat view on the approach to downtown...

what is wrong about it?

at least the contractor eats the cost... when they found out things like those piling that were not discovered as they should have been, the surveyor should have eaten the cost.

too bad they cant put a restaurant or cafe in the building on the right to share an outdoor eating spot in the little plaza.

i read about it in a historical article at the history room when it was at Kirn. They had all kinds of stuff that you wouldnt know about. Did you know that Norfolk has a fly ash dump (same stuff that poisoned Chesapeake groundwater) in relative close proxy to downtown?

i always like the real people photoshopped into a rendering....

Are you talking about a Dave & Buster's? Jillian's is owned by them. Hence near-identical logo and slogan. I do agree with spreading the bars out though.

there are apparently underground culverts that house most of the creeks that flowed downtown

If they extend it to the Naval Base, the most likely extension would get near the airport, but I think it would be connected via bus-shuttle. The logistics to get it into the airport and back out again would be costly. The airport really does sit on an island. The following image should be a little clearer. It is taken from the "Locally Preferred Alignment Report for the Naval Base Norfolk Light Rail Transit Alignment Corridor Study" from 1999

i wish they would get bus service back to the airport. We have to be the only major airport without any transit link.

Im not saying turn it into a mall. I was referring to the design. If you build out the second floor, you lose the open nature of the building. I used the mall idea because, if you have been to MacArthur, you know how the open nature of the building contributes to its feel. I also have to disagree with the demolition of the building for use as an office tower site. We would lose a great public space that way. I think Waterside should be renovated. New paint. New lights. Re-open the second floor. More windows. The reason that the building was such a draw before was partly due to its view of the river. If that were returned with the addition of a local seafood place and other locally owned stores, I think it could succeed again. I do think that the management should be transferred to a private company though. Private companies know way more about profit than a city agency that simply requests a budget increase.

I wish the city would re-think their Wards Corner plan and make that much more urban. They can hold off on the development until a LRT line gets approved to the Naval Base. The line cuts right through Wards Corner, making it the perfect spot for an urban TOD.

I think it is a positive step. Wards Corner needs a couple of new places to spur more interest. Maybe then they can advance their other plans. Although i don't much like their Comprehensive Plan. The side east of the interstate is pretty good. The actual Wards Corner part of it however, seems more like the city just wants a wall so nobody that drives by can see what really sits behind it.

In my opinion, there are a number of reasons that Downtown Norfolk is experiencing tough times. Light Rail Construction - Right now there are ALOT of road closures.Other Construction Projects - Belmont @ Freemason still not 100%. Wachovia still under construction.Not enough residents of mixed income - most downtown residents are on the high-end of the scale. A successful downtown needs a mix of residents. US Development's apartments should dramatically help.Not enough large retailers - Downtown needs a large retailer to act as an 'anchor store'If we have more resident that live AND work downtown, we will get the large number of stores and shops that we want. Right now the majority of people downtown are commuting suburbanites who, judging by their response to the form-based code VB want, seem to think that it is physically impossible to visit a store without driving there. To give you an example: A lady came up to me for direction at MacArthur Center a few weeks ago. We were standing at the main entrance (Monticello). She asked where she could find a pharmacy. I gave her direction to the MacArthur Pharmacy on Granby (next to Subway) She told me that she didn't want to walk that far. Then she asked which way Nordstroms was, because she parked out by there in the garage. In other words, the <350 foot walk to the pharmacy was too much for her but the 1000 foot walk back to Nordstroms was OK... Keep in mind she had also most likely walked through the mall for her shopping (Around 4000 feet from end to end, adding both floors and the foot court - also assuming she never walked through a store, but rather a straight line through the mall... 4000 feet is around 4/5 of a mile.) The more people we can get living downtown, the more that will walk. The more people walking around, the more likely a suburbanite will follow suit.

Charlotte's line is all over land. Ours has large stretches over water. Charlottes has most of theirs at ground level. Their longest elevated portion is half the length of ours. Also our elevated section had the HUGH steel beams to cross a major roadway; theirs didn't. I don't think Charlotte has any shared ROW track (i.e. in the street.) Norfolk has over a mile of in-the-road track. If you have never seen them build a track like that it basically requires 1) tear up existing road 2) move every underground utility so that they all cross the track perpendicularly instead of running parallel under the track. This eliminated the need to tear up the track for future utility repairs. 3) a new roadbed/trackbed must be graded out. 4) a regular track but be constructed, railroad ties and all. 5) forms have to be built to keep the concrete around the track 6) concrete has to be poured and graded so that runoff will drain. 7) the road can then be laid on either side. This whole process is like building a track AND a road but at a higher cost to each. While I know that Charlotte is an old city, their light rail didn't run in the streets. If you ever get a chance, go look down into a street project on an old downtown street. Most people don't realize that the streets have been significantly built up over the years. Under the asphalt, you generally find concrete. Under that, old trolley tracks and cobblestones. When you finally make it down to the original roadbed and dig it out, you will not only find today's network of phone/data lines, gas lines, electrical lines, water lines, and sewer lines, but you will also find the last 4 centuries worth of abandoned water lines, sewer lines, gas lines, etc. Norfolk at one point had gas lamps downtown. Those lines were never removed but they are not the same line we use for commercial delivery of gas. You would also find under our streets that the streets didn't always go there. In past construction projects, they have found building foundations under what are now streets. Finally, because most of Norfolk used to be water/wetlands, construction crews usually find centuries worth of garbage and debris that was dumped to fill the land. This picture is from the Norfolk Public Library. It was taken around 1868. You can try to guess where it was, but you never will. The bridge in the picture was called the "Granby Street Bridge." It is NOT, however, our Granby Street Bridge. This Granby Street Bridge, made of stone, connects north and south Granby Streets. The waterway that it crossed is now called ... wait for it.... City Hall Avenue. Thats right. CITY HALL AVENUE. Just picture the Trader Tower where that shed is on the left side of the photo. It is things like this that made Norfolk's light rail unpredictable Downtown.

I disagree with your want to 'complete' the second floor. the reason that it was built like that was because the second floor was not meant to be closed up for the places up stairs. it was designed to be like macarthur center. i would go out on a limb and say that you dont think macarthur should 'complete' their second floor, right? i think that waterside still has a good chance. i definitely agree when you say kick NHRA out. If a private management company were the ones benefiting, it could turn a profit in a year or two. no government can create jobs or successful business. the private sector has to be in charge. i think that jillians would probably do better outside of waterside (elsewhere in downtown). the only reason they had lots of business was b/c of the other places in waterside. what it really needs is some form of major anchor store. if it were redesigned to be like a mini-mall, i think it could do just fine.

Im actually in front of MacArthur right now. The only part that hasn't started is the Monticello/City Hall intersection. In front of the mall is more or less done (with the exception of the poles). They are working on the section in front of the wachovia block now.

i don't think that there were as many restaurants, etc. that would have been affected back then

... we did. then the city walled up the windows and filled it with bars....

I dont think that the problem is the cost overruns themselves. most will agree that sh*t happens and that you cannot forsee site-related problems. I think people have a problem with the soft-costs that have skyrocketed (management pay, consultants, etc.) and the fact that HRT seems to have deliberately mislead us. HRT specifically said that the new cost was $328 million. In less than a week HRT changed that to $340 million. This is what people have problems with.

i dont doubt that. rumor has it that the federal dot has more or less blackmailed our area. push for transit or no road money kind of thing. not that this is a bad thing...

i cant make it. i have to work