CaveMaN

I guess it comes down to preference... I'd much rather have there be 1 place to go with everything, than have the alternative as we seem to have in hampton roads. I understand that that's just the way it is here, but it's frustrating as varider mentioned when you go elsewhere & return. I really enjoyed Baltimore's inner harbor, I"m not quite sure why Norfolk hasn't made more of an attempt at mimicking that type of setup on our harbor. The thing I enjoy most about Charlotte is the streetscape, it's beautiful, the trees, the marble curbs & sidewalks...the way the buildings seem to be one with their surroundings. Don't get me wrong, I love parts of downtown Norfolk... freemason area is beautiful, and ghent is gorgeous as well, but our downtown just is lacking in many areas. I just hope they continue with the betterments, but they have a long way to go.

It's not so depressing that Philly is a "better" downtown than Norfolk, afterall, Philly has one of the top 5 populations of any metro in the us, it SHOULD have a nicer downtown. What IS depressing though, is that cities like Charlotte, and Baltimore, which have populations not much more then hampton roads' metro, have downtowns that are amazing when compared to Norfolk. What drives me insane is that the nights I've gone out in Charlotte & Baltimore, the city is just packed, even in terrible weather, there's so much liveliness & energy, it's almost addictive to be around. The people make those cities places you want to be in. When I go out in Norfolk, half the time the streets are empty, even in gorgeous weather like this weekend, and when it is actually crowded, there's no positive vibe or energy emanating from the people, noone is friendly, it's extremely frustrating. But, I just don't see that ever changing in this area.

So far from what I've seen living downtown, it's pretty poor compared to other cities. I took Tel's advice and tried some places on Colley, and was VERY pleasantly surprised with the scene down there. But, if you're a fan of hip hop, waiting in hour long lines for no reason, paying $10 covers so that you can then pay insane prices for skimpy drinks, and also potentially getting shot when you leave, then waterside is your place! Also got the chance to go up to the Oyster Point area last weekend, was very happy with the Red Star Tavern up there, much better then the one in VB's Town Center in my opinion-

And it's conveniently located next to the best pizza parlor I've been to in Norfolk so far... Cogan's-

Photos from this afternoon from the rooftop- New Marine Terminals.... Larger Photo: Here Historic Ghent (Mowbray Arch)... Larger Photo: Here A Beautiful Day to live in Norfolk... Larger Photo: Here Fort Norfolk & Port Norfolk.... Larger Photo: Here John Knox Tower & the ODU/Ghent area. Larger Photo: Here Harrison Opera House... Larger Photo: Here Chrysler Museum Statue... Larger Photo: Here Exterior Rehab work to the building at Granby & Freemason, Larger: Here The last 2 shots are actually in Virginia Beach, but I already had this post going so I just threw it in here... I know this is an urban forum, and that's why I wanted to post a couple scenery shots as well.... The stronger & denser a city is, the more scenery there is like this nearby. Keep the people in the core, and leave the wildlands alone! Down with suburbia! Larger Photos, Here & Here

I definately did not know about any of that. All I knew prior about craney Island was that there was nothing built on it & I had no idea why it was there at all.... but having read through your explanation, it makes perfect sense. Consider my former statement retracted.

That angle is pretty cool.... that's the one nice thing about living in flat terrain, you can see stuff from a long ways out. Craney Island seems like such a waste of space out there when you look across it from the MMBT.

Very cool photos man, thanks for takign time to go down the line! If anyone is driving down 264 today... look at the pile driver positioning between harbor park & the municpal area....I've never seen a driver wedged up between roads like this one is.

The pool & pool area is really nice, as is the fitness center (looks right out over the city) and the outdoor patio will be great once it warms up. Looking forward to taking photos from up there throughout the spring & summer. How is the view over in your building looking towards the main highrises? Do you have access to the rooftop there? You probably get a more perpendicular shot on the DE building & harbor heights, maybe even the mariott (I can't see it at all from here)? I'd like to see some when you do get a chance to take a few-

That popeyes on st paul's can't even be considered fast food. I went there two times, and waiting for a half hour each time for my meal, ugh. You're right though, there aren't many regulars in downtown Norfolk... but if you step to colley, 21st, or granby north of brambleton they are all over the place again. I'd imagine the space downtown is just too expensive for the amount of sales they'd expect to get, since not that many people really live in downtown. Most people that go to downtown are probably going to maccarthur to shop, or to the granby bars at night I'd guess, so the only place the chains can make legitamate money is in the mall itself. I don't ever seem to see many people just meandering around down there like I've seen in most other cities (although I'm still new to Norfolk, so maybe this changes when the weather warms up). The only place I could consider fast food near where I'm at is probably Machismo on York Street, which... I really like, but it'd be nice to have other close options as well-

It's actually just a regular camera, a canon powershot sx110, no added lenses or anything, was only $200... I just bought it finally last week and this is the first day it hasnt rained since then. That shot was from the 14th floor (really the 13th floor)....you can actually see as far as the cape henry towers near the lesner bridge from the 21st floor (really 20th floor)... I absolutely love this building, if you're into construction/architecture/engineering & looking for an apartment, this place is the best deal ever. I can't wait for the Westin to get underway downtown, once it hits a couple floors I should be able to photograph the progress pretty effectively as it rises next to trader-

A couple from today's beautiful afternoon- Larger Size - Here Larger Size - Here Larger Size - Here Larger Size - Here

Downtown right after that random snow storm assaulted Norfolk this afternoon... larger size The darkest clouds I've seen in a while, followed by bright sun, then snow... Larger Size

Not sure if it'd been brought up, but I noticed tonight that the vabeachtowncenter.com website has been totally revamped. The new one looks a lot more refined then the previous website did. There's a couple nice photos I hadn't yet seen of Studio56 & the Westin on the "Live" & "Stay" portions of the site. Unfortunately it looks like all the nice progress photos taken during construction are no longer on the site. If anyone tracks them down, let me know-

"In three years, when the buildings are finished, we hope the recession will be over. Virginia Beach will be in position to take advantage of new business expansions and relocations." I like that they're looking positively towards the future. I think this is something residents probably forget, just because times seems "hard" right now, does not mean they will be forever, and now is the perfect time to continue positioning the city for urban expansion so when the economy shifts, like they said, they're poised to reap the benefits immediately.

If I worked for the marketing department that put something as erroneous as this out to the public, I'd be ashamed of myself. I mean, how many mistakes can you fit into a 2 acre project description?

Off the HRT Tide side: Hours of Operation 6:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m. (Monday - Thursday) 6:00 a.m. - midnight (Friday - Saturday) 7:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m. (Sunday) 9:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m. (Holidays) Looks like you'll get a 6 hour break at minumum from the bells

Wowee, having never seen the original version in person, I'm amazed to see what all went into the transformation of that building!

I've seen that one previously on Google Earth, guess you're Norfolk87, a very nice photo indeed!

Not attempting to be a complete negative poster but, I'm not sure they can really claim to have "made" their own version, since they really just said, I want stations at these obvious human gathering points, and...connect the dots... A large number of the sections shown have no feasible way of being implemented. For instance, the Regent - Sentara Leight spur, it would go through several large residential neighborhood, require a new bridge over the elizabeth & surrounding wetlands, and probably also require overpasses at providence, and indian river... I like the idea of keeping the rail mainly along the 264 corridor and in the DT area itself, since it will create another large attraction to living within the downtown area. It seems to me what Norfolk really needs to continue growing into a larger & more dense urban core for the area, is simply a larger downtown population, and this would be another step towards that. If lines extend outward in all directions as shown in this 'plan', it'll just make suburbia that much more attractive, since sitting in commuting traffic is one of, if not the main downfall to living out from the central core of a metro area. I think Norfolk did the best it could with the land it has to work with, and with it's alotted (although increasing) project budget for the 7 mile starter line. Looking forward to the day I can walk out my front door onto the Tide!

Wanted to take a few shots around town to kick off the new year, hope you all like them (I apologize in advance if I titled any of the buildings incorrectly). Construction along Brambleton Avenue, Residence Inn & Belmont @ Freemason Norfolk Tea Garden & Suntrust Building Statue, Battleship & Suntrust Harbor Place Town Point Center Suntrust Skyline Main Street Main Street Tower Dominion Enterprises Norfolk Southern Building WTC & Town Bank Skyline Density!

Thanks Actually staying in Hague Tower... is the Botetourt the 8-story brick bulding across brambleton?

That's from up on the 21st floor's outdoor patio area, I'm on the 14th, facing downtown norfolk, so I lose about half the viewable section of the Norfolk Southern building from my balcony as opposed to upstairs.

Just moved to downtown norfolk, and snapped this very low quality shot from my new building- My new balcony overlooks the belmont @ freemason & LRT construction on brambleton, as well as having a good view of the rising wachovia center & also the topped out residence inn site... soon as I can afford a new digital camera I hope to get some repitive status update photos- Hopefully xmas will be good to me, hoping to post some again soon-

Very positive. I really enjoyed how easy it was to get around in Charlotte then last time I was there, and can't wait to see it start up in Norfolk as well. Where Norfolk is moving forward, the beach is just falling further & further behind...