BFG

I know Hampton annexed Elizabeth City County - which was Phoebus - back in the 1950s, and before that I wanna say NN annexed the town of Warwick. But I believe those were mutual agreements. To Norva's point, the new "district presidents" would still retain the same duties a mayor would, overseeing their districts/boroughs of Chesapeake, Norfolk, etc. They could make up a regional council, which isn't unheard of. Nashville has a council of 40 members between the city and Davidson County, five of which are "at-large seats". Indianapolis has 25. You still have enough voices to represent each area. If you started with Norfolk, Chesapeake, VB, and Hampton, that would be 35 members. Let's say a mayor is elected at-large from those four; the other three would serve on council as "district presidents" or whatever fancy title you wanna give them. I know it's all a pipe dream, but it would be so much more beneficial if the incorporated city of "Tidewater", "Hampton Roads", or "New Dominion" were a thing because money for things like light rail expansion or an arena would be spread throughout a city of 1M people. I also think it would be less of a headache for Richmond when it comes to divvying up funds.

I talked about this with someone last week who works with one of the regional offices (I forget which one). He said the biggest issue is what we've said all along: too many cities and too many leaders with different agendas. He said consolidation could happen where all or a few of the cities - let's say Norfolk, VB, Chesapeake, and Hampton - become one city, and the mayors become "borough presidents" which is how it works in NYC. You have Mayor Brown overseeing the city, then the Bronx, Brooklyn, etc. have borough presidents with the same duties as a mayor. It's doable here, but I have a better shot of hitting the Powerball every week for the next 20 years. Went to a Chamber-sponsored event a couple months ago, and Newport News's mayor basically said the same thing. It's a bummer because the city leaders see the elephant in the room, but think going to another mayor's State of the City is working together. We're still handicapped by the Seven Cities moniker - catchy as it may be - and until someone takes that chance, this area will never reach that next level. And what's funny is that people who come here from other metros don't understand why it's so divided. The concept makes zero sense, and it's no reason why the NIMBYs keep trying to stop any progress when they're in the minority.

Nearly 385K last month, and in the first 11 months of 2023 ORF surpassed its 2022 passenger total. They are currently at 4.17M compared to 4.12M for all of last year. I really think 4.5M happens this year https://www.norfolkairport.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/November-2023-Media-Release.pdf

Market wise we’re bigger than Louisville, and for markets with a team OKC, Memphis, and I think Milwaukee. So the potential is there and I think Adam Silver is still aware of what we want to do. But we can’t do anything without a larger arena, and we’ve been having that conversation for more than a decade.

Our chances were admittedly slim, esp. since the NBA has Seattle and Vegas next on their radar. If they go beyond 32 to say, 36, I could see us being in that next round along with Louisville, but I think you get into the issue of spreading the talent pool too thin. I’m not a fan of the move because it hurts us and Richmond in a way. I think this move closes the 757’s window unless they play a couple exhibition or regular season games down here. Hopefully the city doesn’t get cold feet and decide not to do anything at all with Scope or Military Circle.

My fiancée and I walked through downtown tonight and went in MacArthur. It was fairly busy for a dying mall, but I noticed several pop-up shops and art galleries. With it only being a short walk from Neon, Norfolk should heavily consider more studio spaces as part of MacArthur 2.0. Something to bridge the gap between Neon and Selden Arcade. One of the former big box stores would make a nice soundstage.

Norfolk is again considering remodeling Scope and Chrysler Hall. Both are now at the age where historic tax credits can be pursued, although I think the city should get Dollar Tree involved for naming rights; something like Norfolk Scope at Dollar Tree Center. https://www.wavy.com/news/local-news/norfolk/norfolk-to-renew-push-to-renovate-chrysler-hall-and-scope/?utm_source=nfk.currents.news&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=this-week-in-nfk-big-dollar-projects-night-shift-new-contracts-high-prices-grinch-pancakes-and-more Due to the dome shape, I wonder if they could build a "sky bridge" like what MSG did? IIRC, the original Scope proposal involved digging underground and would've added 4,000 seats, so this gets you 4,400 or so. https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/renovated-madison-square-garden-unveils-sky-bridge-seats/#:~:text="In a nod to New,weigh in at 662 tons. From what I remember, the Scope proposal called for lowering the floor a few feet, which would interfere with the exhibition hall. I'd get rid of the exhibition hall and consider a new space elsewhere. Isn't the city considering a new convention center?

Even though it’s a few hours from London, I’ve said that a “Norfolk to Norfolk” marketing campaign writes itself, and I’m sure Breeze is probably keeping us in mind. Anywhere International would be a huge win for ORF, tho. Any idea how Breeze does here compared to other airports?

DC, LA, or Dallas. Those are three of my favorite cities, I lived in Dallas as a kid, and I have family there. Honorable mention: Denver, although I don’t do cold. Anytime I visit those types of cities I always say I wish I could bottle up the energy and bring it back to the 757. Even a fraction of what they offer in terms of jobs, culture, infrastructure, etc. would be a massive improvement. And that’s what I don’t get…the Chamber has visited several cities over the past few years to see how they operate, but I have yet to see any of those suggestions executed here.

I believe a couple council members lurk from time to time. I’ve seen one (Tommy Smigel IIRC) respond to Reddit posts in the Norfolk sub.

I’ll be the first to apply. I could make six figures to suggest projects that’ll never come to fruition.

Someone jog my memory please…upgrading Scope was too costly right? But it would’ve brought us to about 15K capacity for basketball plus luxury suites? It was similar to what Seattle did with Climate Pledge Arena, but it was also one big design difference I forget. Regardless, if a Scope overhaul could get us half the events Seattle has now I’d be happy. If more than 15K can happen and we keep the original exterior design I’m happy.

https://whro.org/news/local-news/43092-military-circle-mall-redevelopment-proposals-including-arena-plans-have-been-shelved?fbclid=IwAR1xUBS-I-wTT5tGCkv98t-BALMXlALTpbV-El8w0jfV-DtbaX2AMcRxVN8 To the surprise of absolutely no one, this is now on indefinite hold. I'm begging City Council not to propose any other major projects unless they are 110% positive they will move forward. I'm so sick and tired of this city promising one big project after another that's never even gotten close to a groundbreaking, let alone a ribbon cutting. You constantly hold the football out like Lucy, and so many of us fall for it like Charlie Brown. Gateway Tower X Performing arts venue on Scope Plaza X Apartments on the open lot at MacArthur X Anything regarding the future of MacArthur X Redeveloping Military Circle X Light rail going anywhere past EVMS and Newtown Road X The casino ? although I'm pretty sure it'll also be X To the councilmembers who lurk this forum, it's a reason people leave this area. Charlotte, Raleigh, Nashville and God knows how many other similar-sized markets would've completed most or all of the above, regardless of economic conditions or a pandemic. Your inability to pull the trigger on any major project and abide by the status quo is pathetic, and this is coming from someone who has defended you on various occasions. Thanks for nothing.

I just need to know what strain?

Two months left and we’re at nearly 3.8M. Considering there’s probably people who still haven’t visited family since 2020, the numbers should continue increasing. Could we see 4.5M?

Have fun with that. Both of those parking lots are fusterclucks.

Well the Tides new owner said they plan to stay in Norfolk, and it would look pretty crummy for the defending national champion to suddenly leave town, esp. when fan support was pretty decent this year. If the casino dies, I think it’ll be because the Pamunkey tribe simply didn’t deliver.

My birthday is the following week, and I was just telling my fiancee' I wanted to go to the casino. Looks like dinner at Yard House might be an option.

The city stopped holding First Friday not long after the world reopened. If you go to the FF site, it still says it would not resume in 2022, so that decision had to have been made before the Chicho’s shooting. We may not know why the city stopped holding First Friday, but I’m pretty sure crime wasn’t an issue esp. since it was still daylight when the event happened. And there’s still plenty of other social events.

When the first NEON Festival happened, I said the city needed to do this more than once a year. Then they introduced First Fridays, which was awesome. Then they shut it down indefinitely. It’s almost like Norfolk refuses to wanna be a city. I really hope it comes back next spring.

Imagine the alternate universe where this would've been completed by now. Which one are we getting first, the casino or the arena? And in which year, within 2 high or low? Place your bets!

Nice! That building is taller than I expected.

So is this dead? Is Norfolk content with two dead malls or are they actually going to make a move this decade? An arena could be close to completed if they'd stop dragging their feet.

They were demolished in the 80s and 90s.

Even in the 70s downtown had some density… A few years ago I saw an old plan for a mixed-use development that included stores and I think a hotel, broken down into city blocks. Imagine how downtown looks had they gone that route. This would’ve probably been early-80s.