mistermetaj

Link Finally some news on the ocean front development. From the article, I just dont get why our city council does not act on all of this. This may be our only window for a long time to get some serious plans down there and make it a year round attraction.

As long as there are specified borders for development layed down by the city so developers cant just scatter and bulid any where, i think it will be fine. Mosst of the land taken in Va Beach has been abandoned warehouses and old office buildings. The only people who need to worry now are those in the small town houses right next to town center behind the theater.

Yeah, but our infastructure is so far behind the standard for normal cities that we are not going to get out of the military's grasp for yeras and years to come. The military still crowds our ports which definitely makes businesses look away and we dont have any major highway connections to any major cities except richmond. We need to fix our infastructure and then pro-sports and great businesses will come.

I havent been on the site in a while, so is city walk referring to what i thought was town square, or is that part of another phase of town center?

excellent post with the pictures. And wow, i didnt realize that they are going to cut through a lot of homes when then extend the constitution. I guess that is part of the process in that area and eventually they are going to extend all of the roads and get rid of all of those houses. When are they planning on extending constitution? Also, if they grid the area(like all cities are) and extend all the roads, that could theoretically fix the traffic problem without the need for another over pass in that area.

not to be an antagonist, but i really hope the ground breaking is delayed for mid day on the 15th so i can get back from school and be there. Im sure it would be invite only, but i would love to just be in the area at the time.

The navy did shoot it down, but then they came to an agreement with the navy. I may have been wrong then because i was looking at the site but it looked like it could have been part of a plan from a while ago.

According to VBgov.com, the city council should be adopting plans for the old beach district tomorrow. I must say i am very excited about these plans and i think they will revolutionize the strip. Cant wait to see them put in motion.

Yeah, that is because it has been around for 60 years and has no legitimate historical buildings in the town center area. No soul is ridiculous for a city that has been around for a 10th of the time as richmond and norfolk. It hasnt had the chance.

Norfolk has been around since about 1680 so it has plenty of history actually. At the moment it is not known as a historical town because its whole entity has been swarming around the navy for so long that people forget how long it has existed. On top of that, to say williamsberg and Jamestown are under the historical radar is absolutely ridiculous. Jamestown was one of the first settlements, so i dont see how that comment was relevant.

I think the problem for norfolk is the fact that their "soul" is just based on the navy and nothing else. Unfortunately, the navy doesnt attract tourists or businesses. It needs to find something else to call its own to really be an attraction.

soul doesnt make us attract businesses.

what site did you go to to see all of this?

I didnt think there was any lose of civilty. I was enjoying the conversation. We were just both trying to get our points across. I never saw it as an arguement or a city vs. city fight.

yeah ofcourse norfolk has a better downtown. It does have the history behind it and what not, that is a given. Yet these remarks about a better skyline is so trivial. Virginia beach will have more high rise buildings and is already planning on it. And yes, at the moment there is just the armada hoffler building. However, norfolks downtown barely reaches what i would consider high rise buildings. It only has ten buildings above 50 meters (which can approximate to 11 stories or so). So yes, as of now, the 10 to 2 ratio favors norfolk. To glorify norfolk over virginia beach with a miniscule 10 to 2 ratio when it has been around for hundreds of years longer is a travesty. Virginia beach has just begun to develope a downtown and is already comprable to norfolk. You also say you would much rather have a "city" than two towers. Well i definitely agree with that and norfolk does have more of a cultural and city feel to it. Once again, it has been around for hundreds of more years. Regardless, a 10-2 ratio would hardly be what i consider a great advantage in norfolks favor. In the type of skylines we all hope to have, such a small difference at this moment will not have an effect in future times. That is mathematically proven by the rule of large numbers. If you need proof of that, compare new york to chicago. New York has over five thousand skyscrapers and chicago has barely over one thousand. Are you to tell me that chicago has less grand of a skyline than New York? Play by the rule of large numbers which we all hope our cities attain one dday and you can see how this can easily be a skyline race.

Except for the fact that norfolk doesnt have much of a skyline either. Even with their "jump start" their skyline has not amount to anything past 102 meters. I agree we may not match their amount of total high rises, but in a skyline race of height, it is very much up in the air between the two cities. Dont forget we out number them in population which automatically gives us the capacity to overtake them. Their amount of high rises is also not by any means well beyond what the beach could do.

No expanding all the way to Newtown will take too long. Id rather nice architecture and some high rises around TC rather than a whole new project by newtown road. That is too far away from the pembroke area right now.

reading back and forth from the norfolk development and vabeach development forums, it gives me the feel of a great build up race that will occur. It is slow moving now, but once both cities establish themselves with high rises, i think there is going to be a race for the skyline.

nevermind, found it.

send me a like to get to the new thread. I dont know how to use this website very well.

I am new, so i am curious about where everyone is from. I am from Virginia Beach, I went to Cox High School and I am a first year student at UVa. I am curious about what is the age range we are dealing with. And as for the last post, if you figure a plan to get a major league team either here or norfolk, sign me up to be part of that.

also, does anyone know about the marriot hotel that is supposed to be built on i think 9th street. And, when will the plans to revolutionize 19th street come into effect and group breaking begin?

What is the 2010 plan. I have never seen it but i am really dying to see what it is all about. I contacted the head architect of CMSS and i asked him about town center but he didnt have any answers. My grandmother works in PA and she says they are planning on rennovating it so i didnt know if they were trying to stay in there area. If you can repost what you said that would be great.

Though i agree that we should get rid of pembroke mall, i doubt it will ever come to be unfortunately. I am just hoping it turns into lynnhaven mall or something with a little class. Also, is there any plans to move PA and the church so we can build up to the creek and try to establish some natural boundaries for the town center. The creek goes around it on the front and one side and mount trashmore and the highway create a boundary to the other side. Has anyone heard of such a plan to create an area like that?