mercuex

Newport News - Williamsburg International gets a face lift.

That's probably true. Though as Baltimore is a case in point, there's always room to turn an industrial area into a white collar one. especially if it involves the waterside.

Trolleys in Newport News? I think this BRT system can work but if the media mandarins aren't going to back smart growth initiatives then it's doomed to fail.

Wow this could be awesome. Something like NET. I'm really hoping they do it so the shuttle is free. That would increase ridership SO much. I'm sure corporate sponsorship and an arrangement with like ... CNU could mitigate costs.

Well technically, most of what was laid out in the master plan wasn't a done deal simply because they had to work it out along market demand. I tried calling that number they supplied for the Meridian Info line and that junk had been turned into a voicemail thing because of such a huge volume of callers. I think if these high rises get built, it will create the critical mass needed to spur more high rise development. It will happen B)

What I have noticed, though, was it definitely seemed to be a common theme to hear those of the "progressive" persuasion consistently referring to those who don't vote their way as being somehow undereducated or implied to be unintelligent.

lol there's no way I can enter the fray. I'd have to sit down and talk to someone about it instead because there are just way way way too many errors to count in there. From both sides. Maybe if we do our meetup I'll give ya'll the rundown on my ideology lol

yeesh. I just got back to NN. I was literally fording water on Robin Hood Road ... it was awful!!

LOL no im talking about the storm right now over Norfolk Airport. Its localized and RIDICULOUS.

Yes and depends. I think the urbanization will make NN jump in population more than expected (it's expected to grow like 20,000 people within the next 10 yrs or something...). I think the Peninsula could reach the 1 mil mark eventually but it has a lot to do with smart growth initiatives in Hampton, NN, and York County. JESUS CHRIST can anyone believe this storm?!?! I feel like I'm going to die soon or something

Me too. Here's the thing ... I really like the downtown and I wish it were still functionally the downtown of the city. I think that, like all things, it will see its renaissance someday. Just not for awhile. I imagine once the east end stabilizes and the coal terminal goes, a rash of development will follow and people will come back. The question then, however, is what state city center will be in and whether NN can make it so both areas are economically vibrant simultaneously. The important thing is to make it so each area is filling a specific niche that the other cannot. Like downtown can do high tech industry, maybe R&D, municipal, family oriented and waterfront activities while City Center can be more hip, urbane, and clubby as well as catering to shoppers and businessmen. This city could be soooo great.

it's a left wing "charity" who is putting those water containers in the desert. the INS has already said its a bad idea because it might give false hope to illegals who will die in higher numbers in the desert. i dont know if that has happened or not but the logic is sound.

haha I do appreciate you bringing us back to the real issue for the thread ... but I was referring to the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Bill lol But I can't say I disagree with you!

In Badnewsese we call it the "traditional downtown" and City Center is referred to as the "downtown of the Peninsula". When someone asks where our CBD is, there really isnt' any confusion whatsoever. The very large majority of our business and high tech companies have their presence in Oyster Point. The "traditional downtown" is effectively split between Northrop Grumman, Municipal offices, Port of Newport News, and the Coal Terminal, mostly in that order. It's quite busy during the day, but at night and on the weekends it's basically abandoned. Hoobo, the east end, where they are developing the new Mariner's Watch, is not part of the "downtown" per se, though its in the general vicinity and thus often miscategorized. That place is best known for its crime and the birthplace of the "broken window" theory that become such a sensation in Guiliani NYC. Both areas have a lot of potential (as evidenced by the Mariner's Watch development) but right now all the local developers avoid it. I imagine that in the future, especially if the coal terminal packs up, could have promise ... but not for awhile at least. A few hundred people actually still live in downtown, and most of them are middle class and not badly off at all. What would have been nice if that newly created "downtown" they have in Oyster Point was built in the original downtown. It would have made for a pretty impressive skyline at least comparable, if smaller, to Norfolk. That said, it's not geographically feasible since DT Newport News is the area that WAS ONLY Newport News pre-consolidation with then-Warwick county. Here's a pic that was put up on an earlier post in this thread: If you want to see other pics, check out page three.

I understand the sentiment but when you have people from the FEC ruling that weblogs constitute a form of political campaigning that fall under the strictures of the law, they've gone too far. Besides, who's to say that things are really any better now? Who can honestly sit down and tell me that suddenly the rich are in the same category as the rest of us? HAH! Look at the last election. All these people were doing was just starting new "non-affiliated" PACs and running advertisements on their own. Like I said, I understand why he did it and that's why I'm not against the spirit of the bill ... just the fallout, which has been disasterous.

Thanks! (if you're referring to mine lol) I figured it was time to actually say something consequential!

I always did like McCain ... but his Campaign Finance baby is an affront to the 1st Amendment. I don't think he envisioned it would come to that, but there it is.

Well in that case, if Alaska is flush with petrodollars, it won't be too much skin off their own back to fund their precious superbridge.

Wowie suffolk is going to be great someday. It has all the advantages that VB did minus the coastline ... but they do have a traditional DT!! Lots o' potential there!

Ted Stevens, the Republican Senator from Alaska, is Chairman of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. Jesus Christ I can't believe the kind of pork that is allowed to stay in bills like this. Our transportation crisis is far freaking worse than Ketchikan's. I PROMISE. It's this crap that makes me want to yell at my Congressmen/Senators to push for constitutional change to give back more of our money. Especially if it's going to be spent like this!! It's a freaking crime.

I've decided that Federal money is appropriated by chimpanzes. I say more fiscal power be given to the states/localities regarding things like transportation and education. We know what we need to do.

Thanks. $2,672,000.00 for bus crap. $0.00 for LRT. $0.00 for smart growth.

I usually don't give Hampton enough credit, but in today's Daily Press, Mayor Kearney makes an EXCELLENT case for expanding the HRBT before we start drawing up fantasyplans for a third "Crossing" (in quotes since it wouldn't be an independent bridge-tunnel system). The link is here. Please read it.

Yeah that's the "corporate campus" HQ building that's slated for the next phase along w the 18 story condo tower and low rise condo village. Nothing specific yet, though. It might be worthwhile for someone to email Florence Kingston about it. I think they're tired of me emailing and have caught on that I'm not REALLY just an interested student inquiring for "research purposes" LOL. But yeah I went by there yesterday to drop off something at Fountain Plaza II and wow man. It really is starting to look like the nucleus of a miniature downtown. If the 11th floor of the Marriott can give you a view all the way to the chamberlain, imagine what the Meridian's 18th floor or the 23 story corporate building can show!!