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I agree, vdogg, it's too vague to make a judgment. If this were done right, it could be an excellent design. However, I have my doubts. With Portsmouth's financial situation it would seem extravagant if they built their new courthouse in brick and stone. They'll probably go with the least expensive materials, and they're perfectly justified in doing so. There are good arguments for building a courthouse as a public monument, and there are good arguments to be made on the side of fiscal responsibility in hard times as well. As a person who is happy to call Portsmouth home no matter where I live, I sorta hope they'll build a great courthouse. But if not, I'd understand.

Unbelievable.

Norfolk plans premiere park for Town Point

I agree, here in Philadelphia you can barely tell you're entering the main gay district except for a few gay bars and the rainbows the city council recently installed over all the street signs in the area. They're neat, I admit, but it's another sign of the neighborhood losing its former ("real") identity and becoming just a spot for tourists to hike through. As to your point about the continuing problem of homophobia, you're spot-on. It's just not as overt as it used to be. I used to think there were promising signs, and sometimes I still do, but I'm far less certain. (Imagine they're both the same gender, doesn't matter which.)

That is a real loss for the city. I feel like they were probably holding onto that space in anticipation of the much-spoken-of development north of Brambleton (which will probably be a while, as thing stand today). I saw some great local art at the JAC - and hung a few things myself. It's said to see it go.

It was in today's Times, burt. Here you go: Famous Mayor Under Fire in Virginia

Henry Ryto, just curious: What do you think are the odds of these options happening and what do you think about the time-frame? I'm especially curious about your #3. Am I remembering correctly that you are personally involved with the planning at HRT?

Well, it's good to know there are plans for the land. Otherwise, what a waste! I hope they stick by the original idea of creating a step-up effect with the buildings from the water.

Do you mean the location of the old warehouses along the water that were just torn down?

It's the beginning of the article that I take offense to. Dougherty is slyly reinforcing the ingrained stereotype of Portsmouth as backward, low-class and generally not worth the time it takes Va Beachers to get there. Oh my god, they don't even have a Starbucks?! I agree that their coffee is mediocre and their hype as a status symbol is laughable. That is exactly why I'm offended by her suggestion that Portsmouth's City Council and citizens must be jumping for joy at the announcement of a stand-alone Starbucks -- as if its the highest compliment the city deserves, and a generous compliment still. As a longtime Portsmouth resident, I'm sensitive to these things.

Been too long since you've read a truly nasty, condescending insult to Portsmouth's integrity and value to Hampton Roads? Kerry Dougherty will happily sate your appetite.

Stand-alone Starbucks will be Portsmouth's first Ha, you just beat me to this!

Me too. And hopefully soon they will really make a positive contribution! Even now when you travel west on 264 over the Berkeley Bridge, having Harbor Tower and the several other notable Portsmouth structures does a lot for Norfolk's skyline.

Boy, just picture Granby and Wachovia Towers in that picture. Great find!

There is a third period, actually, and this is the one in which Norfolk's influence on national history is most notable - that is the period beginning roughly in the middle of the eighteenth century and lasting until 1776, when the city was leveled in rebellion. At the time Norfolk was the only real city in a territory whose political power in America was matched only by Massachusetts. I believe (and have written at length if anyone is interested) that the burning of Norfolk did more to convert rebellious, discontented Virginians into true revolutionaries than any other event or document, including Common Sense (which was published shortly after the burning of Norfolk and was not widely read in Virginia). And when Virginia signed on to the revolution virtually wholesale - unlike in the other colonies, loyalism was extremely rare in Virginia after Norfolk was destroyed - it provided the credibility needed to enlist the other colonies to a cause that had previously been a primarily urban uprising that did not take separation from Great Britain as its aim. The burning of Norfolk was the crucial moment for Virginia in the early revolution, and as such its effects were felt far beyond the colony's borders. Only problem is, there wasn't much left afterwards.