Hampton Roads Off-Topic Talk

[okinawatyphoon]

not really but I really wish it was all snow too!

Me too. The coldest its gotten this winter where I am is 50 fahrenheit.

But I did go to South Korea during Christmas and it did snow!

[willy]

I found a better place for the article over at HR transportation.

Edited February 15, 2006 by willy

[vdogg]

No more Town Centers

[lammius]

They're saying that is should change over after midnight and we should see about an inch down here. Richmond and point north anywhere from 2-8 inches.

Sorry I'm catching on late, but up here we got over 20 inches! I posted some pics in the NJ forum. Follow the link in my signature to check them out!

Did you guys end up getting snow in HR?

[urbanvb]

I was hoping we were going to get some. By the time I headed out this morning there was actually very little snow to see.

[movintoHR]

wow.. i have researched almost all the "large" cities on the east coast.. and I must say Nofolk seems incredibly interesting and "on the move" to me. Although I have not been there yet I have plans in progress to move within the next few months from Louisiana.. it may be a little off topic. Sorry for that.. but I have a few worries. First the "military" influence has been mentioned to me as a potential turnoff for a young couple. Also I was wondering how the nighlife was. Is there a boardwalk or nice "galleria" area in downtown norfolk.. Thanks for any input guys.

[urbanvb]

First, welcome to the forum! Norfolk really is a city on the move and progressively so. Although Norfolk has a large military presence it does offer a lot more. Norfolk has some wonderful historic neighborhoods and some up and coming urban ones as well. And although Norfolk has no boardwalk persay downtown does have a park that hosts a lot of free big ticket concerts in the summer as well as other festivals. We have quite a few forumers who are probably in bed now but will chime in and advise you other things you may consider about the city. Oh, and Norfolk has a very growing nightlife on Granby Street which is also host to numerous restaurants (I think almost all are non chain) and upscale clubs and such.

[urbanvb]

interesting, we have 9 guests with us at midnight

[NcSc74]

I had an argument with an old friend from Norfolk a coulple of days ago. Is Elizabeth City-Outer banks included in Hampton Roads MSA....Can anyone help me out..

[rusthebuss]

I had an argument with an old friend from Norfolk a coulple of days ago. Is Elizabeth City-Outer banks included in Hampton Roads MSA....Can anyone help me out..

I think that Elizabeth City is not part of the MSA of Norfolk.

[lammius]

Norfolk doesn't have a boardwalk, but Virginia Beach is nearby and has quite a large one!

I had an argument with an old friend from Norfolk a coulple of days ago. Is Elizabeth City-Outer banks included in Hampton Roads MSA....Can anyone help me out..

Elizabeth City is not in the Norfolk-VB-NN MSA. Currituck is the only NC county included. Its small portion of the Outer Banks (Corolla & north) is included as well. Most of the OBX are not included.

[urbanfan]

wow.. i have researched almost all the "large" cities on the east coast.. and I must say Nofolk seems incredibly interesting and "on the move" to me. Although I have not been there yet I have plans in progress to move within the next few months from Louisiana.. it may be a little off topic. Sorry for that.. but I have a few worries. First the "military" influence has been mentioned to me as a potential turnoff for a young couple. Also I was wondering how the nighlife was. Is there a boardwalk or nice "galleria" area in downtown norfolk.. Thanks for any input guys.

We do not have a boardwalk per say in norfolk. However, we do have the Waterside, which is very similiar to the one in Baltimore. There are lots of clubs all gathered into this one building. There are also good clubs along granby street. We also have good concert venues such as Norva and others. Plenty for a young couple to do. Oh, and we hopefully will have ice skating next year again around christmas time.

[movintoHR]

sounds good. Thanks for the input. I was suprised at how small the downtown/skyline seemed for a city in such a large metro area was.. But when I looked into it I found all these new buildings going up that everyone has been talking about. So that's a plus. How is traffic? It seems that it would be pretty bad with all of the relatively large cities surrounding norfolk. But that could just be a bad assumption.

[mercuex]

sounds good. Thanks for the input. I was suprised at how small the downtown/skyline seemed for a city in such a large metro area was.. But when I looked into it I found all these new buildings going up that everyone has been talking about. So that's a plus. How is traffic? It seems that it would be pretty bad with all of the relatively large cities surrounding norfolk. But that could just be a bad assumption.

Welcome to the forum and welcome to HR!

You're right about Norfolk's skyline being somewhat small, but it is growing rather exponentially. The thing about Hampton Roads is that even though we have a pretty substantial population, it's spread out over a sprawling geographic area. What's more, most of the municipalities in Hampton Roads are cities, not counties - unlike the metros for most places. Some have taken to calling Hampton Roads the "7 cities," which represents these:

-Norfolk

-Virginia Beach

-Newport News

-Hampton

-Chesapeake

-Portsmouth

-Williamsburg

Of course there is also Poquson and an incorporated Suffolk city as well and a number of counties.

The thing about Virginia laws on eminent domain make it so cities cannot take over counties/merge/do anything without approval from the General Assembly. This means that counties have been free from the specter of being swallowed and have, as Virginia Beach, eventualy become cities themselves. That helps explain the large geographic area of the metro.

Back to the skyline, I should mention that because there are 6 major cities in the metro (plus Williamsburg which is not a major city - per se - but a significant one), construction in the region has been spread out. What skylines we do have make the region multimodal. Each city has its own (or 2) minature skylines to contribute. If they were all in one place it would be quite substantial, but the geographic and political realities make that pretty impossible.

Norfolk: downtown + medical campus (2 skylines)

Va Beach: Beachfront + Town Center (2)

Newport News: City Center + Downtown (2)

Hampton: Downtown (1)

Chesapeake: (0)

Portsmouth: Downtown/Waterfront (1)

Williamsburg: (0)

That's 8 skylines ... and I'm probably missing a few lesser concentrations. Each city developed more or less on its own. Newport News and Norfolk led the way on the Peninsula and Southside (respectively) for much of the 20th century mostly as disparate regions. When the Peninsula and Southside was eventually recognized as 1 whole metropolitan statistical area (in the late 70s I think?), impetus for real cooperation began - but there's a long way to go. The cities still act relatively independently. We're not even at a European Union type integration yet.

Because of the geographic divide between the Peninsula and Southside (by the James River), it's an increasing challenge to link the two sides seamlessly. Traffic issues on both sides and a bottleneck effect on the bridge-tunnels make it difficult for the MSA to ever be a unimodal metro. That's not necessarily a bad thing since both sides are producing tremendous urban projects, but you'll never see a singular urban core the way you would in New York or even Richmond. Some, like me, prefer it that way. Others don't. There are advantages and disadvantages to both.

[gosscj]

Traffic is notorious for being awful, but there are really only a few spots that are truly unbearable (the rest are just mildly annoying if you have some patience). Traffic in Hampton Roads crosses the shipping channels of the James and Elizabeth Rivers using a series of underwater tunnels that are only a lane or two wide each direction, so all traffic into Norfolk from Portsmouth or the Peninsula has to funnel through these few lanes of tunnel and the result is miles and hours of traffic. The worst by far is the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel, which crosses from Hampton at Old Point Comfort into Norfolk at Willoughby Spit. Traffic there is rarely ever steady and at rush hour you can generally expect at least a half-hour delay. Other than that, the Midtown and Downtown tunnels between Norfolk and Portsmouth are probably the most consistent problem that I face, but usually you can get through those without more than a ten or fifteen minute delay. Some streets in town get congested at busy hours, but mostly those are the streets that lead to the tunnels. Also, I know that there are some parts of the suburbs (High Rise Bridge in Chesapeake, some of the main roads in Virginia Beach) that I hear can get pretty bad but I don't usually get out that way so I don't know first-hand.

Edited February 22, 2006 by gosscj

[urbanvb]

It all depends too on where you live and where you work. I happen to live and work in VB but while most folks are driving away from the city to work I am driving towards the Beach. My commute from Pembroke to Lynnhaven generally takes no more than 25 mins even in heavy traffic.

[movintoHR]

i see that norfolk is ranked 22 in the country in terms of highest cost of living.. Is that because there is lack of space? or just cause it seems so pretty.. eveything is on or near water.. seems that the real estate prices seem fair enough.. maybe that just takes into account apartments..

[sugoiben]

i see that norfolk is ranked 22 in the country in terms of highest cost of living.. Is that because there is lack of space? or just cause it seems so pretty.. eveything is on or near water.. seems that the real estate prices seem fair enough.. maybe that just takes into account apartments..

wow, really? 22nd? It must have jumped up that list in the last few years! Used to be downright reasonable. There's gotta be a lotta bargain places out there still. 22nd seems rediculously high.

[wrldcoupe4]

compared to Nova most places are downright reasonable

[sugoiben]

compared to Nova most places are downright reasonable

This is true. I guess Hampton Roads prices were always my frame of reference for "normal".

So ya, even after being in Nova for several years, I'm still suffering from sticker shock.

Still find it surprising that Hampton Roads is 22nd. But I guess it's just catching up price wise

with the pricier metros to the North. Just wonder have wages kept pace to match.

[movintoHR]

I'm sorry.. I didn't mean cost of living.. I meant in terms of average cost of housing.. It may be a different figure for "cost of living." ALSO.. is the granby tower going to be the tallest building in Norfolk?? if soo how tall.. I'm hoping that it can beat our states (Louisiana) phallic monument.. at 140 M.. cause it would piss me off if the tallest building in Baton Rouge LA is taller than that of a huge metro area like Norfolk.

[lammius]

I'm sorry.. I didn't mean cost of living.. I meant in terms of average cost of housing.. It may be a different figure for "cost of living." ALSO.. is the granby tower going to be the tallest building in Norfolk?? if soo how tall.. I'm hoping that it can beat our states (Louisiana) phallic monument.. at 140 M.. cause it would piss me off if the tallest building in Baton Rouge LA is taller than that of a huge metro area like Norfolk.

Granby will be near that height. I saw a figure of 137m, but that was before the most recent height increase. I'm not sure how tall it will be now.

[Padman]

I'm sorry.. I didn't mean cost of living.. I meant in terms of average cost of housing.. It may be a different figure for "cost of living." ALSO.. is the granby tower going to be the tallest building in Norfolk?? if soo how tall.. I'm hoping that it can beat our states (Louisiana) phallic monument.. at 140 M.. cause it would piss me off if the tallest building in Baton Rouge LA is taller than that of a huge metro area like Norfolk.

Baton Rouge is boomtown, as one would expect. Wages here have not kept up with the very recent housing price increases, which suggests that retirees find us attractive and that our water features and quality of life add value. There are a lot of tourist attractions here. More high paying jobs have been created on the Peninsula recently, much linked to the aerospace industry. The South side has seen growth in technical modeling and simulation, and in the medical industry. There's a large, new heart treatment center in Norfolk.

The phallic monument that you may say farewell to is a classic. We do have the beautiful new Granby Tower about to rise. It should exceed 450 feet by a bit, with a lovely spire that will be illuminated at night. There's also a 510 foot Westin Hotel/condo project rising in Virginia Beach. At 37 storeys, it will be the tallest in Virginia, at least for a while. There are some very promising plans for other tall condo and apartment towers as well.

[urbanvb]

"There are some very promising plans for other tall condo and apartment towers as well."

Could you further elaborate on this?

[metalman]

Some have taken to calling Hampton Roads the "7 cities," which represents these:

-Norfolk

-Virginia Beach

-Newport News

-Hampton

-Chesapeake

-Portsmouth

-Williamsburg

Of course there is also Poquson and an incorporated Suffolk city as well and a number of counties.

The seven cities that make up Hampton Roads metro does not include Williamsburg, the seventh city is Suffolk.

The cities north of Newport News would be HR's peripheries. The nautical term "Roads" refers to the intersection of rivers/major waterways. The nautical labeling "Hampton Roads" in the body of water pretty much between the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel and the Moniter Merrimac Brigde Tunnel (Which is the intersection of the Atlantic Ocean/Chesapeake Bay, James River and Elizabeth River.

The Metro label of our MSA refers the the seven cities which touch the Hamton Roads waterway.

Virginia Beach

Norfolk

Portsmouth

Suffolk

Chesapeake (ok, I know it does have a shoreline, but it's along the Eliz. River.

Hampton

and Newport News.

Edited February 22, 2006 by metalman