Virginia Beach off-topic

[urbanvb]

I too have noticed the Mayflower over the years. I would imagine those folks on the water side (east side) of the building are not too fond of their new 'view'. I think now would be a good time for a reno especially in light of all the new and high-end hotels and such that are coming online. But I wonder too since the views are gone (or at least blocked somewhat) if the building can sustain a reno with this in mind.. great question.

[vdogg]

Beach hires new econ dev chief

A national search for the city's new economic development director ended just next door.

Warren Harris, the economic development director in Chesapeake since 2001, has been chosen for the same post in Virginia Beach. He starts Aug. 1.

Harris, 50, called his new job a "unique professional opportunity," but added Virginia Beach and Chesapeake share similar challenges.

"Both communities are experiencing the beginnings of having to address redevelopment, looking at vertical development in ways they haven't before," he said Monday.

Hmm...I like this guy already.

[vdogg]

I'm not home so I can't do a print screen but there are 35 guests browsing our forum right now. Weird

Make that 45

Nevermind. 22 of them are in the tower two thread Guess we've become the go to place anytime there's a major announcement.

[adctvmonkey]

Microsoft Live's bird's view map for va beach is updated, it shows the westin when it was at around 37 floors-pretty cool!

[Alpine757]

Microsoft Live's bird's view map for va beach is updated, it shows the westin when it was at around 37 floors-pretty cool!

I wish someone would take the time to build town center into Google Earth as 3D buildings like most large cities have already done with their downtown areas. I noticed even a few of downtown Norfolk's buildings have been 3D modeled into it now, such as Nauticus & that circular condo building by macarthur mall, and another highrise downtown.

[mistermetaj]

So I was reading a book called Tapped Out for on of my engineering classes by former Senator Paul Simon, and he uses Virginia Beach as an example of a large US city strained for clean potable water. He talks about our political war with NC over access to Lake Gaston, and even quotes the Pilot in there. What was of particular interest to me is where he states "The lack of a municipal water supply...has slowly been choking that state's largest city...the lack of water also has helped slow the city's growth to a trickle." Now this was copy righted 1998, so I was wondering if anyone knew what has become of the Lake Gaston plan and if we actually are using water from there now. Also, if anyone has any insite into how our lack of water really has affected our growth and development. It really changes my perspective on all Hampton Roads cities and growth. Just for a comparison, New York City and northern Jersey has access to a surplus of water supplies and has some of the best water in the nation.

Makes me really appreciate the message in the movie Waterboy.

[urbanvb]

The Lake Gaston pipeline which supplies water to Va Beach has been operational for many years now although I am not sure how long. I think it has been operational at least since 95 when I moved here. As far as a lack of drinking water I have never heard of such.

Edited August 30, 2007 by urbanvb

[adctvmonkey]

I've heard that there was more of a problem with salt water seeping into groundwater all over HR due to the really, really old (i donno how old) Chesapeake Bay crater that's still settling.

[beltwayboy08]

I've heard that there was more of a problem with salt water seeping into groundwater all over HR due to the really, really old (i donno how old) Chesapeake Bay crater that's still settling.

virginia beach crater? like a sink whole? I know florida and new jersey have problems with their fresh ground water being polluted by salt too. its because it was being used too fast and the ocean water naturally sinks in and replaces. does anyone know how to post a picture??

[hoobo]

So I was reading a book called Tapped Out for on of my engineering classes by former Senator Paul Simon, and he uses Virginia Beach as an example of a large US city strained for clean potable water. He talks about our political war with NC over access to Lake Gaston, and even quotes the Pilot in there. What was of particular interest to me is where he states "The lack of a municipal water supply...has slowly been choking that state's largest city...the lack of water also has helped slow the city's growth to a trickle." Now this was copy righted 1998, so I was wondering if anyone knew what has become of the Lake Gaston plan and if we actually are using water from there now. Also, if anyone has any insite into how our lack of water really has affected our growth and development. It really changes my perspective on all Hampton Roads cities and growth. Just for a comparison, New York City and northern Jersey has access to a surplus of water supplies and has some of the best water in the nation.

Makes me really appreciate the message in the movie Waterboy.

Prior to Gaston, VB got its water from Norfolk. After the building boom in the 80's, VB began exceeding its contracted needs of 30 mgd. Whenever it exceeded that flow, it had to pay a higher penalty rate to Norfolk. Also, Norfolk's needs came first because it was the provider. So when there was a drought, Norfolk capped the supply of water to VB and the latter city had to ration the water within its service area. To prevent exceedances from occurring, VB effectly put a moratorium on growth. If VB planned to continue its growth,end the penalty payments, and have a reliable source of water during summer droughts; it had to find a new source of water. Unfortunately for Virginia Beach, it has no major rivers it can dam to create a reservoir and Norfolk owns Lake Smith, Little Creek Reservoir, and Lake Stumpy, all of which are in the VB.

At the same time, Chesapeake was experiencing rapid growth and could not sustain its population on brackish well water alone. Brackish water has to be filtered at a reverse osmosis plant (like a light version of desal) and that requires more energy than a normal treatment plant. Chesapeake tried to exceed capacity at its plant resulting in high sodium levels in the water. Also, this groundwater is high in tannins (organic material) which when chlorinated produces THMs, a known carcinogen. All this pushed Chesapeake to join VB in fighting for Gaston water.

Of the two cities, VB had more at stake because it needed a new water source to continue its growth. Chesapeake, on the other hand, could have turned to Norfolk or Portsmouth for water. After all the lawsuits by North Carolina, VB and Chesapeake finally got their pipeline. It went on line in 1998. I believe it dumps into Lake Prince in Suffolk, which Norfolk owns, where it is then pumped to Norfolk for treatment. VB helped pay for the expansion of Norfolk's Lake Wright treatment plant off of Northampton Blvd.

VB has a website about the project here: Lake Gaston Pipeline

The Peninsula is now having problems meeting its future water demand. The Mattaponi Indian tribe have been fighting Newport News over a proposed reservoir that would encroach on their fishing grounds. It appears that a settlement has been reached, though.

Edited August 30, 2007 by hoobo

[adctvmonkey]

virginia beach crater? like a sink whole? I know florida and new jersey have problems with their fresh ground water being polluted by salt too. its because it was being used too fast and the ocean water naturally sinks in and replaces. does anyone know how to post a picture??

It was something about how due to the crater (it's the largest crater in the U.S. and its what's created the southern Chesapeake Bay), the layers beneath HR are fractured and thus the patterns of groundwater and seawater are highly distorted. The sediment that filled the crater is still settling, which is causing HR to sink and more water problems. There's a very good article here that explains HR's specific groundwater problem. This crater thing is very well-known in the scientific community (because it's so big) and was featured in National Geographic and the Pilot.

[adctvmonkey]

Here's an image from USGS courtesy wikipedia, lol:

[adctvmonkey]

Here's the Nat'l Geographic article.

[Telmnstr]

Wow! Pretty cool. I heard that up on the eastern shore, some of the water has really good visibility. Anyone know if there are any good dive sites up there?

[scm]

Couple of interesting letters to the editor in yesterday's VP, in response to a guest editorial by a former CO of NAS Oceana:

Feeling the noise

The Navy is indeed part of our national defense and our protectors. However, protecting something is not the same as owning it. The Navy too must learn to observe inconvenient disciplines and limits on its activities, particularly where its operations impact the lives of hundreds of thousands of others.

If it doesn

[urbanlife]

Just a little off topic thought. The size of downtown Orlando is equal to the land size of downtown Virginia Beach. The cores are of equal size if you count in the land for the TC, the project to the west of the TC (what is the name for that again?), the Pembroke Office Park, the mall, and where KMart use to be (or is it still there?).

So yeah, something for you guys to day dream about because Orlando has really built one hell of a big downtown in that amount of space, I think it is a good reference of what VB could one day look like because this downtown for the city is going to be very easy for them to market over the years to come.

[cpeakesqr]

Virginia Beach gets a shout-out from The New York Times.

[erdogs]

It's sad to see these comunities starting to disapear. Homophobia is just as prevalent today as it has ever been, people just are not as open about as they used to be. I have noticed in the past 5 years this trend and I don't think its a positive. I see it as a problem whenever you lose your cultural identity and soon there won't be anywhere to go to just be around people like yourself.

[Telmnstr]

Virginia Beach gets a shout-out from The New York Times.

Bwahaha Pat Robertson must be pleased. Is this just a case of ghent folks getting bored and moving to the beach or what?

[vdogg]

Wow, Va. Beach. I don't know what could possibly account for this, or how they add their figures up, but this is strange indeed. Va. Beach has never been known for being that forward thinking, as Tel alluded too, so I wonder what could be drawing these couples in.

[urbanvb]

I can't say for sure but what I have noticed after reading postings on other sites is that people are moving en masse (sp?) it seems to places for cheaper real estate, better paying jobs etc. Now whether folks are moving here from more expensive markets remains to be seen. But I think the days of job loyalty or even loyalty to where one was born and raised are rapidly diminishing. And no longer are the large city the meccas for certain people or cultures as new and upcoming cities are drawing them in as well.

[gosscj]

It's sad to see these comunities starting to disapear. Homophobia is just as prevalent today as it has ever been, people just are not as open about as they used to be. I have noticed in the past 5 years this trend and I don't think its a positive. I see it as a problem whenever you lose your cultural identity and soon there won't be anywhere to go to just be around people like yourself.

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.)

[vdogg]

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.)

It has a lot to do with the current national climate. I'll try to be as non-political as I can here because I really don't want to start that debate. There was a lot of progress during the late 80's and 90's but after the millenium, when the marriage amendment battles started, there was a huge backlash against gays in this country. While I support gay marriage, I think the movement went too far too fast and this is largely responsible for the current environment. I think it could've been handled differently. Also, certain elements in talk radio continue to use gays as the boogiemen, spewing out a daily diet of hate filled rhetoric. This also has a negative effect on the national psyche. I don't think that this is a permanent backward slide, just a hiccup. In a few decades we may look back on this period of time much like we look back on the 1960's, and wonder how things ever could've been so bad.

[adctvmonkey]

This is a totally off-topic thought, but here goes.

I've always wondered why North Virginia Beach doesnt have some type of general and broad nickname to denote its wealth, kind of like a miniature scale of 'The Hills' in Cali. Current descriptions seem too fragmented. I was thinking a catchy name might be 'The Necks' because of the obvious geography of that area.

[Henry_Ryto]

This is a totally off-topic thought, but here goes.

I've always wondered why North Virginia Beach doesnt have some type of general and broad nickname to denote its wealth, kind of like a miniature scale of 'The Hills' in Cali. Current descriptions seem too fragmented. I was thinking a catchy name might be 'The Necks' because of the obvious geography of that area.

"The Necks"? As in Rednecks?