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Newtown Strategic Growth Area


varider

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September 15, 2009

Dear Citizen:

Meetings to plan the future of the Newtown Strategic Growth Area are about to begin, and the City invites you to share your thoughts and learn more about what your neighbors think. There are many current issues that will influence land use in this area, including the adjacent light rail station in Norfolk, the proposed Cleveland Street Flyover and plans for the Norfolk Southern right-of-way. Homeowners, property owners and business owners all have a stake in the future of Newtown, and we ask that you help us define and clarify a vision for how the land could be used and create a strategy for making that vision real.

Please join us:

Thursday, October 1st at 6 p.m. We

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Here is a Map of the SGA:

http://www.vbgov.com/file_source/dept/mcg/...newtown_sga.pdf

I actually worked in a building in this area this summer, and there are many run down and decrepit buildings here even if they may not look it. Was wondering when this place would be redeveloped, although it isnt that close to the Newtown light rail station.

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I hope they work with Norfolk when it comes to the masterplan of this. If you take this area and combine it with the other side of newtown that is on the norfolk side, the area could actually turn into a real new town for both cities and give them another urban district.

That'd basically create a continuous urban district from downtown VaBeach to downtown Norfolk.

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I just hope the city doesn't try to bite off more than it can chew.

They have all these plans and guidelines to create urban districts throughout the city, I just hope they actually implement them. They should start with Pembroke & the Resort. Then work their way to places like Newtown and Hilltop.

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I just hope the city doesn't try to bite off more than it can chew.

They have all these plans and guidelines to create urban districts throughout the city, I just hope they actually implement them. They should start with Pembroke & the Resort. Then work their way to places like Newtown and Hilltop.

This is more a guide to development rather than an active program, to establish a precedent for developers.

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And VB has been in need of guidelines to say what they wish the future of their city to look life for a long time now...just imagine what the city would look like now if this would of been put in place back in the early 80s when VB was still a small city....granted, if that would of happened, VB would currently have a downtown that was filled with alot of Post Modern garbage....so there are pluses to taking their time with all of this.

But the key from here on out is to create these plans for as many parts of the city as they can, then hold developers to them...if a developer proposes something that is not in line with what the city wants to do, then they need to tell the developer no. Plus having plans like this will attract developers that are more incline to doing urban projects.

The next big building boom that happens in the US will probably mean a big building boom for VB if they play their cards right...which I am guessing the beginning of this boom will start with federal projects, which light rail and high speed rail will play a big part in that.

Then of course, I have said this before, as MLS grows and begins to look at more markets that are in the position to take on another or their first pro team, cities like VB are going to be what they are looking for.

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This is more a guide to development rather than an active program, to establish a precedent for developers.

I am well aware of this. But in each plan there are tons of projects that must be initiated and funded by the city. For example, what's going on right now at laskin rd. In the Pembroke plan, Va Beach must restructure the grid, fund the different art facilities, move Princess Anne High, secure land for TOD stations,etc.

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How to redevelop 450 acres next to Norfolk was the subject Thursday night as the Beach sought input from the public, though the obvious subtext was whether the city should pursue light rail.

A planned flyover of Interstate 264 to link Greenwich Road and Cleveland Street is also a major element in planning the future of the mostly industrial area. That new link would directly connect the Newtown area with Pembroke and Town Center, a high-profile city redevelopment effort. On light rail, opinions were mixed.

http://hamptonroads.com/2009/10/public-wei...ewtownarea-work

They do realize that light rail will be much quieter than the rumbling leviathans that used to be the cargo trains right?

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  • 4 weeks later...

The steering process for the Newtown SGA has begun and here are a couple of the preliminary visions the residents and the city have established.

1. Newtown needs an identity

2. Maintaining and programming existing, open spaces, while

providing new park spaces within the town center

3. A small, mixed-use development, town center that accomodates

a variety of restaurants, shops, new housing, and a mix

of activities

4. New housing that provides a mix of options; new condominiums

and retirement housing

5. More efficient, network of streets that accomodates throughtraffic

and provides sidewalks for pedestrians

6. Capitalize on light rail presence

7. Relocate current businesses

8. Widening of Newtown Road and improvements to major

intersections to alleviate traffic

http://www.vbgov.com/file_source/dept/planning/FocusGroupPublicMtgInput.pdf

Another "town center" ?

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Well just by name, it should be seen as a "new town," thus it should be considered another town center or urban development...I would love to see that area be the changing points for trains. It could make a great place where different LR lines came together, as well as a spot for a new high speed rail station.

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  • 1 month later...

There was a Open House on the Newtown SGA tonight, and tomorrow there will be a public meeting.

On
Wednesday, December 16th
from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., the public is invited to an Open House to view the work in progress and to interact with the Design Team. The Open House will be held at the offices of LandMark Design Group in the Bank of America building at Town Center, 11th floor, One Columbus Center.

A Public Meeting is also planned on
Thursday, December 17th
from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. where UDA will present the preferred design alternatives based on input received. The Public Meeting will be held in the Pleasant Hall of the Kempsville Baptist Church located at 5204 Princess Anne Road, Virginia Beach VA 23462.

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From Avenging Archangel:

While what I saw was preliminary, this is what had been churned out so far:

1. A Town Center Lite development northeast of the Newtown Road light rail station currently under construction.

2. The single family detached neighborhood southeast of the station would be preserved.

3. Multifamily housing would go where the Arrowhead Shopping Center currently is and just west of it. A light rail station would go along the tracks on the northern edge of that land. The multifamily and adjacent ECPI would provide a natural base of walkup customers for the light rail.

4. Office, plus some existing industrial, on Greenwich Road.

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I should also elaborate on the Light rail station. It will be behind where the current Arrowhead Plaza is, with a Peninsula Town center like development where the Plaza is now (it needs a name other than Town Center though, we already have one in Pembroke!) UDA suggested that the NEwtown station in Norfolk then be closed as this would be in a more central location, however it was brought up that pedestrians traveling down newtown would have much farther to go, so there might be two stations. ECPI also formed one corner of an urban campus, with other scholastic/office buildings surrounding a sort of quad. There was another u bend where there is a dead end now, with new office buildings in another campus. Some beutiful renderings of the Newtown station, cant wait to show them. Irregardless of whether or not Va Beach gets LRT Newtown SGA will get service, so the big concern is to work on North-South roads and of course the Greenwich/I-264/Cleveland Street flyover.

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I would love to see the Newtown area really become the New Town for the region...basically it should be seen as the interchange hub for the southside much like Lille, France is for Western Europe and England.

lille.jpg

originally from aeugeo via skyscrapercity.com

Basically the city has become an important one in that region because the convergence of several rail lines including the one to England. From this, a very modern and important city has grown...I could totally see this happening with the Newtown area, giving the region another urban core to enjoy. What would make Newtown perfect is if it were the final stop for high speed rail, and the crossroad point for different light rail lines.

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I would love to see the Newtown area really become the New Town for the region...basically it should be seen as the interchange hub for the southside much like Lille, France is for Western Europe and England.

originally from aeugeo via skyscrapercity.com

Basically the city has become an important one in that region because the convergence of several rail lines including the one to England. From this, a very modern and important city has grown...I could totally see this happening with the Newtown area, giving the region another urban core to enjoy. What would make Newtown perfect is if it were the final stop for high speed rail, and the crossroad point for different light rail lines.

Newtown is going more for a mid-density, campus environment. Skyscrapers will be in Pembroke and Downtown Norfolk, urban development is in multiple forms and this one will not have a tall skyline.

images of the study area:

http://www.vbgov.com/file_source/dept/planning/NewtownSGAImages.pdf

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Newtown is going more for a mid-density, campus environment. Skyscrapers will be in Pembroke and Downtown Norfolk, urban development is in multiple forms and this one will not have a tall skyline.

images of the study area:

http://www.vbgov.com/file_source/dept/planning/NewtownSGAImages.pdf

Actually I was talking less about skyscrapers and more of what Lille is, a transportation hub city. It would make sense to have Newtown be the transportation hub for the southside. It would be the easiest point to connect to Norfolk, VB, Chesapeake, NOB, and the airport.

Basically it is an idea to think about as this all goes forward, when it comes to transportation all the cities should be thinking of themselves as a whole and what is the best way to go about future transportation in the region.

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