Norfolk Development
Homerama Back in OV
Feb 17th
The next Homerama will take place in East Ocean View for the second time. The East Beach development was designed as an urban neighborhood when it was built, rather than a suburban subdivision. If you have never been to East Beach, it is certainly worth a drive. The houses sit close together. They sit close to the curb. Parallel parking is encouraged. No garage is allowed to face the street but rather made to face the rear of the house, where access is permitted by alley. To keep the back alleys (lanes) safe, the houses have plentiful rear-facing windows and guest houses. Sidewalks and parks are plentiful. Contrary to the popular belief of Virginia Beach suburbanites, the sidewalks have not led to an increase in crime. My only hope is that they stick to the plan for the new Homerama and for future development. There is plenty of room for future development. Hopefully after all of the empty land is take up with this style of development, someone can do something about the suburb at the end of East Beach. I love driving through the area, but when I get to places like the suburb part, it really makes me cringe.
Jillian’s Move: Good or Bad for Waterside?
Dec 28th
Norfolk - mid-1980's - zoom in and pay close attention to the number of people at Waterside
The image above shows a Waterside full of people. It shows a Waterside tha tis not dependent on taxdollars to survive. That is what we need to rebuild. Do not tear the building down. Renovate it. Make it bright inside again.
Back to Jillian’s. They don’t need to be inside waterside. They should remain Downtown, but not in Waterside. Same goes for Hooters, Outback, and Joe’s. By themselves, they are all good places. They simply do not belong in a venue like the one that I have described. They can stay Downtown, definitely. In fact, it would improve Downtown as a whole to have those restaurants move OUT of Waterside and INTO a street-front property. The amount of pedestrian traffic would surely increase traffic and revenue to the other stores. This move is not an end, but a beginning. A good beginning.
Transit Oriented Developments
Dec 7th
Most recently, the Virginian-Pilot ran an article about HRT’s new facility that they were building. In fact, I have posted already on this. For a refresher, HRT’s new building was supposed to incorperate a mixed-use development, but now the developer is putting it on hold until the economy improves. My favorite comment so far is by the Virginia Beach Taxpayers’ Alliance’s Vice Chairman and Transportation Chairman, Reid Greenmun. Now, this man is affiated with the VBTA, so we know that by default he is against all change and somehow wants the city to print its own money and stop wasting their tax dollars doing crazy things such as repairing schools/roads/etc. His comment is as follows:
Gosh, that must touted mythical TOD (Transit Oriented Development) HRT has been pitchinf to justify its light rail boondoggles is now shown for the myth it really was – and in this case HRT is not willing to stick with their own TOD plans! Gosh, if tens of millions of state, local, and federal taxes are available to be used to subsidize the planned HRT TOD project (LEADS “green” roof and all)- and HRT can’t make it happen with all that FREE tax money thrown into the “deal”, just imagine how unlikely it is that any PRIVATE developers will be able to find the hundreds of millions needed to build the promised TOD in VA Beach, along the old Norfolk Southern right of way. The light rail TOD ROI myth is being exposed for the sham it is – right here in River City folks!
As you can see, he (and the VBTA) is severely misguided on the concept of a TOD. If we follow his definition of a TOD, every neighborhood that happens to be built near a bus line is a TOD. This is completely and utterly wrong. In order to be a TOD, the development has to have been built because of the transit line that it sits near. The HRT mixed-use development was not being build because the buses ran through. It was being built because the developer saw potential for profit. This is the same reason that the other development was built right across the street from the HRT building: not because of HRT, but because a developer saw profit potential in an underutilized area.
Existing Development between Granby St. and Monticello Ave. HRT building can be seen in bottom right corner.
Furthermore, if TOD were “mythical,” how can Mr. Greenmun explain actual TODs in Northern Virginia? Take the following example in Arlington, VA:
This TOD is located around the Ballston-MU Station located on the Orange Line of the DC METRO
This suburban neighborhood is located only one mile from the TOD, above. It is not located on a transit stop
TODs are not myths, as Mr. Greenmun believes. They are simply not well known around Hampton Roads because there are so few of them. They do exist here, however. Both the Belmont @ Freemason and the Wachovia Center developments are TODs. The Wachovia Center development is also a mixed-use TOD. Both of these projects have a Tide light rail stop on the same block. As Hampton Roads’s light rail lines grow and become well-used, these TODs will begin to sprout up along the routes. In fact, Virginia Beach is planning a TOD off of Newtown Road because of Norfolk’s light rail stop.
Wachovia Center (TOD) - Under Construction
Belmont @ Freemason (TOD) - Under Construction
US Development – Preserving Norfolk’s Past
Dec 5th
Norfolk has spent so much time and effort erasing our past that we have already lost so many buildings. Not too long ago (2007), Norfolk demolished three historic buildings to construct a four-star hotel. At the time, they couldn’t wait. It just had to be done right then or the building would not get built and the world would end. So they tore them down. Going on three years later, the still-vacant lot sits, covered in grass and gravel. The city says that they are waiting for the economy. I wonder how they could be waiting if it was supposed to be built two years ago when the economy was good.
Regardless, it is about time that we had a developer who had an actual interest in preserving historic buildings instead of tearing them down. Perhaps this is the beginning of a new path for Downtown. The district will actually grow, without the city’s help. More residents are needed Downtown to truly make a successful downtown. It is a shame that our council could not see that. Instead, they tore down buildings and catered toward the wealthy and the upscale. All of that is nice, but it won’t survive without the people of the middle class.
HRT's New Southside Facility
Dec 4th
18th Street Facility
15th Street Facility
