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Hampton Roads area Chesapeake - Hampton - Newport News - Norfolk - Portsmouth - Suffolk - Virginia Beach
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Old 03-30-2020, 08:40 AM
 
Location: Alabama
13,849 posts, read 8,137,673 times
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Tell me about the Hampton Roads/Tidewater region.

Is Norfolk the commercial center or "downtown" of the region, with Virginia Beach acting as a suburb, even though VB has a significantly higher population?

Also, where do Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Hampton, and Newport News fit into the dynamic, since each seem to be standalone cities in their own right?
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Old 03-30-2020, 11:30 AM
 
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Each area is fairly autonomous. I would not consider any of them as a downtown with others as suburbs. A lot of it is just personal preference. Lifestyle can be slightly different in each. I live in Chesapeake and rarely have a need to leave Chesapeake, when I do, I generally go to Virginia Beach to get closer to some of the beach-type amenities. Rarely go to Norfolk, although they do have a little more trendy downtown area. Downtown being used loosely, since it doesn't compare to most downtown areas in larger cities.
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Old 04-04-2020, 06:08 AM
 
Location: North Raleigh x North Sacramento
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FSUMike View Post
Tell me about the Hampton Roads/Tidewater region.

Is Norfolk the commercial center or "downtown" of the region, with Virginia Beach acting as a suburb, even though VB has a significantly higher population?

Also, where do Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Hampton, and Newport News fit into the dynamic, since each seem to be standalone cities in their own right?
The Peninsula and Southside essentially are separate metro centers that just grew into each other out of geography and necessity. The Peninsula is centered of NPN/Hampton as its "city" and the outer areas are suburbs. Newport News and Hampton for all intents and purposes are one city, they blend seamlessly into one another. They are the shared urban center of that sude of the bay...

Similarly, VB/Nfk is "the city" on the Southside, with shared appeal as the center for culture and entertainment and commerce. I would characterize the other cities on the Southside as suburbs...

The only people who call VB a suburb of Norfolk are people who haven't lived here. I prefer it to Norfolk, though objectively it isn't great or lesser than Norfolk, they are the same place, you can pass from one into the other seamlessly along multiple avenues...
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Old 08-31-2020, 07:07 PM
 
Location: Alabama
13,849 posts, read 8,137,673 times
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Thanks for the replies.

The only reason I questioned whether VB is more suburban is because based on what I can tell, it doesn't have a true central business district like Norfolk does with commercial high rises, or am I wrong there? I know there are high rises on the beach, but those are mostly hotels and condos, correct?
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Old 08-31-2020, 07:49 PM
 
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Virginia Beach's "downtown" is Town Center. Construction began around 2000 to meet the need of a central business core area. The beach is mostly as you described it.
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Old 09-02-2020, 06:30 AM
 
Location: Coastal South Carolina
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I grew up there and there was no Town Center in Va. Beach. There really is no downtown in Va. Beach, it is suburbia. The Town Center is cool, but is hardly a 'downtown'. Norfolk has a downtown like other big cities with high rises and a Federal Building there. Tidewater (the original name) has a Southside and Peninsula are separate and is like two different areas. Southside is Va. beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Suffolk, and Portsmouth. P-town was dangerous in some areas, and Suffolk was very rural and southern. Chesapeake was rural/suburban an southern. Norfolk was kinda urban with nice salt water rivers to fish and crab in. Norfolk has several large Universities in the city. Va. Beach was large suburban and nice with many neighborhoods, and nice city parks, cool beaches.
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