Please let me know how Va. Beach / Tidewater has changed since 1999 (Virginia Beach: oceanfront, 2013)

[Serenity2019]

I went back to College and attended the University of South Carolina in 1999, and never returned to Va. Beach (except to visit over the years). What has been the changes since 1999, what are the big changes, and what is gone now (I know some of the places that are gone). Are there any natives of Tidewater left there? Is it full of people now? Seems like people have moved in masses to coastal cities.

[HRVT]

Originally Posted by Serenity2019

I went back to College and attended the University of South Carolina in 1999, and never returned to Va. Beach (except to visit over the years). What has been the changes since 1999, what are the big changes, and what is gone now (I know some of the places that are gone). Are there any natives of Tidewater left there? Is it full of people now? Seems like people have moved in masses to coastal cities.

I lived there for a few 2013-2016 so I'm not super up to date, but a few things that are definitely different compared to 1999.

There is now a development called Virginia Beach Town Center. It has a Westin (the tallest building in Virginia) a few office towers, but most importantly a lot of higher end restaurants/bars/entertainment options and apartments. There are things to do there such as Funny Bone (comedy club), YardHouse (was one of my favorite bars when I lived there and home of the half yard), Apex Entertainment (a place with GoKarts, bowling, etc... wasn't there when I lived there so I can't speak of it but have heard good things from folks I know back there), the Sandler Center for performances, Ruth's Chris, and Tupelo Honey just to name a few things. It's across from the now defunct Pembroke Mall which is in sort of a mid-redevelopment.

There's a TopGolf along 264 as well now which is a cool place. As far as the size of the city, it's probably not terribly bigger than you remember it as it had a lot of its growth in the 80s and 90s. But it is bigger.

[Babe_Ruth]

Originally Posted by Serenity2019

I went back to College and attended the University of South Carolina in 1999, and never returned to Va. Beach..What has been the changes since 1999, what are the big changes, and what is gone now (I know some of the places that are gone). Are there any natives of Tidewater left there? Is it full of people now? Seems like people have moved in masses to coastal cities.

Honestly, Virginia Beach hasn't changed significantly since the late '9os. Norfolk has changed more, because of some gentrification.. but VB isn't much different.

The post before mine mentioned Town Center, which was constructed after '99. But it's typical VB stuff: mostly chain restaurants, etc. Across the street, Pembroke Mall is almost completely vacated.. but the surrounding areas are mostly unchanged.. neighborhoods like Aragona and Thalia still basically look the same. The Oceanfront has added some more yuppie development and replaced the old mom&pop motels with chain hotels, but it's not much different than '99.
Population has increased a little, but demographics aren't significantly different.. still a lot of middle class military families.
I noticed in an older post u mentioned FC.. it still looks exactly like it did 50 years ago. And most of that area Alanton, First Colonial Rd are unchanged. The Jewish Mother & the Raven are gone (which sucks, but..)
Just like '99, you'll still see locals in WRV & 17th St shirts, or their ODU and VA Tech sweathirts..

[HRVT]

Originally Posted by Babe_Ruth

Honestly, Virginia Beach hasn't changed significantly since the late '9os. Norfolk has changed more, because of some gentrification.. but VB isn't much different.

The post before mine mentioned Town Center, which was constructed after '99. But it's typical VB stuff: mostly chain restaurants, etc. Across the street, Pembroke Mall is almost completely vacated.. but the surrounding areas are mostly unchanged.. neighborhoods like Aragona and Thalia still basically look the same. The Oceanfront has added some more yuppie development and replaced the old mom&pop motels with chain hotels, but it's not much different than '99.
Population has increased a little, but demographics aren't significantly different.. still a lot of middle class military families.
I noticed in an older post u mentioned FC.. it still looks exactly like it did 50 years ago. And most of that area Alanton, First Colonial Rd are unchanged. The Jewish Mother & the Raven are gone (which sucks, but..)
Just like '99, you'll still see locals in WRV & 17th St shirts, or their ODU and VA Tech sweathirts..

Yeah, I would definitely agree that in 25 or so years, it hasn't changed drastically. Basically, it has made some progress but the demographics are similar and it's only marginally larger (population was about 425K as of the 2000 census and was about 460K as of the 2020 census). It's about as similar as one would expect a city to be after a quarter century.

[Serenity2019]

Thank you all, appears to not have changed too much. That's a good thing to me.

[ChessieMom]

Originally Posted by Serenity2019

I went back to College and attended the University of South Carolina in 1999, and never returned to Va. Beach (except to visit over the years). What has been the changes since 1999, what are the big changes, and what is gone now (I know some of the places that are gone). Are there any natives of Tidewater left there? Is it full of people now? Seems like people have moved in masses to coastal cities.

What a strange question. There's many many Tidewater natives here.

It has changed, certainly. More crowded. The strip is no longer anywhere I would ever want to be at nighttime - the streets are packed with thugs and ne'er-do-wells. Shootings down there are frequent.
Traffic is horrid - absolutely miserable. The "green line" has been decimated unfortunately. The only part of the city that is somewhat the same is out in the rural area, where you can still find farmland.

There are tons of wonderful restaurants and dining experiences to be had, but it's just not very appealing to me anymore.

[Serenity2019]

Mrs. Chessie,
Thanks for the information. I saw some of that at the strip and heard about it too, how it changed where it's not nice at all in th evening and more crime. I used to remember cruising in our cars on the strip in high school, and looking at the girls and cars. I thought with all the 5 lane interstates the traffic would not be so bad, but I guess many more people have moved there too in the last 10 years.

[ChessieMom]

Originally Posted by Serenity2019

Mrs. Chessie,
Thanks for the information. I saw some of that at the strip and heard about it too, how it changed where it's not nice at all in th evening and more crime. I used to remember cruising in our cars on the strip in high school, and looking at the girls and cars. I thought with all the 5 lane interstates the traffic would not be so bad, but I guess many more people have moved there too in the last 10 years.

I also remember the cruising cars...the strip at night. Heck I spent many evenings down on that street when I was in my 20s LOL! But that time and atmosphere is long gone. It's a demographics change for sure, and culture too I guess. Incivility abounds down there now. It's such a shame. I used to love it there.

[Babe_Ruth]

Originally Posted by ChessieMom

I also remember the cruising cars...the strip at night. Heck I spent many evenings down on that street when I was in my 20s LOL! But that time and atmosphere is long gone. It's a demographics change for sure, and culture too I guess. Incivility abounds down there now. It's such a shame. I used to love it there.

Hi..
You're making it sound like the nocturnal Oceanfront suddenly & recently took a nose dive.. it's been grimy and packed at night for well over 30 years. I remember in the early 90s they passed the cruising ordinance because Atlantic was like a parking lot. I used to work on Atlantic and it took all night to get out of the parking lot and go a few blocks to get on the old 44 (interstate). There were cops everywhere, the mounted police would stroll thru traffic jams looking for windows tinted too dark.. expired tags, etc. There were people getting arrested all night. There were the Greekfest riots, and racial tension for years after.
The original post asked if VB has drastically changed since '99.. and the Oceanfront night life isn't that fundamentally different (I was hanging around the Abyss, Hammerheads, etc back then). Oceanfront already had problems back in the 90s with violence and traffic. There were always dangerous homeless people in the off-season. Those aren't new developments. If he asked if VB is different than 1979, then I would agree with your assessment but..

[Serenity2019]

Originally Posted by Babe_Ruth

Hi..
You're making it sound like the nocturnal Oceanfront suddenly & recently took a nose dive.. it's been grimy and packed at night for well over 30 years. I remember in the early 90s they passed the cruising ordinance because Atlantic was like a parking lot. I used to work on Atlantic and it took all night to get out of the parking lot and go a few blocks to get on the old 44 (interstate). There were cops everywhere, the mounted police would stroll thru traffic jams looking for windows tinted too dark.. expired tags, etc. There were people getting arrested all night. There were the Greekfest riots, and racial tension for years after.
The original post asked if VB has drastically changed since '99.. and the Oceanfront night life isn't that fundamentally different (I was hanging around the Abyss, Hammerheads, etc back then). Oceanfront already had problems back in the 90s with violence and traffic. There were always dangerous homeless people in the off-season. Those aren't new developments. If he asked if VB is different than 1979, then I would agree with your assessment but..

Mr. Ruth,
Brother, I agree with Mrs. Chessie. When I was down there in the 90's on the strip, it was cool and way less crime than the last 10 years. I know this, there may have been people being arrested for drunk and disorderly back then all night, but it was nothing like the atmophere it has changed to now. I have family and friends that still live there, and they said the same thing Mrs. Chessie said. I went one time when I came back visiting and it was like they all said , changed for the worse, it was no longer cool or that safe either. I have to agree with her, I remember the 90's well there at the oceanfront at night. It's not the same!