Downtown Norfolk, Virginia
Encyclopedia
As the traditional center of shipping
and port
activities in the Hampton Roads
region, Norfolk, Virginia
's downtown waterfront historically played host to numerous and often noxious port and shipping-related uses. With the advent of containerized shipping in the mid-19th century, the shipping uses located on Norfolk's downtown waterfront
became obsolete as larger and more modern port facilities opened elsewhere in the region. The vacant piers and cargo warehouses eventually became a blight on downtown and Norfolk's fortunes as a whole. But in the second half of the century, Norfolk had a vibrant retail community in its suburbs; companies like Smith & Welton, High's, Colonial Stores, Hofheimer's
, Giant Open Air
, Dollar Tree
and K & K Toys were regional leaders in their respective fields. Norfolk was also the birthplace of Econo-Travel, now Econo Lodge
, one of the nation's first discount motel chains.
Similarly, the advent of newer suburban shopping destinations spelled demise for the fortunes of downtown's Granby Street
commercial corridor, located just a few blocks inland from the waterfront. Granby Street traditionally played the role as the premiere shopping and gathering spot in the Hampton Roads region and numerous department stores such as Smith & Welton (1898-1988), Rice's (1918-1985) and Ames and Brownley (1898-1973), fine hotels and theaters once lined its sidewalks. However, new suburban shopping developments promised more convenience and comfort. The opening of Pembroke Mall
in Virginia Beach, the region's first climate controlled shopping mall
, and JANAF Shopping Center in Norfolk's Military Circle area, helped foment Granby Street's spiral into commercial obsolescence. With amenities such as ample free parking at the door of one's favorite store, and in the case of Pembroke Mall, climate control, the businesses of downtown's Granby Street found it harder and harder to compete.
Beginning in the 1920s, Norfolk's city leaders began what would be a long push to revive the fortunes of its urban core.
While Granby Street experienced its decline, Norfolk city leaders were also focused on the waterfront and its collection of decaying piers and warehouses. Federal urban renewal programs such as the Housing Act of 1949
promised cities around the country millions of dollars in government grants for the purpose of removing blight conditions and preparing urban land for redevelopment. Norfolk, as with many other cities, took full advantage of these Federal urban renewal funds and began large-scale demolitions of broad swaths of downtown. This included slum housing that, in the mid-20th century, did not have indoor plumbing or access to running water. However, Norfolk's urban renewal also included the demolition of many prominent city buildings, including the former City Market, Norfolk Terminal Station
(the Union railroad station), The Monticello Hotel
, and large swaths of urban fabric that, were they still in existence today, might be the source of additional historic urban character, including the East Main Street district (where the current civic complex is located).
At the water's edge, nearly all of the obsolete shipping and warehousing facilities were demolished. In their place, planners created a new boulevard, Waterside Drive. In place of the piers and warehouses rose: the Waterside Festival Marketplace, an indoor mall created by the Rouse Company and similar to Baltimore's Inner Harbor
Pavilions; the waterfront Town Point Park
- an esplanade park with wide open riverfront views; and the Norfolk Omni Hotel. On the inland side of Waterside Drive, the demolition of the warehouses and wharves created new parcels on which most of the high rise buildings in Norfolk's skyline
now stand.
created a new space for entertainment and shopping in downtown, and while its fortunes have peaked and dipped over the years, the marketplace has recently repositioned itself as a one-stop entertainment destination. Nauticus, The National Maritime Center
, was constructed on a former pier adjacent to Town Point Park. Adjacent to Nauticus, The National Maritime Center
, a new cruise ship terminal is being constructed and the is docked for permanent public exhibition. The clearance of the obsolete warehouses and wharves on the waterfront area also created the real estate development pads that have brought in hundreds of millions of dollars in new investment in office towers. The revitalization of downtown Norfolk's waterfront skyline is so dramatic that the face of the city in 2006 is largely unrecognizable to one who may have left the city in the early 1980s.
to locate in Norfolk and economic development officials made numerous appeals to the luxury department store. In late 1997, Norfolk officials made the announcement that they had finally received a commitment from Nordstrom to open a store in a new downtown shopping mall. Norfolk officials named the mall, MacArthur Center
, in honor of the five-star World War II General whose tomb was located across the street from the proposed site. In return for opening a store at the new mall, Norfolk officials allocated nearly $100 million dollars in public funds to infrastructure improvements and construction of parking garages to support the shopping mall.
Construction of MacArthur Center began in late 1996 and the mall opened in March 1999 to much acclaim. MacArthur Center opened as a three-story enclosed shopping mall with Dillard's
and Nordstrom as the first two anchor department stores. Regal Cinemas
operates an 18-screen stadium seating movie theater
on most of the third floor of the mall. There is space for a future anchor store
at the northwest end of the mall.
MacArthur Center introduced upscale retailing to the Hampton Roads region and it featured the premier of a number of retailers that did not previously exist in Hampton Roads (White House Black Market
, Pottery Barn
, Z Gallerie, Nordstrom, Johnny Rockets
, Chico's
, Coach, among others). MacArthur Center's entry to the Hampton Roads market heightened the competition in the retail industry and prompted waves of upgrade and investment at numerous other shopping malls around the region, especially at MacArthur Center's main competitor, Lynnhaven Mall
in Virginia Beach, which announced a strategy to renovate the mall and upgrade the tenant mix to reposition it as a worthy competitor to its new Norfolk neighbor.
With the promise of thousands of new shoppers coming to nearby MacArthur Center, owners of properties throughout downtown reinvested in their buildings and made them ready for new retail and residential uses. Tidewater Community College
opened its Norfolk campus and central administrative offices on Granby Street, locating its library in the painstakingly renovated former Smith & Welton department store building. The formerly vacant storefronts on Granby Street have been repopulated by so many trendy restaurants and bars that the street, once a destination primarily for homeless and vagrant individuals, has become a new hub for the sophisticated segment of the Hampton Roads region's nightlife. The residential population of downtown continues to grow as unused commercial buildings are converted into lofts and condominiums and new residential developments rise on formerly vacant land. One such building, the Norfolk Rotunda Buildinghttp://www.norfolkrotunda.com, located on St. Paul's Blvd. and in front of MacArthur Center, opening in 2007. Formerly a bank, the building now holds 66 luxurious condominiums, and stands seven stories tall (the top two stories being penthouse
suites. Since MacArthur Center's opening, two new office towers have been completed: 150 West Main Street
(located at Boush Street and Main Street, completed in 2002, 20 stories, 210 feet (64 m) tall) and the Dominion Enterprises Building (100 W. Plume Street, completed in 2007, 20 stories, 282 feet (86 m) tall). The Wells Fargo Center, 23 stories, which contains an office tower and street level retail and apartments, is under construction, as is a convention center with an attached Westin Hotel, which will be the second tallest building downtown.
's monthly Planning Magazine
, have hailed the tremendous rebound in the downtown residential population, and Money
magazine proclaimed Norfolk as the number one city in which to live in the South in 2005.
The rising fortunes of the downtown area have helped expand the city's coffers which has in turn been able to direct its attention to revitalizing other neighborhoods of the city. Located just northwest of downtown, the Ghent district
of Norfolk is one of the Hampton Roads region's premier urban residential communities. Ghent has the highest residential densities of any other area in Hampton Roads, and is home to a diverse array of people - artists, strivers, lower income to wealthy, etc. Many other areas of Norfolk are also being revitalized, including Fairmount Park, Ocean View and East Beach, the latter both on the Chesapeake Bay.
Shipping
Shipping has multiple meanings. It can be a physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo, by land, air, and sea. It also can describe the movement of objects by ship.Land or "ground" shipping can be by train or by truck...
and port
Port
A port is a location on a coast or shore containing one or more harbors where ships can dock and transfer people or cargo to or from land....
activities in the Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...
region, Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
's downtown waterfront historically played host to numerous and often noxious port and shipping-related uses. With the advent of containerized shipping in the mid-19th century, the shipping uses located on Norfolk's downtown waterfront
Dock (maritime)
A dock is a human-made structure or group of structures involved in the handling of boats or ships, usually on or close to a shore.However, the exact meaning varies among different variants of the English language...
became obsolete as larger and more modern port facilities opened elsewhere in the region. The vacant piers and cargo warehouses eventually became a blight on downtown and Norfolk's fortunes as a whole. But in the second half of the century, Norfolk had a vibrant retail community in its suburbs; companies like Smith & Welton, High's, Colonial Stores, Hofheimer's
Hofheimer's
A Norfolk, Virginia based chain of shoe stores that was once a leading East Coast retailer. Founded in 1885, it was known for live monkeys in some of the retail locations . One of the larger freestanding suburban stores was at Ward's Corner in Norfolk . The family sold the company in 1982...
, Giant Open Air
Giant Open Air
Giant Open Air was a Norfolk, Virginia based supermarket chain. Its trademark stores were open 24 hours, and the entrance was framed with a giant arch reminiscent of the St. Louis Gateway Arch. In 1986, it merged with Farm Fresh, another Hampton Roads grocery chain, and the name disappeared,...
, Dollar Tree
Dollar Tree
Dollar Tree, Inc. is an American chain of discount variety stores that sells every item for $1.00 or less. A Fortune 500 company, Dollar Tree is headquartered in Chesapeake, Virginia and operates 4,010 stores throughout the 48 contiguous U.S. states. Its stores are supported by a nationwide...
and K & K Toys were regional leaders in their respective fields. Norfolk was also the birthplace of Econo-Travel, now Econo Lodge
Econo Lodge
Econo Lodge is an economy motel chain based in the United States and Canada. Econo Lodge is the second largest brand in the Choice Hotels system. It is one of the best known brands in its category and aims to provide affordable rooms to budget travelers. Econo Lodge properties contain a minimum of...
, one of the nation's first discount motel chains.
Similarly, the advent of newer suburban shopping destinations spelled demise for the fortunes of downtown's Granby Street
Granby Street
A street in Norfolk, Virginia. This street is the historic commercial corridor of Norfolk, and also the community heart of the city, has been undergoing major redevelopment for the past five years. Today, theatres, restaurants, and businesses line Granby street in the downtown area...
commercial corridor, located just a few blocks inland from the waterfront. Granby Street traditionally played the role as the premiere shopping and gathering spot in the Hampton Roads region and numerous department stores such as Smith & Welton (1898-1988), Rice's (1918-1985) and Ames and Brownley (1898-1973), fine hotels and theaters once lined its sidewalks. However, new suburban shopping developments promised more convenience and comfort. The opening of Pembroke Mall
Pembroke Mall
Pembroke Mall is an enclosed shopping mall located in Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States. Opened in March 1966 as the first shopping mall in the Hampton Roads MSA, it comprises more than 100 stores, including anchor stores Kohl's, Sears and Stein Mart, as well as a food court, and a movie...
in Virginia Beach, the region's first climate controlled shopping mall
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...
, and JANAF Shopping Center in Norfolk's Military Circle area, helped foment Granby Street's spiral into commercial obsolescence. With amenities such as ample free parking at the door of one's favorite store, and in the case of Pembroke Mall, climate control, the businesses of downtown's Granby Street found it harder and harder to compete.
Beginning in the 1920s, Norfolk's city leaders began what would be a long push to revive the fortunes of its urban core.
Granby Street
To compete with the suburban shopping destinations, Norfolk city leaders tried to create the same mall experience on Granby Street. The city rebranded its commercial core the "Granby Street Mall". Granby Street was closed to auto through-traffic, repaved, landscaped and new street furniture and fixtures were installed. The Granby Street Mall was a concept by city leaders with the best of intentions, but it actually ended up speeding the demise of Granby Street as a viable commercial destination. The closing of Granby Street to auto traffic actually made the district more inconvenient for potential customers and reduced the amount of pedestrian traffic that passed by the businesses. The reduced pedestrian and automobile traffic on the street created an atmosphere of abandonment and probably contributed to an increase in downtown crime, which further fueled customer fears of downtown, which in turn caused additional businesses to close, and on and on. This vicious cycle of abandonment and blight persisted for much of the late 1970s and early 1980s.Downtown Norfolk and Urban Renewal
Housing Act of 1949
The American Housing Act of 1949 was a landmark, sweeping expansion of the federal role in mortgage insurance and issuance and the construction of public housing...
promised cities around the country millions of dollars in government grants for the purpose of removing blight conditions and preparing urban land for redevelopment. Norfolk, as with many other cities, took full advantage of these Federal urban renewal funds and began large-scale demolitions of broad swaths of downtown. This included slum housing that, in the mid-20th century, did not have indoor plumbing or access to running water. However, Norfolk's urban renewal also included the demolition of many prominent city buildings, including the former City Market, Norfolk Terminal Station
Norfolk Terminal Station
Norfolk Terminal Station was a union railroad station located in Norfolk, Virginia which served passenger trains and provided offices for the Norfolk and Western Railway, the original Norfolk Southern Railway and the Virginian...
(the Union railroad station), The Monticello Hotel
The Monticello Hotel
The Monticello Hotel of Norfolk, Virginia was a historic hotel built in 1898. The original hotel was destroyed by a fire on New Years Day in 1918, a day so cold that the water from the fire equipment froze before it could reach the fire...
, and large swaths of urban fabric that, were they still in existence today, might be the source of additional historic urban character, including the East Main Street district (where the current civic complex is located).
At the water's edge, nearly all of the obsolete shipping and warehousing facilities were demolished. In their place, planners created a new boulevard, Waterside Drive. In place of the piers and warehouses rose: the Waterside Festival Marketplace, an indoor mall created by the Rouse Company and similar to Baltimore's Inner Harbor
Inner Harbor
The Inner Harbor is a historic seaport, tourist attraction, and iconic landmark of the City of Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Described by the Urban Land Institute in 2009 as “the model for post-industrial waterfront redevelopment around the World.” The Inner Harbor is actually the end of the...
Pavilions; the waterfront Town Point Park
Town Point Park
.Town Point Park is a waterfront city park on the Elizabeth River in Norfolk, Virginia, USA. The park hosts many annual festivals, 4th of July fireworks and outdoor music performances.Located in the park are The Homecoming and the Armed Forces Memorial....
- an esplanade park with wide open riverfront views; and the Norfolk Omni Hotel. On the inland side of Waterside Drive, the demolition of the warehouses and wharves created new parcels on which most of the high rise buildings in Norfolk's skyline
Skyline
A skyline is the overall or partial view of a city's tall buildings and structures consisting of many skyscrapers in front of the sky in the background. It can also be described as the artificial horizon that a city's overall structure creates. Skylines serve as a kind of fingerprint of a city, as...
now stand.
Success of Downtown Norfolk Waterfront Redevelopment
In contrast to the failure of the Granby Street Mall initiative, the redevelopment of Norfolk's waterfront turned out to be an almost immediate success. Town Point Park created a pleasant and inviting new public space at which Norfolkers gather, whether for formally planned events like Harborfest, or for more passive enjoyment of the views, breeze and people watching. The Waterside Festival MarketplaceWaterside (Norfolk, Virginia)
The Waterside, a festival marketplace on the Elizabeth River in downtown Norfolk, Virginia, opened June 1, 1983. A critical component of Norfolk's ongoing post-WWII revitalization, the complex connects via a cross-street pedestrian bridge to a parking garage, sits at the foot of the Portsmouth...
created a new space for entertainment and shopping in downtown, and while its fortunes have peaked and dipped over the years, the marketplace has recently repositioned itself as a one-stop entertainment destination. Nauticus, The National Maritime Center
Nauticus, The National Maritime Center
Nauticus is a maritime-themed science center and museum located in Norfolk, Virginia.- History :Nauticus was incorporated under the National Maritime Center Authority in February 1988. The following month, Rear Admiral Jackson Knowles Parker USN, , retired commander of Norfolk Naval Base, became...
, was constructed on a former pier adjacent to Town Point Park. Adjacent to Nauticus, The National Maritime Center
Nauticus, The National Maritime Center
Nauticus is a maritime-themed science center and museum located in Norfolk, Virginia.- History :Nauticus was incorporated under the National Maritime Center Authority in February 1988. The following month, Rear Admiral Jackson Knowles Parker USN, , retired commander of Norfolk Naval Base, became...
, a new cruise ship terminal is being constructed and the is docked for permanent public exhibition. The clearance of the obsolete warehouses and wharves on the waterfront area also created the real estate development pads that have brought in hundreds of millions of dollars in new investment in office towers. The revitalization of downtown Norfolk's waterfront skyline is so dramatic that the face of the city in 2006 is largely unrecognizable to one who may have left the city in the early 1980s.
MacArthur Center
In the mid 1990s, with the fortunes of the waterfront looking brighter and more solid, Norfolk leaders once again turned their attention back to the historic Granby Street core of downtown, which continued to lag behind the waterfront in terms of revitalization. After the failure of the Granby Street Mall project, city leaders were intent on finding some way to bring commercial activity back to downtown in a major way. The idea of creating an upscale regional mall on the 17 acres (68,796.6 m²) cleared during urban renewal just two blocks east of Granby Street had remained in the minds of Norfolk's economic development officials for many years. Norfolk had long courted upscale Seattle-based retailer NordstromNordstrom
Nordstrom, Inc. is an upscale department store chain in the United States, founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin. Initially a shoe retailer, the company today also sells clothing, accessories, handbags, jewelry, cosmetics, fragrances, and in some locations, home furnishings...
to locate in Norfolk and economic development officials made numerous appeals to the luxury department store. In late 1997, Norfolk officials made the announcement that they had finally received a commitment from Nordstrom to open a store in a new downtown shopping mall. Norfolk officials named the mall, MacArthur Center
MacArthur Center
The MacArthur Center is a shopping center of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. It is majority-owned and operated by the Taubman Company.-Mall Highlights:...
, in honor of the five-star World War II General whose tomb was located across the street from the proposed site. In return for opening a store at the new mall, Norfolk officials allocated nearly $100 million dollars in public funds to infrastructure improvements and construction of parking garages to support the shopping mall.
Construction of MacArthur Center began in late 1996 and the mall opened in March 1999 to much acclaim. MacArthur Center opened as a three-story enclosed shopping mall with Dillard's
Dillard's
Dillard's, Inc. is a department store chain in the United States, with 330 stores in 29 states. Headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas, Dillard's locations are concentrated in Texas and Florida; with a major presence in other states including Arizona, Iowa, Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, Missouri,...
and Nordstrom as the first two anchor department stores. Regal Cinemas
Regal Cinemas
Regal Cinemas is a UK-based cinema chain since the early days of the cinema. In 1928, Regal Cinemas became part of Associated British Cinemas but has retained the name 'Regal Cinemas'....
operates an 18-screen stadium seating movie theater
Movie theater
A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....
on most of the third floor of the mall. There is space for a future anchor store
Anchor store
In retail, an anchor store, draw tenant, anchor tenant, or key tenant is one of the larger stores in a shopping mall, usually a department store or a major retail chain....
at the northwest end of the mall.
MacArthur Center introduced upscale retailing to the Hampton Roads region and it featured the premier of a number of retailers that did not previously exist in Hampton Roads (White House Black Market
White House Black Market
White House | Black Market is an American fashion store targeting women 25 years of age and older. White House | Black Market is known for its sleek lines, and its focus on white, black, and other variants of the two colors...
, Pottery Barn
Pottery Barn
Pottery Barn is an American-based home furnishing store chain with retail stores in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Since September 1986, when it was purchased from GAP, Inc, Pottery Barn is a wholly owned subsidiary of Williams-Sonoma, Inc....
, Z Gallerie, Nordstrom, Johnny Rockets
Johnny Rockets
Johnny Rockets is an American restaurant franchise whose concept is to create a classic American restaurant atmosphere. The theme is the diner-style restaurant that had become a common sight by the 1950s...
, Chico's
Chico's (retail chain)
Chico's is a retail women's clothing chain founded in 1983 on Sanibel Island, Florida.The Company currently operates 1,084 women's clothing stores, including stores in 48 states, Washington D.C., the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico operating under the Chico's, White House | Black Market and...
, Coach, among others). MacArthur Center's entry to the Hampton Roads market heightened the competition in the retail industry and prompted waves of upgrade and investment at numerous other shopping malls around the region, especially at MacArthur Center's main competitor, Lynnhaven Mall
Lynnhaven Mall
Lynnhaven Mall is an enclosed super-regional shopping mall in Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA. It opened in August 1981. At of gross leasable area, it is not only the largest mall in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of southeastern Virginia, but also one of the largest malls on the East Coast...
in Virginia Beach, which announced a strategy to renovate the mall and upgrade the tenant mix to reposition it as a worthy competitor to its new Norfolk neighbor.
MacArthur Center's effect on downtown Norfolk
In a touch of irony, the primary element that nearly killed Granby Street as a commercial destination - the climate controlled shopping mall - is probably what saved Granby Street from wholesale abandonment and breathed into it new life. During the construction of MacArthur Center, Norfolk invested additional funds on infrastructure improvements throughout downtown. Sidewalks were rebuilt, additional lighting was added and streets were repaved throughout the area. A parking garage on Monticello Avenue north of MacArthur Center was partially demolished in order to reconnect the western and eastern segments of Freemason Street, which were previously blocked by the garage.With the promise of thousands of new shoppers coming to nearby MacArthur Center, owners of properties throughout downtown reinvested in their buildings and made them ready for new retail and residential uses. Tidewater Community College
Tidewater Community College
Tidewater Community College is a two-year higher education institution in South Hampton Roads with campuses in Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Virginia Beach — and serving approximately 46,000 students. The school is known locally by its abbreviation, TCC.-History:The school was founded...
opened its Norfolk campus and central administrative offices on Granby Street, locating its library in the painstakingly renovated former Smith & Welton department store building. The formerly vacant storefronts on Granby Street have been repopulated by so many trendy restaurants and bars that the street, once a destination primarily for homeless and vagrant individuals, has become a new hub for the sophisticated segment of the Hampton Roads region's nightlife. The residential population of downtown continues to grow as unused commercial buildings are converted into lofts and condominiums and new residential developments rise on formerly vacant land. One such building, the Norfolk Rotunda Buildinghttp://www.norfolkrotunda.com, located on St. Paul's Blvd. and in front of MacArthur Center, opening in 2007. Formerly a bank, the building now holds 66 luxurious condominiums, and stands seven stories tall (the top two stories being penthouse
Penthouse apartment
A penthouse apartment or penthouse is an apartment that is on one of the highest floors of an apartment building. Penthouses are typically differentiated from other apartments by luxury features.-History:...
suites. Since MacArthur Center's opening, two new office towers have been completed: 150 West Main Street
150 West Main Street
150 West Main Street is the fifth tallest building in Downtown Norfolk, Virginia, United States. Norfolk's highest rated restaurant, Todd Jurich's Bistro, is located on the building's ground floor.-History:...
(located at Boush Street and Main Street, completed in 2002, 20 stories, 210 feet (64 m) tall) and the Dominion Enterprises Building (100 W. Plume Street, completed in 2007, 20 stories, 282 feet (86 m) tall). The Wells Fargo Center, 23 stories, which contains an office tower and street level retail and apartments, is under construction, as is a convention center with an attached Westin Hotel, which will be the second tallest building downtown.
Benefits of successful downtown revitalization spin off throughout the city
Norfolk's efforts to revitalize its downtown have attracted acclaim in economic development and urban planning circles throughout the country. Publications such as the American Planning AssociationAmerican Planning Association
The American Planning Association is a professional organization representing the field of city and regional planning in the United States. The APA was formed in 1978 when two separate professional planning organizations, the American Institute of Planners and the American Society of Planning...
's monthly Planning Magazine
Planning Magazine
Planning Magazine is a monthly publication of the American Planning Association. It offers news and analyses of events in planning ....
, have hailed the tremendous rebound in the downtown residential population, and Money
Money (magazine)
Money is published by Time Inc. Its first issue was published in October 1972. Its articles cover the gamut of personal finance topics ranging from investing, saving, retirement and taxes to family finance issues like paying for college, credit, career and home improvement...
magazine proclaimed Norfolk as the number one city in which to live in the South in 2005.
The rising fortunes of the downtown area have helped expand the city's coffers which has in turn been able to direct its attention to revitalizing other neighborhoods of the city. Located just northwest of downtown, the Ghent district
Ghent District
The Arrondissement of Ghent is the largest of the six administrative arrondissements in the Province of East Flanders, Belgium. It is both an administrative and a judicial arrondissement...
of Norfolk is one of the Hampton Roads region's premier urban residential communities. Ghent has the highest residential densities of any other area in Hampton Roads, and is home to a diverse array of people - artists, strivers, lower income to wealthy, etc. Many other areas of Norfolk are also being revitalized, including Fairmount Park, Ocean View and East Beach, the latter both on the Chesapeake Bay.