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Virginia Beach, Virginia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Official website: http://www.vbgov.com/ | |||
| Location | |||
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 Location in the Commonwealth of Virginia. |
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| Government | |||
| Country State Counties |
United States Virginia Independent City |
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| Mayor | Meyera E. Oberndorf | ||
| Geographical characteristics | |||
| Area | |||
| Total | 497.3 mi² - 1,288.1 km² | ||
| Land | 248.3 mi² - 643.1 km² | ||
| Water | 249.0 mi² - 645.0 km² | ||
| Population | |||
| Total (2000) | 425,257 | ||
| Metro area | 1,645,015 | ||
| Density | 661.3/km² | ||
| Coordinates | |||
| Elevation | 6 m | ||
| Time zone | EST (UTC-5) | ||
| Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) | ||
Virginia Beach is an independent city located in the South Hampton Roads area in the Commonwealth of Virginia, on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The city is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the 39th largest city in the US, with a total population of 447,000.[1] It is the third largest suburban city after Long Beach, California and Mesa, Arizona, and it is the fourth largest in North America. It has more characteristics of a traditional county rather than of a city, by definition. The southern half of the city consists of rural farm and marsh land.
Virginia Beach is best known as a major resort, with miles of beaches and hundreds of hotels, motels, and restaurants along its oceanfront. It is also home to several state parks, several long protected beach areas, three military bases, a number of large corporations, and two universities.
The city is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as having the longest pleasure beach in the world and is located at the southern end of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, the longest bridge-tunnel complex in the world.
Contents |
History
Cape Henry: first landing
The first landfall of the Jamestown colonists in 1607 was at Cape Henry, in the northeastern part of today's city, however the settlers left the area due to the inability to grow food and the need for a more sheltered site further inland.
Today, the site is within the boundaries of Fort Story, a U.S. Army installation used for training by the Army, Navy, and Marines. A memorial cross near the landing site and the historic Cape Henry Lighthouse are accessible to the general public. First Landing State Park (formerly Seashore State Park) nearby was named to commemorate this event.
1634 to 1663 shire to county
During the 17th century, shortly after establishment of the Jamestown Settlement in 1607, English settlers explored and began settling the areas adjacent to Hampton Roads. In 1634, the King of England directed the formation of eight shires (or counties) in the colony of Virginia. One of these was Elizabeth City Shire, soon to be renamed Elizabeth City County), which included land area on both sides of Hampton Roads.
In 1636, New Norfolk County was subdivided from it, including all the area in South Hampton Roads now incorporated in the five independent cities located there in modern times. The following year, in 1637, it was divided into Upper Norfolk County and Lower Norfolk County. (Upper Norfolk County was soon renamed Nansemond County).
Lower Norfolk County was quite large, and stretched all the way from the Atlantic Ocean west past the Elizabeth River and soon required two courthouses to service the citizenry. Finally, in 1691, Lower Norfolk County was in turn divided to form Norfolk County and Princess Anne County. Princess Anne, the easternmost county in South Hampton Roads, extended northward from the North Carolina border to Cape Henry at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, and included all of the area fronting the Atlantic Ocean.
Incorporated town in 1906, city in 1952
Beginning in the late 19th century, the small resort area of Virginia Beach grew in Princess Anne County, particularly after 1888 with the arrival of rail service and electricity. Developers built the original Princess Anne Hotel which opened in 1890 at the oceanfront near the community of Seatack. In 1891, hotel guests watched the wreck and rescue efforts for the Norwegian bark Dictator, whose figurehead which washed up on the beach became the longtime predecessor of the current Norwegian Lady Monuments.
Although the resort was initially dependent upon railroad and electric trolley service, completion of the concrete Virginia Beach Boulevard extending from Norfolk opened access for automobiles, buses, and trucks, and rail service was discontinued.
A railroad passenger station at Cape Henry built in 1902 and served by the original Norfolk Southern Railway was restored late in the 20th century and is used as an educational facility by Fort Story. Another railroad station near 18th Street and Pacific Avenue was torn down. Part of the original railroad from Norfolk near the Oceanfront is now used as a pedestrian and bicycle path.
The growing resort of Virginia Beach was incorporated as a town in 1906 and became a city politically independent from Princess Anne County in 1952. Upon its incorporation, B.P. Holland was chosen to be the Town's first mayor.
However, in the mid 20th century, the western borders of Princess Anne County lost territory to annexation suits by the City of Norfolk which adjoined it after annexing all of the northern portion of Norfolk County. A merger with the tiny city of Virginia Beach became seen by leaders and residents of Princess Anne County as a way to prevent the independent City of Norfolk from annexing more (or potentially all) of the county.
1963: consolidation with Princess Anne County
In 1963, after approval by referendum of the voters of both the City of Virginia Beach and Princess Anne County, and with the approval of the Virginia General Assembly, the two political subdivisions were consolidated as a new, much larger independent city, retaining the better-known name of the Virginia Beach resort. About the same time, at similar risk of annexations, the remaining portion of Norfolk County took similar action, consolidating with the small independent City of South Norfolk and forming another new city. The City of Chesapeake became Virginia Beach's new neighbor to the southwest.
Today, most of the area formerly in Princess Anne County when it was formed in 1691 is now located within the City of Virginia Beach. The only exceptions are some territory of the northwestern portion which became part of the City of Norfolk through annexation and a land swap agreement between the two cities in 1988.
1989: "Greekfest" riots
Over the Labor Day weekend in 1989, Virginia Beach experienced the worst civil disturbance in its history, which resulted in over 500 arrests and citations and millions in property damage, not to mention the damage to the city's reputation, which lingered for years afterward.
Although problems between the needs, expectations, and behavior of vacationing college students and those of older families and retired persons have occurred in many other beach resorts such as Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Daytona Beach, Florida, and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, usually during Spring Break holidays, a 1989 conflict of these groups and police in Virginia Beach seemed to add connotations of racism, and turned into a riot situation.
The problem had been brewing for several years. An increasing number of African-American college students had been converging on Virginia Beach for the Labor Day Weekend each year. In 1988, a concert at the Virginia Beach Pavilion led to $6,000 in property damage and an assault on a female security guard when 3,000 people could not get in. Managers afterward felt the number of attendees simply overwhelmed Virginia Beach's capacity for large events. Organizers of the event were told that they could not rent the public facilities again.
Nevertheless, in 1989, thousands of students arrived again on Labor Day Weekend for "Greekfest", so named for the Greek alphabet used by the fraternities and sororities involved in the festival. Many of the young people, with no events to attend, became intoxicated, and rioted in the streets, breaking windows, looting shops, and vandalizing property.
Many people predicted a riot weeks in advance, and this came to pass. Some observers suggested that the city went out of its way to make the students feel unwelcome. However, the claim that the students rioted not out of anger, but out of a simple desire for the clothing displayed in the shops along the Boardwalk, seems to be overly apologist for unbecoming behavior. Others claimed that the police were out of control, attacking anyone who was black, looter or not. It took M-16 toting National Guard troops to restore order after two days of rioting. Property damage took several years to repair; some small businesses were destroyed and were unable to reopen.
The incident brought widespread publicity and public outcry from many factions. Two slogans commonly heard in the following weeks were: "It's a black thing; you wouldn't understand" and "It's a cop thing; we'll make you understand." The incident was immortalized by Public Enemy in their song "Welcome to the Terrordome" from their album Fear of a Black Planet (1990).
One tourist recalls "I was there that weekend attempting to enjoy the long weekend. We met with belligerent attitudes and observed several incidents of inappropriate behavior and language. Many of those in our group were over 60 years of age. I, with my two-year son in his stroller, was forced off the sidewalk several times."
Community leaders struggled in the aftermath to find a balance for the future. The city established a Labor Day Task Force Commission, which assumed the chores of figuring out what led to the 1989 riots and how to prevent a repeat of that spectacle. Videotape of the incident showed clips of police brutally striking students who disobeyed police orders intermixed with shots of rioting students kicking in store windows and looting businesses. Neither situation is one that anyone wanted to see repeated.
Over the years a series of measures were implemented, ranging from increased police patrols to the 'Beach Behavior Campaign,' and increased surveillance measures, some of which were quite controversial and raised legitimate civil liberties questions.
Today, the city hosts the American Music Festival and the Rock and Roll Half-Marathon on Labor Day Weekend with great success and no major public safety issues. The city is actively pursuing about 20 multicultural conventions at the moment and has either booked or tentatively booked several of them. However, officials have cautioned that large groups of disorderly persons will not be welcomed.
Beltway Sniper trial
Virginia Beach made national headlines in 2003 when it hosted the first trial of convicted Beltway sniper murderer John Allen Muhammed. The area was selected due to a court order for a change of venue. His trial began in October 2003, and the following month, he was found guilty of capital murder in one of the series of shootings and extortion attempts. Four months later, the judge agreed with the jury's recommendation, and he was sentenced to death. In April 2005, the Virginia Supreme Court affirmed the local court's verdict and the death sentence. Muhammed is awaiting execution in Virginia, as well as facing possible trials in other states with additional murder charges pending.
Current redevelopment projects
Real estate, defense, and tourism are major sectors of the Virginia Beach economy, but the city has begun to run out of clear land available for new construction above the Green Line, an urban growth boundary dividing the urban northern and rural southern sections of the city.
As such, while Virginia Beach does not have a redevelopment authority, local public and private groups have maintained a vested interest in real-estate redevelopment, resulting in a number of joint public-private projects such as commercial parks. Some of these, such as new hotels and convention centers built on public land along the Oceanfront and the New Urbanist Town Center development in the Pembroke area, have come under question due to the use of public funds and eminent domain in the interest of private economic development.
Infill and development of residential neighborhoods has placed a number of operating constraints on Oceana Naval Air Station, a major fighter jet base for the U.S. Navy. While the airbase currently enjoys wide support from Virginia Beach at large, the Pentagon Base Realignment and Closure commission has proposed closure of Oceana within the next decade.
Geography and climate
Geography
Virginia Beach is located at (36.834498, -76.087179)GR1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1,288.1 km² (497.3 mi²). 643.1 km² (248.3 mi²) of it is land and 645.0 km² (249.0 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 50.07% water. The average elevation is 12 feet (4 meters) above sea level. A major portion of the city drains to the Chesapeake Bay by way of the Lynnhaven River and its tributaries.
The city is located at the southeastern corner of the tidewater region of Virginia (also known as Hampton Roads), bordering the Atlantic Ocean. The Hampton Roads Metropolitan Statistical Area (officially known as the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC MSA) is the 34th largest in the United States, with a total population of 1,576,370. The area includes the Virginia cities of Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Poquoson, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Williamsburg, and the counties of Gloucester, Isle of Wight, James City, Mathews, Surry, and York, as well as the North Carolina county of Currituck. While Virginia Beach is the most populated city within the MSA, it actually currently functions more as a suburb. The city of Norfolk is recognized as the central business district, while the Virginia Beach oceanside resort district and Williamsburg are primarily centers of tourism.
Cityscape
The modern city of Virginia Beach was created in 1963, by the consolidation of the 253 square mile (655 km²) Princess Anne County with the 2 square mile (5 km²) City of Virginia Beach. The city was divided into seven boroughs: Bayside, Blackwater, Kempsville, Lynnhaven, Princess Anne, Pungo, and Virginia Beach. On July 1, 1998, five of the seven boroughs of Virginia Beach were replaced by voting districts for election purposes. Blackwater and Pungo were incorporated into the Princess Anne district and two new districts, Rose Hall and Centerville emerged in the western part of the city. Most of the city's residential and business development is in the northern half of the city, while most of the land area in the southern half is still taken up by agriculture. New developments are beginning to creep southward, however, as suburbanization grows.
The city's roads are not arranged in any particular pattern, primarily due to the presence of many water inlets. I-64, a portion of the Hampton Roads Beltway, forms a loop around the city of Norfolk, and is located just outside the western border of the city. I-64 forms a junction with I-264 (formerly the Norfolk-Virginia Beach Expressway), which runs from west to east across the city to the oceanfront. Other major roads include Virginia Beach Boulevard (US 58), Shore Drive (US 60), which connects to Atlantic Avenue at the oceanfront, Princess Anne Road (VA 165), Indian River Road (VA 603), Lynnhaven Parkway, Independence Boulevard and Nimmo Pkwy. Streets in the oceanfront hotel and entertainment district are arranged in a fairly regular, gridlike pattern, with Atlantic Avenue parallel to the shoreline, then Pacific Avenue, and Arctic Avenue going further inland.
Virginia Beach has many distinctive communities and neighborhoods within its boundaries, including Chesapeake Beach (Chick's Beach), Great Neck, King's Grant, Alanton, Green Run, Bayside, Blackwater, Croatan Beach, Doyletown, Great Neck, Greenwich, The North End, Kempsville, London Bridge, Lynnhaven, Munden, Oceana, Ocean Park, Pembroke, Princess Anne, Pungo, Salem, Sandbridge, Shadowlawn, Thalia, Thoroughgood, and the original Virginia Beach resort strip.
Climate
The weather in Virginia Beach is temperate and seasonal. Summers are hot and humid with cool evenings. The mean annual temperature is 60 °F (15 °C), with an average annual snowfall of 7.4 inches and an average annual rainfall of 45 inches. No measurable snow fell in 1999. The wettest seasons are the spring and summer, although rainfall is fairly constant all year round. The highest recorded temperature was 103°F (39°C) in August 1957, and the lowest recorded temperature was -11°F (-24°C) in January 1985.[2],[3]
Additionally, the geographic location of the city, with respect to the principal storm tracks, is especially favorable, as it is south of the average path of storms originating in the higher latitudes, and north of the usual tracks of hurricanes and other major tropical storms.
Points of interest
- Virginia Aquarium
- Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base
- Virginia Wesleyan College
- Cape Henry
- Fort Story
- Cape Henry Memorial
- Old Cape Henry Lighthouse
- Adam Thoroughgood House
- Lynnhaven House
- Francis Land House
- Lynnhaven Mall
- Virginia Beach Sportsplex
- Regent University
- Virginia Beach
- Convention Center
- Naval Air Station Oceana
- Hell's Point Country Club
- Ocean Breeze Waterpark
- Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
- TPC of Virginia Beach
- Fleet Combat Training Center Atlantic
- Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge
- False Cape State Park
- Norwegian Lady Statue
- Old Coast Guard Station Museum (Seatack)
People and culture
Demographics
| Historical populations | |
|---|---|
| Census year |
Population |
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| 1790 | 7,793 |
| 1800 | 8,859 |
| 1810 | 9,498 |
| 1820 | 8,768 |
| 1830 | 9,102 |
| 1840 | 7,285 |
| 1850 | 7,669 |
| 1860 | 7,714 |
| 1870 | 8,273 |
| 1880 | 9,394 |
| 1890 | 9,510 |
| 1900 | 11,192 |
| 1910 | 11,526 |
| 1920 | 13,626 |
| 1930 | 16,282 |
| 1940 | 19,984 |
| 1950 | 42,277 |
| 1960 | 84,215 |
| 1970 | 172,106 |
| 1980 | 262,199 |
| 1990 | 393,069 |
| 2000 | 425,257 |
| 2004 | 440,098 |
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 425,257 people, 154,455 households, and 110,898 families residing in the city. The population density was 661.3/km² (1,712.7/mi²). There were 162,277 housing units at an average density of 252.3/km² (653.6/mi²).[2]
The racial makeup of the city was 71.41% White (69.46% non-Latino white), 18.95% African American, 0.38% Native American, 4.91% Asian, 0.10% Pacific Islander, 1.51% from other races, and 2.75% from two or more races. 4.18% Hispanic or Latino of any race.[2]
There were 154,455 households out of which 38.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.7% were married couples living together, 12.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.2% were non-families. 20.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.70 and the average family size was 3.14.[2]
The age distribution is 27.5% under the age of 18, 10.0% from 18 to 24, 34.3% from 25 to 44, 19.8% from 45 to 64, and 8.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 98.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.8 males.[2]
The median income for a household in the city was $48,705, and the median income for a family was $53,242. Males had a median income of $33,756 versus $25,979 for females. The per capita income for the city was $22,365. 6.5% of the population and 5.1% of families were below the poverty line. 8.6% of those under the age of 18 and 4.7% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.[2]
Museums and cultural arts
The city is home to several points of interest in the historical, scientific, and performing arts areas, and has become a popular tourist destination in recent years. The Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center (formerly the Virginia Marine Science Museum) is a popular aquarium near the oceanfront that features the 300,000-gallon Norfolk Canyon Aquarium, containing sand tiger, nurse and brown sharks, as well as sting rays and other large open-ocean dwellers. There is also a 70,000-gallon sea turtle aquarium, sea turtle hatchling laboratory, hands-on ocean exploration exhibits, jellyfish and octopus aquariums, and even a life-size model of a humpback whale. Other features include the Owls Creek salt marsh and a nature trail. (www.VirginiaAquarium.com)
The Verizon Wireless Virginia Beach Amphitheather features a wide variety of popular shows and concerts, ranging from Kenny Chesney to Gretchen Wilson to Coldplay. The city is also planning to build a 1200-seat performing arts theatre in the Virginia Beach Town Center by 2007.
Virginia Beach also is home to many sites of historical importance, and has 18 sites on the National Register of Historic Places. Such sites include the Adam Thoroughgood House (one of the oldest surviving colonial homes in Virginia), the Francis Land House (a 200 year old plantation), the Cape Henry Lighthouse and nearby Cape Henry Light Station (a second tower), Bayville Farm, DeWitt Cottage, Ferry Farm Plantation, Dr. John Miller-Masury House, Keeling House, Old Donation Church, Pembroke Manor, Pleasant Hall, Shirley Hall (Devereaux House), Thomas Murray House, U.S. Coast Guard Station (Seatack), Upper Wolfsnare (Brick House Farm), Weblin House, and Wishart Boush House.
In 1928, the Edgar Cayce Hospital for Research and Enlightenment established in Virginia Beach, with 60 beds. Cayce was a supposed psychic from Kentucky who claimed healing abilities and made prophesies. Cayce resided in Virginia Beach until he passed way on 3 January 1945. His followers are still active in Virginia Beach.
Parks and outdoor recreation
Virginia Beach is home to 208 city parks, encompassing over 4,000 acres (16 km²), including neighborhood parks, community parks, district parks, and other open spaces. Each park is unique and offers something for everyone, from wide open spaces to playgrounds, picnic shelters, and ballfields.
Perhaps one of the most well-known parks is the world-renowned Mount Trashmore Park, clearly visible from I-264 as you're traveling to the oceanfront. The park is 165 acres (668,000 m²). The mountain is 60 ft (18 m) high and over 800 ft (240 m) long, and was created by compacting layers of solid waste and clean soil. The park also features two lakes: Lake Windsor and Lake Trashmore. Lake Trashmore is stocked with fish for fishing. A new skate park has also been opened here as well.
Another major park in the city is Great Neck Park, a 70 acre (283,000 m²) park located in the Lynnhaven District. Facilities include five large group shelters, mini-shelters, family picnic tables and grills, three playgrounds, horseshoe pits, volleyball courts, vending machines, walking trails, four baseball fields, as well as a gazebo located at the end of a scenic walkway overlooks the Lynnhaven River.
The Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge, established in 1938, is an 8,000 acre (32 km²) fresh water refuge that borders the Atlantic Ocean on the east and Back Bay on the west. The barrier islands feature large sand dunes, maritime forests, fresh water marshes, ponds, ocean beach, and large impoundments for wintering wildfowl. It is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
First Landing State Park and False Cape State Park are both located in coastal areas within the city's corporate limits as well.
Additionally, the famous three-mile (5 km) boardwalk at the oceanfront is often packed with fascinating entertainment, outdoor cafes, concerts and people.
Sports
Virginia Beach has no major league professional sports teams or spectator sports. Since Norfolk contains the central business district of Hampton Roads, most of the major spectator sports are located there. While the Hampton Roads area has been recently considered as a viable prospect for major-league professional sports, and regional leaders have attempted to obtain Major League Baseball, NBA and NHL franchises in the recent past, no team has yet relocated to the area.
There are two soccer teams in the United Soccer Leagues - the Virginia Beach Mariners, a men's team in the second-level USL First Division, and the Hampton Roads Piranhas, a women's team in the W-League, the de facto top women's league after the suspension of the Women's United Soccer Association. The Mariners play at the Virginia Beach Sportsplex. That facility is also the central training site for the U.S. women's national field hockey team. The Piranhas formerly played at the complex, but now play home games at nearby Virginia Wesleyan College on the border between Virginia Beach and Norfolk.
The city is also home to the East Coast Surfing Championships, an annual contest of more than 100 of the world's top professional surfers and an estimated 400 amateur surfers. This is North America's oldest surfing contest, and features combined cash prizes of $55,000.
There are also eleven golf courses open to the public in the city, as well as four country club layouts and 36 military holes at NAS Oceana's Aeropines course. Among the best-known public courses are Hell's Point Golf Club and the TPC of Virginia Beach, the latter of which hosts the Virginia Beach Open, a Nationwide Tour event, each April.
Infrastructure
Government
Virginia Beach was chartered as a municipal corporation by the General Assembly of Virginia on January 1, 1963. The city currently operates under the council-manager form of government.
The city's legislative body consists of an 11 member city council. The city manager is appointed by the council and acts as the chief executive officer. Through his staff, he implements policies established by the council.
Members of the city council normally serve four-year terms and are elected on a staggered basis. General elections are held the first Tuesday in May in even-numbered years. All registered voters are eligible to vote for all council members. Three council members and the mayor serve on an "at large" basis with no district residency requirement. All others are required to live in the district they represent.
The mayor is elected to a four-year term through direct election. The mayor presides over council meetings, and serves as the ceremonial head and spokesperson of the city. A vice mayor is also elected by the city council at the first meeting in July following a council election.
Education
According to the U.S. Census, of the population over twenty-five, 28.1% (vs. a national average of 24%) hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and 90.4% (vs. 80% nationally) have a high school diploma or equivalent.
The city of Virginia Beach is home to the second largest school system in Virginia and among the 50 largest school divisions in the United States (based on student enrollment). Virginia Beach City Public Schools currently serves 74,682 students, and includes 55 elementary schools, 15 middle schools, 11 high schools which include Landstown, Princess Anne, Cox, Tallwood, Salem, First Colonial, Kellam, Green Run, Kempsville, Bayside, and Ocean Lakes High Schools as well as a number of secondary/post-secondary specialty schools and centers such as the Advanced Technology Center (ATC), which provides excellent courses for those trying to gain a place in the technology field. Ocean Lakes maintains a rigorous math and science academy, while Bayside houses a health sciences academy. Landstown High School contains a Technology Academy, which helps prepare students for jobs in Business Marketing and/or Information Technology. First Colonial High School is home to a legal studies academy, Tallwood has recently founded a world studies academy, and Princess Anne is an international Baccalaureate Diploma Programme school. Specialized courses are offered at all these academies, even though they ocassionaly overlap courses offered at other specialized centers, such as Landstown and the ATC - less than 1 mile away.
There are also a number of private, independent schools in the city, including The Hebrew Academy of Tidewater, Cape Henry Collegiate School, Bishop Sullivan Catholic High School (formerly Norfolk Catholic), and Baylake Pines School.
Virginia Beach is home to one university, Regent University, a private university founded by Christian Evangelist and Leader Pat Robertson which has historically focused on graduate education but is attempting to establish an undergraduate program as well. Old Dominion University is in nearby Norfolk and both the University of Virginia and Virginia Tech operate satellite campuses in Virginia Beach. Tidewater Community College, a major junior college, also has its largest campus located in the city. Virginia Wesleyan College, a private liberal arts college, is located near the border with Norfolk. Additional institutions of higher education are located in other communities of greater Hampton Roads.
Military bases
Virginia Beach is home to several United States Military bases. These include the United States Navy's NAS Oceana, FTC Dam Neck, NAB Little Creek, and the United States Army's Fort Story located at Cape Henry. NAS Oceana is the largest employer in Virginia Beach and currently under consideration to be shut down by the 2005 BRAC Commission. The BRAC Commission ultimately issued a decree giving Virginia Beach once last chance to maintain Oceana. The decree included a command to condemn houses in the APZ Zones. This action has never been the position of the United States Navy. A report in March 2006 will determine whether the jets remain at Oceana or not. Both NAS Oceana and FTC Dam Neck are considered to be the largest of their respective kind in the world. Furthermore, located in nearby Norfolk is the central hub of the United States Navy's Atlantic Fleet, Norfolk Navy Base.[5]
Transportation
The city is primarily served by the nearby Norfolk International Airport (IATA: ORF, ICAO: KORF). Also located within an hour's drive away is the Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport (IATA: PHF, ICAO: KPHF).
The city is connected to I-64 via I-264, which runs from the oceanfront, intersects with I-64 on the east side of Norfolk, and continues through downtown Norfolk and Portsmouth until rejoining I-64 at the terminus of both roads in Chesapeake. The city is also connected to Virginia's Eastern Shore via the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, which is the longest bridge-tunnel complex in the world. Transportation within the city, as well as with other cities in the Hampton Roads area, is served by a regional bus service, HRT. It also has ignored Shore Drive, a popular beach community with practically no infrastructure to protect pedestrians and cyclists.
Sister cities
Virginia Beach has three Sister Cities, as designated by Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI)[4]: Bangor, Northern Ireland (United Kingdom), Miyazaki (Japan), and Moss (Norway).
Trivia
- The resort strip area of Virginia Beach had been part of the same political subdivision as the rest of the current city of Virginia Beach since 1634 except for 11 years (1952-1963) when the 2 square mile area was a separate independent city (before rejoining the former Princess Anne County by consolidation in 1963).
See also
- List of famous people from Hampton Roads
- Norwegian Lady Statues
- Wash Woods at False Cape, one of the lost towns of Virginia
Sources
- 1. ^ U.S. Census Bureau, 2004 Population Estimates, Census 2000, 1990 Census: http://factfinder.census.gov/
- 2. ^ Climate information from NOAA.
- 3. ^ Maximum and minimum temperatures from Yahoo! Weather
- 4. ^ Sister cities designated by Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI)
- 5. ^ Worldwide Space A Handbook: ISBN 1-881341-13-5. www.nablc.navy.mil
External links
Dictionary definitions from Wiktionary
Textbooks from Wikibooks
Quotations from Wikiquote
Source texts from Wikisource
Images and media from Commons
News stories from Wikinews
- Official Government Website
- Convention & Visitors Bureau
- Tower Cam at the Old Coast Guard Station Museum at Oceanfront.
- Virginia Beach Pictures
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps or Yahoo! Maps
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
- Satellite image from Google Maps or Windows Live Local
| 50 Largest cities of the United States by population |
| New York â?¢ Los Angeles â?¢ Chicago â?¢ Houston â?¢ Philadelphia â?¢ Phoenix â?¢ San Diego â?¢ San Antonio â?¢ Dallas â?¢ San Jose â?¢ Detroit â?¢ Indianapolis â?¢ Jacksonville â?¢ San Francisco â?¢ Columbus â?¢ Austin â?¢ Memphis â?¢ Baltimore â?¢ Fort Worth â?¢ Charlotte â?¢ El Paso â?¢ Milwaukee â?¢ Seattle â?¢ Boston â?¢ Denver â?¢ Louisville â?¢ Washington â?¢ Nashville â?¢ Las Vegas â?¢ Portland â?¢ Oklahoma City â?¢ Tucson â?¢ Albuquerque â?¢ Long Beach â?¢ New Orleans â?¢ Cleveland â?¢ Fresno â?¢ Sacramento â?¢ Virginia Beach â?¢ Kansas City â?¢ Mesa â?¢ Atlanta â?¢ Omaha â?¢ Oakland â?¢ Tulsa â?¢ Miami â?¢ Honolulu â?¢ Minneapolis â?¢ Colorado Springs â?¢ Arlington |
