THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 23, 1996 TAG: 9610230007
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Opinion
SOURCE: By TERRY EIKENBERY
LENGTH: 93 lines
I am on my second ``tour'' as a resident of Hampton Roads. The first tour lasted from 1959 until 1972. I moved back to the area in 1992. When I returned, I discovered that in many respects, the intervening years had not been kind to Hampton Roads. During my first residence, the status of Norfolk as a city and Hampton Roads as a region was viewed as the equivalent of or even superior to cities like Charlotte, Jacksonville, Nashville, Raleigh, Richmond, et al. The economic state of the area was excellent, and the quality of life was superb.
Though the area's economy was driven primarily by a military presence engaged in both the war in Vietnam and the Cold War, Norfolk was the headquarters of the state's largest commercial bank, and the area boasted a General Electric plant as well as an automobile assembly plant. Signs at its city limits proclaimed Norfolk as ``Virginia's Largest City'' and its police cars proudly advertised the fact that Norfolk had received the designation as an ``All-American City.'' With Scope, Chrysler Hall and a major art collection at The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk was clearly the cultural as well as the economic hub of the region. Albeit, often followed reluctantly by its neighbors, Norfolk did provide a sense of direction for the region.
Virginia Beach was a small resort city at the Oceanfront, Chesapeake had yet to be formed and Suffolk was a quiet Southern town that advertised itself as the ``Peanut Capital of the World.'' These cities, as we know them today, were born in the early `60s out of fear that Norfolk and Portsmouth were going to annex all, or part of, the then-existing Norfolk, Nansemond and Princess Anne counties.
Although professional sports may not be the best measure of economic progress, the area was home to the Virginia Squires, a regional franchise in the American Basketball Association. Norfolk had franchises in the highest level baseball and hockey minor leagues and a professional football team that drew near capacity crowds to its games at Foreman Field. Each August, the Redskins played a pre-season game at Foreman Field and in the fall, that stadium was the site of the Oyster Bowl which featured a game between two major college football teams.
Today, although the Tides still call Norfolk home, the Squires are history, the Admirals hockey franchise plays in a low-level minor league and a semi-pro football team plays its games at a local high-school stadium. The Oyster Bowl has been discontinued, and Foreman Field is too small for NFL exhibition games. Meanwhile, Charlotte has major-league football and basketball franchises, Jacksonville and Nashville have, or will have, teams in the NFL and Raleigh is pursuing a franchise in the NHL.
The Ford plant remains. However, the GE plant and many other manufacturing facilities have closed. Manufacturing employment is down significantly. Defense downsizing has resulted in fewer military and civilian jobs. No major bank has a headquarters presence in the area. Most of the new businesses that have located in the area are low-tech, service-oriented companies with wage scales that are generally in the lower range. Recent articles in The Virginian-Pilot have cited statistics that show economic progress as measured by income, the number of jobs, new businesses, has lagged significantly over the past 10 years when compared with the cities mentioned above.
Chesapeake, Suffolk and Virginia Beach have emerged as thriving communities, each with its own separate police force, fire department, libraries, school system and local government. However, for the most part, their political leaders have adopted an isolationist perspective regarding initiatives that would be good for the region but might not directly benefit their cities. Norfolk and Portsmouth labor with the burden of inner-city problems. Although unspoken by their political leaders, it is obvious that the latter-day cities do not want to share these problems. In addition, the individual cities compete with each other in attempting to recruit new businesses rather than working together.
Lip service to regional cooperation is paid through the formation of numerous committees, study groups, planning groups, task forces, et al. However, these groups have accomplished little in the way of solving regional problems and improving the economic state of the area. It appears that the progress of the `60s and `70s has been halted by intercity rivalries and squabbles.
Although Hampton Roads does have some basic problems like water and transportation, the area likewise has many fundamental advantages. The reasonably mild climate, the Bay and the beaches make it a very attractive place to live. With its high-tech orientation, the military with its retirees and dependents offer a nucleus of an excellent work force.
With the same type of political climate that prevails in Charlotte, Jacksonville, Richmond, Hampton Roads could be a major player in attracting new industry, sports franchises and the recreational and cultural elements that contribute to a region's economic growth and quality of life. The area's business, civic and political leaders must forget the animosities and political differences of the past and develop a broader approach to regional problems and opportunities. Until this happens, Hampton Roads will continue to miss out on opportunities that would bring growth and prosperity to the region and will remain a second-tier area. MEMO: Terry Eikenbery, a former Sovran Bank information-systems
executive, first came to Hampton Roads as a military officer. He
returned in 1992 as a partner in a small business located in Chesapeake.
He lives in Virginia Beach. by CNB