Building Blocks

Your town. Your Community. Your News. 

What Brilliance

Close a lane on the most heavily traveled street in Tidewater.

That’s what happened.

A westbound lane of Hampton Boulevard in Norfolk from 26^th to 38^th Street has been closed to cars and trucks.  

To redo a sidewalk – a sidewalk which is empty most of time since a pay day lender shut down – in front of a new restaurant and catering company called Smalls. Remember that name.

Traffic to Norfolk Naval Base, Old Dominion University and Norfolk International Terminals grinds to a halt just before the Norfolk Southern overpass.

Brilliant planning. One or more bureaucrats should be tied to one of the signs saying “right lane closed ahead,” with a blinking orange light on his or her head.

Traffic Control

Traffic on Colley Avenue and 21^st Street in Ghent is too much and too fast, people have complained to me.  

Think how bad it will get when Towne Bank opens a branch on Colley Avenue and the visionary city council members and obliging developers – especially when they will buy the 3.5 acres of broken concrete and battered buildings for a fraction of its value -- begin transforming the wasteland of West 21^st Street.

And don’t forget the proposed Green at Ghent, a 130 unit apartment complex between Monticello Avenue and Granby Street that Norfolk City Council members will most assuredly approve Dec. 8.

Let’s start with speed bumps on Colley Avenue between Princess Ann Road and 21^st Street and see what happens.

Beauty and the Beholder

As you travel down 21^st Street, don’t forget to glance at the empty wine cartons in the storefront of Total Wine.

They make a welcome ornament to the otherwise drab store fronts on the street, don’t they? So warm, so Ghent, so fashionista.

Please. Do something with those cartons – just don’t put them in the windows. 

Hang empty wine and beer bottles. Or put something else in the windows – just not cardboard boxes. 

Library Lullaby

A silky voice on WHRO entices you to join the Virginia Beach Public Library. Consider all the eBooks the library has amassed, the voice pitches.

And a non-resident can join for a nominal fee, the announcer says. But he never says how much it will cost.

It costs $35. That’s nominal?

Now Norfolk. A library card is free to anyone who lives in the state of Virginia or who works in the city of Norfolk. Others may obtain a non-residential card for $14.95.  

In Chesapeake, a library card is free for non-residents who live in Virginia, but you are limited as to how many items you can check out. A non-resident, full-service card without restrictions is available to anyone who doesn’t live in the city of Chesapeake for $35.

You would think regionalism would begin with public amenities.

Bed Bumps

How many mattress stores does Ghent have? Three?

Do Ghentiles fornicate more than other Norfolk residents?

Or maybe more children? Which still leads back to our basic human instinct.