Norfology: What It Is and What It Isn’t
Words Hannah Serrano
Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010 at 12:52 pm
I love Norfolk as much as I am frustrated with it.
I love its natural beauty, its restaurants, its history, and its people. I love how far it’s come in the last 15 years under the cultural and political leadership of some brilliant folks. Most of all I love it for its potential.
But the truth is I feel badly about Norfolk quite a lot, also. Right now, Granby has no daytime foot traffic on the weekends. Ghent gets a little claustrophobic. There aren’t bike lanes or solid mid-sized music venues. And to put it in the simplest terms: Norfolk has yet to reach the level of activism, progressiveness, hometown loyalty, or culture that I look for in a place in which to live.
I’m here because my family is here and I love my job. If it weren’t for those two things, I probably wouldn’t stay. I hate that I feel that way, but it is the truth.
My ambivalence is shared by many people of my generation living in Norfolk. How do I know? Well, because many of the young Norfolkians who have inspired me in the last few years have either moved away or are making plans to. Because what Nelly did for St. Louis, Timbaland is certainly not doing for this place. And because they will tell you so themselves if you ask them.
Worse yet is that most of the people who feel this way are not trying to change it. They’ve accepted that Norfolk is stuck, or slow at best, and are so ready to leave that it’s like, why even bother? Or they’ve tried to do something cool and it didn’t work. Or they’re too lazy. Or they don’t care.
Last week, when I wrote “Youth In Revolt: How Norfologists Will Inherit the City,” I was writing it to them. To wake them up. To say, “Hey, it’s about to be our turn. Get up and get ready.”
You see, we at AltDaily are aware that we are oddly positioned to call our generation to action. Our medium by nature is used most widely among 20- to 40-year-olds and our readership reflects that (nearly 65 percent are between the ages of 18 and 34). And through our events and editorials, we have already dug into changing the things that leave us unsatisfied with this city.
This is why we were approached by the City of Norfolk’s Economic Development office to take on the Norfology campaign: an effort to attract young professionals and creatives to Norfolk and retain the ones that are already here.
We took it on as an AltMarketing project (click here to read about the relationship and division between AltMarketing and AltDaily) because we believed in it–the mission of the campaign–wholeheartedly. It is a campaign that we would have supported even if we weren’t involved.
Norfolk ought to be on the radar of a young professional on the move. The brighter the minds of the young people of Norfolk, the brighter its future. And I don’t think anyone can argue the positive impact a strong community of young professionals and creatives can have on a city’s economy and culture.
Before this campaign there has been little effort to support and connect young people in Norfolk. Sure, there are young professionals groups throughout the city, but there is not one entity that brings all of them together.
The fact that Norfology is also an anti-Brain Drain campaign meant a lot to me. Here is an opportunity to help stop the exodus of the young, creative and talented to the Pacific Northwest and beyond.
And moreover, The Brookings Institution released a report on the State of Metropolitan America in May. The Hampton Roads region, the nation’s 35th largest metro area, was noted as having a slow growing, aging population with less education and diversity than the national average.
So I wrote “Youth in Revolt” as a rallying cry in support of the Norfology campaign. A call to arms. A statement that might shake young people from their complacence and show them that a slow revolution can happen–because (as I said in the article) the people in power now will eventually retire and die and the city will be left in our hands.
Unfortunately my tone in the piece rubbed some AltDaily readers as exclusive of the older generation. (And yes, we do have older readers–25 percent of our readership are above the age of 50, in fact.) The suggestion was that Norfology, and to an extent AltDaily, is ageist.
I was consternated by the reaction for a few reasons. The first is that the promotion of one thing does not correlate with the discrimination against another. A campaign directed at Baby Boomers to take back their lives, for instance, is not discrimination against me as a young person. There are programs and campaigns and messages out there promoting every demographic and every type of person, and this is just one.
The second was my concern that the criticism of the campaign’s mission, being specifically focused on the young generation, bled over into criticism of AltDaily. Not only are a quarter of AltDaily’s readership 50+, many of our contributors and partners are as well. Among them are columnists Bob Chorush and Kathleen Fogarty; Walt Taylor, whose illustrations appear all over the Norfology campaign and frequently on AltDaily; Paul Shugrue at WHRO; Tench Phillips at the Naro; Elliot Juren at Fair Grounds; ODU professors and AltDaily contributors Tim Anderson, Luisa Igloria and Michael Pearson. Missy Schmidt of the Hampton Roads Partnership, Mayer Fine Art gallery owner Shelia Giolitti, and Cynthia Cutler, a recent honoree for Equality Virginia’s Legend Gala, are three other people who have inspired and influenced AltDaily.
We openly admire all of these people and highly value our relationships with them. If I regret anything about the article, it is that it made some people I greatly respect feel that I don’t appreciate them and the work that they do–and worse, that I am eagerly awaiting their demise. Nothing could be further from how I feel.
Not only do we acknowledge how these people help to shape AltDaily, we acknowledge how they help to shape Norfolk. This city wouldn’t be half the city it is now if it weren’t for people like Bev and Tench; as well as Tom Robotham, my mentor, who represented the alternative voice of the region for 10 years at the helm of Port Folio Weekly; and even Paul Fraim, under whose leadership Norfolk has developed into a city on the verge of greatness.
We know that these people are not done, and we would be appalled if anyone did think so. These people are our leaders, our sages, and will continue to be. And we reflect on that sentiment and everything these people do to make Norfolk great throughout AltDaily.
Their efforts are what inspires Norfology.
The third reason is that it’s besides the point. The spirit of the Norfology campaign is to inspire our young generation to do even greater things than the people who came before them. It’s not an us-versus-them thing. And it’s not even to say that older people are explicitly not Norfologists–I would say each of the people that I name above are Norfologists. But again, that’s not the point.
It’s simply a message that says, “Young people of Norfolk–get involved and get excited about your city. It will be yours soon, anyways. And young people of America, come to Norfolk, where you can truly effect a city’s future in infinite and positive ways.”
Norfology is a multi-faceted campaign that is evolving and consists of so much more than the one article. We’ve built a site that will grow with the “scene” and reflect the Norfolk that appeals to America’s young creative types and professionals (visit norfology.com and check it out). We are continuing a viral video campaign that spotlights successful local upstarts, creators, and rising stars. We are nurturing a galvanized community online and through networking events. We will be moving into seminars and creating mentoring opportunities and ways to directly plug in to the city and its job market. And we are developing ways to help support entrepreneurship and career advancement in Norfolk.
Yet Norfology is just one effort to make Norfolk better. AltDaily, and its reflection of all local culture young and old, is another, separate effort. And both are a part of a greater movement that involves those leaders of the older generation as well as many younger people who have already taken up arms.
No matter what avenue you take to tap into that movement, ultimately you will find that we have one shared goal: to make Norfolk better. To help people like me get over our wanderlust and stay. To create a home that we’re all proud of.
And you certainly don’t have to be a Norfologist to get that. But if you do, then, hey, you probably are one.
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"Even though Serranos can be a good deal hotter than the average, their flesh is much thinner so you get a friendly fire rather than a mouthful of afterburn." — Alton Brown
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Well the tone does sometimes need a little work, but the fact that there are people like Hannah/Jesse/etc. committed to maybe living in a less-than-ideal place and working to make it MORE ideal is beyond admirable. It’s a sacrifice that few people have been willing to make. Many members of the older generation have done great things to make Hampton Roads (not just Norfolk, people) a good place to live; there’s just a lot more than needs to be done re: jobs, transportation, culture, arts, civic leadership that hasn’t been done yet.
Though if your whole brand is based on being committed to Norfolk and making it a better place, suggesting that you don’t REALLY want to stay here is not where I’d start.
Thank you for the comment BK. I guess my point is that you can be fully committed to Norfolk without being sure that you REALLY want to stay here. I think a lot of people feel that way, and that’s fine–it just shouldn’t stop them from helping make Norfolk a better place while they are here.
Dear Hannah,
When I moved to Norfolk in July, 1979, it was to take a job in television. I was 24, and had finished my first several years out of college working in Northeast Pennsylvania, a place where my grandparents’ and their parents’ had immigrated from Ireland and Eastern Europe.It still felt like an immigrant town.
It so happened that my parents moved to Virginia Beach that summer, so I had a launching pad for my next job. But, you know what? I never thought- the way I hear you write and many people discuss- “Is this a place that meets my needs as a 20 something?” and ” Are there things here that will make me stay?” Maybe I was not deeply processing the importance of the sense of place because we moved so often as children.
I have stayed in Hampton Roads because this is where I worked, married and had my daughter, and even when I became separated and divorced, I never thought about leaving my community, with my work, social and family connections here. Sure, there are vibrant, artistic, forward moving, intllectually stimulating cities out there-great fun to visit. So much of moving for me would have to answer economic questions: Is it easier to live there? To afford a house/apartment? And where is my heart?
If you are asking these kinds of questions, it’s possible that there is another community more matched to your interests and life choices. I don’t ask these questions at this time in my life because I have done something important: Made a home here, a family, a life that I treasure. The place has some of what I love,( the restaurants, museums, concert venues,writers,waterways,trees and oh, yes- a new farm in Pungo!) but I don’t expect it to give me everything. Committing to a few things( people, organizations, visions)as you ” stand in the place where you are” – to quote Michael Stipe- is a great way to give yourself the home you want, if you want that.
That said, thumbs up! Go ahead with the Norfology Project! You are one of the people in Tidewater I most admire for speaking your truth and living it!
Agreed — Kathleen’s post is a good one. I always felt it seemed unreasonable to say that there are things I “look for” in a city when I wasn’t willing to “work for” those same things. My DC friends seem to want nightlife and fun times handed to them on a platter on move-in day. I’d much rather help bring the whole scene into existence. I’d rather have a legacy.
I’ve been here 24 years, and have seen the transformation of the area as a whole. That being said, there is a lot of untapped potential here, which is why I love the idea of Norfology. I agree with a lot of points made in the article, and some of the comments. Unfortunately, it’s a tough thing to do without offending some, especially when it wasn’t your intent. So, I suppose the question is, how do you address the issues in this area without pigeonholing the older generations?
This is all bullshit and a waste of time. It’s all smoke and mirrors.
Since you guys started, what actual change has AltDaily brought to the city?
You say that this generation needs to do something, to do better. We are doing things are we are doing better – just not in your trappings and not in the way AltDaily wants it to be.
This is not growing about growing a community garden.
Let’s paint pictures on abandoned buildings.
Let’s play kazoos on the sidewalk.
Let’s play Lebowski at the Naro.
Let’s build bike lanes, then the creative class will stay, for sure.
This is not The Parent Trap. This is not “Let’s get together yeah yeah yeah”.
Wow, that’s some real change there.
Who do you think you’re talking to?
AltDaily and Norfology are not the end-all and be-all of civic participation.
If you want to change the world, volunteer.
Keep Norfolk Beautiful. Volunteer Hampton Roads. 4Kids. Chesapeake Bay Foundation. Meals on Wheels. Soup Kitchens. Perhaps Jesse and Hannah need to practice what they preach and do those things.
Hmmm… This sounds awfully familiar in tone to the rantings of a certain former Nine Volt editor going around calling us Bush and Cheney.
Anyway, clearly this is someone we know if you’re referring to us as Jesse and Hannah, and a bias is involved. Unmask yourself, Get real!
I’m interested to hear how growing a community garden, showing art on abandoned buildings, promoting music in the streets, and having bike lanes in Norfolk aren’t impacting local culture.
Also, Art|Everywhere benefited For Kids, The Chalking of Ghent raised money for the Ronald McDonald House, we helped put on the Love For Haiti benefit with the Red Cross, we ran a contest with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and are working on partnerships with Keep Norfolk Beautiful and Hope House Foundation. We are certainly doing our part. Hope you, “Get Real,” are doing the same.
and I was afraid my rather mild comments were the reason for the recent ‘we’ve taken a lot of criticism’ FB post! Damn.
The irony of someone talking about smoke and mirrors while using a pseudonym makes me smile. And why can’t you volunteer and work at the food bank or build houses for Habitat during the day and play kazoos on the sidewalk at night? Why shouldn’t you enjoy your city while helping it?
because some dick from somewhere else with a law degree or something of that sort somewhat knows whats better for this city and the people in power have no problem giving them the athority to push those who have been keeping the culture alive, volunteering time, and trying to make norfolk happen aside. Young professionals lack the ability to observe before inforcing, i call it lack of leadership, but then they somehow become “great leaders” only because they know the right people.
Ive been very inspired by Alt Daily and all the folks that contribute to it. Ms. Serrano’s openness regarding her feelings for her city and her Choice to remain here and do something is the greatest Inspiration of all: I don’t want to have to leave to have accessable culture: I dont want to have to leave to be surrounded by creative, smart, willing-to-have- a -dialogue, people: we have extraordinary people in our communities;people of all ages that need to be and desire to be Participants. We will always need a place to express ourselves…a newspaper, online blog, abandoned buildings, and What Ever Else…I believe Alt Daily is that place. May we all heed the call and bring a spirit of Creation Participation to our communities. Thanks to everyone at Alt Daily for all that you do: I hope you never go…..
I’ve lived here for a long time and I’m torn about moving. I think it would be better for me career wise to relocate to DC or Raleigh.
I call out the area for it’s shortcomings on sites like UrbanPlanet and get hated for it a lot. I call out the real estate bubble consistently on PilotOnline and get hated on for it a bit. But no one can really counter my arguments with any facts.
There hasn’t been much real wealth transfer to the younger people in Hampton Roads. During the .com days, all the successful companies didn’t reward the younger people with real money, they rewarded them with skimpy salaries below industry average. The young people in other areas went on to start other things.
At the end of the day, it takes money. And at the end of the day, if the local young people want to honorably earn lots of money, moving somewhere else is a good first step.
Landmark is the huge power in this town. Dominion enterprises was ranked one of the worst places in the USA to work.
Thanks for the shout-out as an inspiration. I am humbled but just so you know… I am 49 and holding. I will never be older than that (at least in mind).
I hope everyone appreciates what you are doing. They may not all LIKE every bit you do, but they have to appreciate* the efforts. As I always say (and you’ve heard it from me before!), if “they” are not talking about you, then you are irrelevant. Stay relevant! Keep fighting the good fight… if you only change one mind, inspire one action or stimulate one person to engage, then you have made a difference. ~word~
* http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/appreciate
Norfolk’s problem is Richmond, Virginia Beach and Chesapeake. Richmond seems to hold a perennial grudge because we lost here in the Civil War to the Union in 1962, and then we were employed building ships. They overlook the fact that we are responsible for much of the state’s income.
So here we are in this cul de sac and hadn’t noticed that there are other ways to travel than I64. A route below the James should have been developed years ago. We have a progressive state to the south we could build with more.
We are known internationally as a military town, and that spells dullness.
And yet, Norfolk has more natural amenities than any place I can think of (it doesn’t have the hills of San Francisco). I have met many people from Virginia Beach and Chesapeake who have never been in downtown Norfolk.
How much advertising do we do at the Beach? I believe for a long time, maybe still, Norfolk was not in the Virginia Beach ad directories.
In the past, we of the older generation who tried to do things could get clobbered. One year I spent ten percent of my annual income to initiate the idea that College Place would be a good spot to start invigorating downtown. I got nasty threatening calls. The site eventually became the D’Art Center. Then TCC came. Then McArthur. But what Richard Pike had done with College Place is now gone.
Once again we have streets of endless dull condos such as on Granby and West Twenty First. Myreen7@gmail.com
Hannah, your essay was an impassioned and smart explanation of the idea behind Norfology. As a writer in the (well) over 30-year-old group, I want you to know that I admire the creativity, enthusiasm, and idealism that you and AltDaily have brought to our area. AltDaily can’t be all things to all people. The fact that people disagree with some of what you do or say, just means, as Ms. Schmidt commented, you are relevant. You’re doing fine work and making Hampton Roads a better place to be. The tone of your essay was diplomatic but honest. Keep it up, and the conversation among all the tribes — older and younger, wealthy and struggling, black and white, Norfolk and Virginia Beach — will become a dialogue that helps build a place that outsiders will envy.
MP
Norfology is about trying to buy culture. For me its also the straw breaking the camels back. If this is our best effort to bring real culture to the region then I have little hope of seeing anything grow I want to be a part of, and little hope for any real support if I strike out with my own initiatives.
The last thing we need is another young professionals network, another reason to listen to some financial analyst or real estate developer tell me all we need to do is gentrify a little bit more- and yet this is what Norfology is creating, and who its attracting.
Norfology assumes that the most militarized region on earth has a lack of structure and organization and they plan to fill the gap. The absurdity of it all being lost on the folks supporting it. Why wont young creative people come here? Because their is nothing for them to build on. Another group of social climbing networkers sharing drinks is not going to help that problem.
Personally, I would love to make something of value here but we live in a world of community and interconnectedness and that is painfully absent in Norfolk. It would be a fools errand to attempt to make something worthwhile here without any support at all. Not to imply Norfology is a fools errand, its not that well-intentioned or purposed.
If Norfology actually cared about injecting vitality into this city they would put out a call for homeless youth, lazy artists, and chronic dreamers to come here in droves… squat in our fallow warehouses and make something worth engaging.
Instead we have a call to the helplessly mediocre. An effort to plaster together other cities culture on the hollow shell of a city that is Norfolk without anything substantial for it to rest upon. Give us your overly self important, your finance majors, your MBA’s, and your desire to spend your blossoming salary on a stale new condo and a street of horrific bars in our downtown- this is the call that Norfology is putting out.
The worst part is that I dont think they mean to. I think in their minds they are hoping for something that truly is better than what I described but have no clue how to go about it. In partnering with the city who at the end of the day is primarily interested in expanding the tax base, they will end up marketing to exactly the last people this city needs if it wants to expand into something more substantial than a waylay station for our nations military.
As soon as you decided to ‘sell’ the city you lost the battle, and the fact that you praised the work Fraim has done shows such a tragic lack of understanding about city character and progressive values that I’ve lost all faith in your ability to steer this cities youth towards anything of value.
This city, believe it or not, is the result of what people wanted. This is not a tragic mistake. People voted for Norfolk at the ballot box, with their wallets, and with their investments into this city. This is the result of planning, and city building, most with your sage Paul Fraim at the helm. Following up his act will be people like Bobby Wright who graced your pages with his love of light and desire for us to become as vapid as Miami. Thats the city people are calling for- not Austins, Boulders, Nashvilles, or even Richmonds- and ALtdaily was hired by the city to help grease the rails for that future by finding the self absorbed, middle of the road, shockingly vanilla population to pay for that future.
Altdaily could be a harbinger for something better, but at the end of the day it is always about increasing your own stock I suppose.
Hi Mike,
I would have been offended by your comment if it wasn’t so clear that you care about Norfolk, and that’s why you’re writing. So thank you for caring, and thank you for caring enough to voice your thoughts.
A few clarifications and responses:
You: Norfology is about trying to buy culture. For me its also the straw breaking the camels back. If this is our best effort to bring real culture to the region then I have little hope of seeing anything grow I want to be a part of, and little hope for any real support if I strike out with my own initiatives.
Me: I think there’s been a lot of confusion between Norfology and AltDaily. I have had limited involvement with the Norfology campaign–I do the AltDaily side of things–but I’m not sure the goal of that is to create culture, no less buy it. I think the goal is to form a better community among and to empower young professionals and entrepreneurs.
Your last point in this section is kind of the point of Norfology: Ideally, something about Norfology and the associated groups and programs moves you to strike out on your own initiatives. Hopefully both Norfology and AltDaily can connect you with the people to make your dreams a reality. Norfology is step 1; What you (and y’all) do are steps 2 through 4,000.
You: The last thing we need is another young professionals network, another reason to listen to some financial analyst or real estate developer tell me all we need to do is gentrify a little bit more- and yet this is what Norfology is creating, and who its attracting.
Me: You should come to the next Norfology happy hour. At the last one there were many more artists, architects, and creatives than financial analysts and real estate developers. Trust me, the last subject of conversation in that room was which neighborhood to gentrify.
You: Norfology assumes that the most militarized region on earth has a lack of structure and organization and they plan to fill the gap. The absurdity of it all being lost on the folks supporting it. Why wont young creative people come here? Because their is nothing for them to build on. Another group of social climbing networkers sharing drinks is not going to help that problem.
Me: Again, the goal is that, through these meet-ups, real programs, businesses, and organic cultural infrastructure arise. Getting smart, ambition people in a room is a first step to that.
You: Personally, I would love to make something of value here but we live in a world of community and interconnectedness and that is painfully absent in Norfolk. It would be a fools errand to attempt to make something worthwhile here without any support at all. Not to imply Norfology is a fools errand, its not that well-intentioned or purposed.
If Norfology actually cared about injecting vitality into this city they would put out a call for homeless youth, lazy artists, and chronic dreamers to come here in droves… squat in our fallow warehouses and make something worth engaging.
Me: Man, that’s my vision! All I want to do is bring out the homeless youth, lazy artists, and chronic dreamers… And I would *love* to foster a squatter culture here (off the record, speaking just as me.) Any ideas and support you can lend toward this would be appreciated, to say the least. My email is Jesse@AltDaily.com. Let’s get a coffee/drink.
You: Instead we have a call to the helplessly mediocre. An effort to plaster together other cities culture on the hollow shell of a city that is Norfolk without anything substantial for it to rest upon. Give us your overly self important, your finance majors, your MBA’s, and your desire to spend your blossoming salary on a stale new condo and a street of horrific bars in our downtown- this is the call that Norfology is putting out.
Me: Speaking personally and behalf of AltDaily, the first order of business isn’t to attract new talent, but to keep the talent we have here. To engage them. To encourage them to put down roots. To love it here. That’s why we try to do as many fun events as we do: to simply make people happy and to give them more positive associations with this city that, to a lot of people, is something of a hollow shell culturally, as you say. (I don’t quite agree… but I remember thinking something similar when I first moved here.)
You: The worst part is that I dont think they mean to. I think in their minds they are hoping for something that truly is better than what I described but have no clue how to go about it. In partnering with the city who at the end of the day is primarily interested in expanding the tax base, they will end up marketing to exactly the last people this city needs if it wants to expand into something more substantial than a waylay station for our nations military.
Me: I don’t think this is how it will go down. We are true to ourselves and our values. But I get your fear.
You: As soon as you decided to ’sell’ the city you lost the battle, and the fact that you praised the work Fraim has done shows such a tragic lack of understanding about city character and progressive values that I’ve lost all faith in your ability to steer this cities youth towards anything of value.
Me: Have you seen what this city physically looked like 20,30 years ago? You might not believe that Fraim is the best mayor for Norfolk right now, but he certainly deserves a good amount of the credit for taking Norfolk from there to here, a city that, I believe, is on the cusp of truly great and exciting things.
You: This city, believe it or not, is the result of what people wanted. This is not a tragic mistake. People voted for Norfolk at the ballot box, with their wallets, and with their investments into this city. This is the result of planning, and city building, most with your sage Paul Fraim at the helm. Following up his act will be people like Bobby Wright who graced your pages with his love of light and desire for us to become as vapid as Miami. Thats the city people are calling for- not Austins, Boulders, Nashvilles, or even Richmonds- and ALtdaily was hired by the city to help grease the rails for that future by finding the self absorbed, middle of the road, shockingly vanilla population to pay for that future.
Me: I disagree that this is what people here want. I think Norfolk is what happens when too little of the population is engaged, when far too few people consider this home. Only like 9% of people voted in the last election, and you can safely bet that 9% was on the higher end of the class spectrum. This is not the Norfolk you would see with even triple the voting numbers. I believe that in my heart. It is my (far to large) hope that AltDaily somehow inspires more people to follow the news, get involved politically, and actually vote.
Personally, I would rather have my toes pulled out one by one than live in Miami (I spent a summer in the area, so I know it first hand.) The cities that my partners and I love are the Austins and Portlands of the world. Me turning *anywhere* more into a place like Miami–not to totally hate on it, but you get me–would literally be a deal with the devil, and I’m not that jaded yet.
And again, AltDaily was not hired; AltMarketing was. There’s a fair distinction there, though I understand how that can be confusing for people, and any lack of communication should be blamed on us.
You: Altdaily could be a harbinger for something better, but at the end of the day it is always about increasing your own stock I suppose.
Me: There is no way you will fell this way after we get our coffee/drink. It’s about community, not any one company or brand. We’ll prove you wrong.
Much love,
Jesse
The last comment pretty much summed up everything I wished to say, in a very eloquent and well constructed way. Thank you.
“To help people like me get over our wanderlust and stay.”
people like you? self-aggrandizing and selfish? there’s plenty of your kind.
your wanderlust is your problem. stop making it everyone elses and leave our city alone and go away.
You can’t call names like this and be anonymous. It’s far too cowardly and trollish.
And I don’t see how selfish makes sense, even to a senseless person’s mind.
Not cool. Its her birthday. I hope you feel shamed.
As they say, keep doing what you’ve been doing, and you’ll get what you’ve already got. I applaud the effort as one that aims to inspire new and positive thinking for an oft-jaded audience.
I think that there is a sense of connectedness in Norfolk but maybe it’s only available to long-term residents or ‘from heres’? You don’t run into the exclusionism here that smaller towns have, newcomers are welcomed and blend but there is also the old, long standing sense of family and community that I feel only here because, like Shelley’s, my family has been in this area for a long time.
I love this place. Not just Norfolk but Yorktown’s marshes and trees and hills in the fall. We have the mountains, so beautifully proximate, and the beaches of both VA and NC. We have the river, which despite pollution is still incredibly beautiful. We have some bike lanes, not enough, but the mindset is here, we just need the infrastructure. You (Jesse) live in one of the most historic and beautiful buildings in town and generations before you lived there, too.
I love the egrets and red tails and baldies. I love the otters who romp around in the water just out my back door. I love Colley Ave and Downtown, despite other people’s stated boredom with the limited perimeters/parameters.
I love that my dad takes us out every year for Night On The Town because when he was little, his mama would tell him, “Billy! Put on your best clothes. We’re going to town,” and in the early 1930’s that meant Downtown Norfolk, Granby Street. I love that I remember eating lunch with my Dad at the old Smith and Welton, currently inside TCC, and watching the blue hairs eat their Piquant Cheese sandwiches and gossip. I remember Santa Claus in the basement.
My great grandfather came here during the Civil War, destitute. He came from an Eastern Shore plantation. He ran blockade and started a shipyard with his brother and a horse. He started a legacy and my family is still carrying that forward.
I think that old places have spirit that new places don’t. Sometimes that spirit is a little fucked up, a little smudged. But Norfolk has been here, abiding, through the Revolutionary and Civil Wars and both them came here. Right here.
I think that memory is one thing that makes Norfolk precious and so many people come here from elsewhere that our local culture is dissolved in the transient/new comer culture, especially if you aren’t aware of our local cultural memories or if you’re not part of/privy to them.
I get tired of the jaded assholes that just want to argue and spread bitterness and angst. Where’s the love man? You can’t find joy if you aren’t spreading any. This is part of the reason why I’m a constant reader: You are spreading the love. You are asking intelligent questions and answering without defensiveness and with an open mind.
Anyway, sorry for going off on my Local Love Rant but really? When I stand in my back yard, breathing the Elizabeth River air, I am at home, there is no other place on earth where the dirt feels like my dirt, where the particular scents are mine. The breeze coming down the river and ruffling my horse’s manes and my daughter’s long hair is the same breeze that I grew up feeling. A sense of connection has to grow, you can’t force it. It comes of sending down those roots and putting out the shoots that will make a strong and centered Norfolk.
Obviously I am a romantic dreamer who sees everything in shades of pink but I know a few things that many of you don’t. If you want community you have to be committed. You cannot waffle and constantly look elsewhere for something better and that in spite of it’s flaws, this place is awesome.
Tina
Whew. This thread is intense.
Criticism as a discussion is useful, but I can’t figure out how the weird name calling encourages any kind of useful progression.
I think when it comes to AltDaily, I’ve lived in a lot of cities without something like it. I’d rather be here than there.
The venom of nameless critics is neither constructive nor of any merit.
Regardless of apathy or argument to their methods or perceived “agenda”, the editors and contributors of this site have a genuine passion for making this place better.
To fault them for that is… well… for lack of a more eloquent phrase… just plain bullshit.
– Bush/Cheney in ’10! –
Eloquently said as always, Hannah. Keep up the good work.
Chris