Tomorrow should be a fun day for those of us oddly obsessed with the future of this far-too-holy port town they call Norfolk, Virginia.

The City Council is going to be presented with five visions for the future of that sad lady in blue, Waterside. It’s happening at 4:30pm, open to the public, democracy fueled city planning in the flesh. I’ll be there, live tweeting the proceedings as they unfold if you can’t make it.

While no decisions are likely to be made tomorrow–the City will need to negotiate with the favorite developer(s)–we should get some clues as to whether Norfolk will choose one of the safer plans featuring a bum rush of national chains, or a more daring vision that reshapes the city right underneath our feet.

In any case, a beer on the house to City Manager Marcus Jones for opting to make the proposals public before the final decision has been made. (This wasn’t the plan originally, as I yapped about here.) While this probably makes the process messier from a negotiating perspective, F it. Government is messy. Business is messy. We’re adults. We all can handle it.

Transparency is the future, and we’re moving toward it.

II. Onto the AltDaily stories from the past week or so

Evan Burgoon: Homecoming | Virginia Beach, VA | from the series: Homeland Security | 12.18.2007

art

Friday Featured Artist: Rich-Joseph Facun

maurice jones living in g’s

Political Cartoon: The Maurice Jones Cash Machine

Op-ed: In Spite of the Maurice Joneses & Frank Batten Jrs. of the World, Journalism Will Survive

community / local non-profits

Snapshots & Sketches: Walt Taylor’s Wondrous World

Hope Machine: Inside Hope House Foundation

transit

Tracking HRT Buses in Real Time: Let’s Make a Transit API

Op-ed: Train from NFK to Richmond Best Local News All Year

laura watkins will be a future best seller or nationally syndicated columnist and you need to read this right now because she might just be the future of the written word, at least in english

Survival of the Spinster: When Your Ex Gets Hitched

politics

Op-ed: The VA Law Changes that Would Most Positively Affect the GLBT Community

Op-ed: The Waterside Proposals Should be Made Public

Latest from Richmond: Bills Would Repeal HPV Vaccine Requirement

Op-ed: McDonnell as Mitt’s VP? Only if State Republicans Don’t Stop Him

Latest from Richmond: Governor Wants to Keep Ban on Uranium Mining

Latest from Richmond: Bills Would Allow Deadly Force Against Intruders

living

12 Ways to Rebound from Broken Health Resolutions

III. This week on AltDaily…

There’s going to be a raw tonnage of good words. To be safe check the site four or five times a day.

IV. Shout-out to new advertisers

Hannah tells me that Belmont is with us now. We love that place. If you haven’t seen a show there yet, that’s on you, kid (as the kids might still say). Momma Birch has an ear for music, indeed.

Norfolk Restaurant Week is right about now. Deliciousness and good deals abound.

I’ve checked out the art being presented and discussed at Conversation Starters: Sign of the Times (Norfolk circa 1960) on Thursday. Very, very cool stuff, especially if you like old Norfolk and good art.

A new opera opens on Saturday, if you’re looking for a straight infusion of high-yet-accessible-culture.

Finally there’s Norfolk K9 Academy. Lisa Rapacki is leading a revolution in dog obedience. Hide your mongrels.

V. A most special congratulations

To our very own Logan Taylor, whose dream came true today when her yoga studio, Satya Yoga Norfolk, opened in Freemason (around the corner from the Y). It’s a bit of a sacred space.

Om, shanti shanti.

VI. Local talent deserving of the change in your pocket and more:

Check out Chesapeake’s Bison’s kickstarter.

VII. Finally…

Did we mention that we haven’t figured out how to sustain off advertising revenue and that we’re not going to make it without your help? Well, that’s true. If you want to see us survive –> thrive, give a little.