Why Act Regionally?

Destiny
Hampton Roads is a single, interconnected metropolitan region, with a shared destiny, held together by a complex web of business and personal relationships. When something good or bad happens in one community its impacts are quickly felt around the region. Think of throwing a rock into a still pond. The effects of that rock ripples through the pond in waves of concentric circles with the greater impacts closer to the point of impact.  In this metaphor, as in real life, the region ends at that point where the ripple becomes imperceptible.

A recent, real world example is the Ford plant closing. The largest, most immediate impacts will be felt in the City of Norfolk where the plant is located. However, the effects are quite significant in neighboring Virginia Beach, Chesapeake and other communities where employees and suppliers reside. The impacts are even quite severe on the Peninsula where it’s estimated some 639 jobs will be lost.


Another, more positive, example of this interdependence is the impact of the Port of Hampton Roads on the region’s economy. There are three state run port facilities in Norfolk, Portsmouth and Newport News. In addition, there are coal facilities in Norfolk and Newport News and a new private port facility currently under construction in Portsmouth. Despite this concentration, the economic benefits of the port are distributed well beyond these three localities.

Though the majority of port employees work in Norfolk, Virginia Beach is the locality that benefits most in terms of jobs, payroll and taxes - followed closely by Newport News.  Moreover, given current projections, an additional 20-60 million square feet of distribution center space will be needed to satisfy port growth. These facilities, which generate jobs, capital investment and taxes will further spread port benefits to the western Hampton Roads communities along the Route 58 and 460 corridors.

These are but two examples of how our region, which shares a long and rich common history, dating back 400 years to the landing at Cape Henry, also shares a common destiny.

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