re: #66 Targetpractice

One of the things I’ve learned working in a hotel is that guests from outside the state are always amazed when I tell them that VB (and really, Hampton Roads in general) is not a traditional county as they think of them. The whole of what the state considers “Virginia Beach” is really a conglomeration of small unincorporated towns that came together and decided to declare themselves a “city” for the purposes of avoiding annexation by neighboring “cities.” Hell, even today, most of what is considered part of the “city” is swamps and farms, because we dare not let Norfolk lay claim to any of it.

When I was there, they still had the so-called Green Line, below which you could not intensively develop, to preserve the agricultural character of the former Princess Anne County.

When my mother was stationed at NAS Norfolk, Va Beach was a dinky little town of about five thousand. She came to visit me while I was stationed there and couldn’t believe what had happened.