Norfolk

Norfolk, Viriginia 

The American state of Virginia contains Norfolk, an independent city. It was founded in 1705, and as of the 2020 census, it had a population of 238,005, making it the 94th-largest city in the country and the third-most populated city in Virginia, behind Chesapeake and adjacent Virginia Beach. 

As the historical, urban, financial, and cultural hub of the Hampton Roads region, which has more than 1.8 million residents and ranks as the thirty-third biggest MSA in the US, Norfolk has a crucial position. The Hampton Roads area is sometimes referred to as "Tidewater" and "Coastal Virginia"/"COVA," but these are more general designations that also include Virginia's Eastern Shore and the entire coastal plain. Officially recognized as Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC MSA. The region of Hampton Roads, which takes its name from the natural harbor at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, comprises ten cities, including Norfolk, seven Virginia counties, and two North Carolina counties. 

The city shares land borders with the separate cities of Chesapeake to the south and Virginia Beach to the east. It is bordered on the west by the Elizabeth River and on the north by the Chesapeake Bay. Norfolk offers miles of riverfront and bayfront property, including beaches on the Chesapeake Bay, with shoreline along numerous bodies of water. 

The economy depends on the coastal regions. Along with one of NATO's two Strategic Command headquarters, Naval Station Norfolk, the largest naval installation in the world, is situated in Norfolk. Norfolk also makes a significant contribution to the Port of Virginia. Maersk Line, Limited, which oversees the largest fleet of US-flagged ships in the world, is based there. With water levels predicted to climb by more than 5.5 feet by the end of the twenty-first century, this low-lying coastal infrastructure is extremely susceptible to sea level rise. 

The city has a long history of serving as a key military and transportation hub and the starting point for numerous railroad lines. A vast network of interstate highways, bridges, tunnels, and three bridge-tunnel complexes connect it to its neighbors. 

Geography 

The city is situated at the confluence of the Elizabeth River and the Chesapeake Bay in the southeast corner of Virginia. With an estimated population of 1,716,624 in 2014, the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC MSA, the official name of the Hampton Roads MSA, is the 37th biggest in the US. Along with the North Carolina counties of Currituck and Gates, the region also includes the Virginia cities of Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Poquoson, Portsmouth, Suffolk, and Williamsburg, as well as the counties of Gloucester, Isle of Wight, James City, Mathews, and York. The Virginia Beach oceanfront resort zone and Williamsburg are predominantly tourist destinations, but the city of Norfolk is acknowledged as the region's primary business district. Although it operates more like a suburb, Virginia Beach is the city with the highest population within the MSA. In addition, Norfolk is a part of the Elizabeth City, North Carolina Micropolitan Statistical Area, the Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina Micropolitan Statistical Area, and the Virginia Beach-Norfolk, VA-NC Combined Statistical Area. With a projected population of 1,810,266 in 2013, the CSA is the 32nd largest in the country. 

In addition to miles of bayfront resort property, Norfolk also features beaches in the Willoughby Spit and Ocean View neighborhoods. 

Norfolk is particularly vulnerable to increasing sea levels brought on by climate change because it is low-lying and nearly completely encircled by water. Additionally, the soil on which it is constructed is gradually sinking. Some places already experience frequent flooding during high tide, and the city commissioned a study in 2012 to look into future solutions; it found that the cost of preparing for a one-foot sea level rise would be roughly $1,000,000,000. Since then, researchers at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science have predicted that the sea level in Norfolk will increase by at least 5 and 1/2 feet by the end of this century if current trends continue. 

Climate 

The narrative that follows is based on climatic data from the years 1991 to 2020. The USDA Hardiness Zone for Norfolk is 8a, meaning it has a humid subtropical climate. With moderate days and cool nights, spring arrives in March. By late May, the temperature has significantly risen to signal the start of the scorching summer months. The adjacent Atlantic Ocean frequently has a minor cooling influence on daytime high temperatures but a slight warming effect on nighttime low temperatures during the persistently warm and humid summers (compared to areas farther inland). As a result, temperatures average 90 °F (32 °C) or higher 35 days a year, while 100 °F (37.8 °C) is a rare temperature, occurring less than one-third of the time. The warmest month is often July, with a typical mean temperature of 81.1 °F (27.3 °C). The wettest months are often July and August because of the high frequency of summer thunderstorm activity. Due to the increasing frequency of tropical activity (hurricanes and tropical storms), which can bring strong winds and heavy rains, rainfall in August and September remains high. The most dangerous time frame is from the middle of August to the end of September; they typically scrape Norfolk but seldom make landfall in the region. Cooler nights and mild to warm days characterize fall. Norfolk typically experiences warm winters, with lows around or just above freezing and highs in the upper 40s to mid 50s (8 to 13 °C). With an usual mean temperature of 42.2 °F (5.7 °C), January typically has the lowest temperatures of the year. Rarely does it snow, and the average winter amount is 6.2 inches (15.7 cm). The highest temperature ever recorded in Norfolk was 105 °F (41 °C) on August 7, 1918, and the lowest temperature ever recorded was 3 °F (19 °C) on January 21, 1985. 

Economy 

It can be challenging to distinguish Norfolk's economic traits from those of the region as a whole because Norfolk serves as the commercial, cultural, and political hub for the unique geographical region of Hampton Roads. 

The nearly entirely encircling waterways of the Hampton Roads area contribute significantly to the local economy. Its protected deep-water channels provide as a key commercial route for the import and export of products from throughout the Mid-Atlantic, the Mid-West, and worldwide thanks to its strategic location at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. 

In addition to its commercial activity, Norfolk is home to Naval Station Norfolk, the largest naval station in the world, and Hampton Roads is a significant military hub, particularly for the US Navy. The station is the administrative center for the United States Fleet Forces Command, formerly known as the Atlantic Fleet, which consists of more than 62,000 active duty people, 75 ships, and 132 aircraft. It is situated on the Sewell's Point Peninsula in the northwest part of the city. Additionally, the site houses the Allied Command Transformation headquarters of NATO. 

Additionally, the area is crucial to the defense industry, with Norfolk's shipbuilding and ship repair industries receiving special attention. The US Navy's Norfolk Naval Shipyard is located directly across the Downtown Tunnel in Portsmouth, while other significant private shipyards in Norfolk or the Hampton Roads region include Huntington Ingalls Industries (formerly Northrop Grumman Newport News) in Newport News, BAE Systems Norfolk Ship Repair, General Dynamics NASSCO Norfolk, and Colonna's Shipyard Inc. Although some private commercial repair is also performed, the Navy is the primary client of these shipyards. Defense spending accounts for more than 35% of the Gross Regional Product (which covers the whole Norfolk-Newport News-Virginia Beach MSA) and has contributed to 75% of all regional growth since 2001. 

Based on economic impact, the cargo ports in the area are Hampton Roads and Norfolk's second-largest and most significant industry after the military. The Virginia Port Authority (VPA), which has its headquarters in Norfolk, is a corporation owned by the Commonwealth of Virginia. It also owns and manages three significant port facilities in Hampton Roads for break-bulk and container-type goods. The largest and fastest container cranes in the world are housed at Norfolk International Terminals (NIT), one of the three facilities. After the Port of New York and New Jersey, the three terminals of the VPA collectively handled over 2 million TEUs and 475,000 tons of breakbulk cargo in 2006, making it the second busiest port on the east coast of North America by total cargo volume. 

Along with NIT, Norfolk is home to Lambert's Terminal Docks, which has an annual throughput of over 48,000,000 tons and is the largest coal trans-shipment point in the Northern Hemisphere. The Appalachian Mountains in western Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky are the main source of bituminous coal. The coal is placed onto railways and transported to the port, where it is discharged onto sizable breakbulk freight vessels bound for New England, Europe, and Asia. 

Ford Motor Company ran Norfolk Assembly, a factory on the Elizabeth River that built the Model-T, sedans, and station wagons before producing F-150 pickup trucks, from 1925 to 2007. More than 2,600 people worked at the 2,800,000-square-foot (260,000-m2) plant when it shut down. 

With some mix of sales, distribution, and/or logistical offices, the majority of major shipping lines have a consistent presence in the area, many of which are situated in Norfolk. Additionally, Norfolk serves as the North American headquarters for many of the biggest international shipping firms. These businesses either have buildings in the Lake Wright Executive Center office park or are housed in the Norfolk World Trade Center building. The North American headquarters of the largest shipping company in the world, A. P. Moller-Maersk Group, as well as the French company CMA CGM, the Israeli company Zim Integrated Shipping Services, and Maersk Line Limited all have offices in Norfolk. Norfolk Southern, Landmark Communications, Dominion Enterprises, FHC Health Systems (parent company of ValueOptions), Portfolio Recovery Associates, and BlackHawk Products Group are significant corporations with their corporate headquarters in Norfolk. 

Although Williamsburg and Virginia Beach have historically been the region's tourism hubs, downtown Norfolk's revitalization and the addition of a cruise ship terminal at the base of Nauticus have made tourism a more significant component of the city's economy. In 2003, there were 50,000 cruise ship visitors to Norfolk; in 2004 and 2005, there were 107,000. Alongside the pier, the city finished building a state-of-the-art cruise ship terminal for $36 million in April 2007. Passenger counts decreased to 70,000 in 2006 as a result of this construction, but are predicted to increase to 90,000 in 2007 and higher in subsequent years. The downtown site of Norfolk's cruise ship terminal has garnered positive reviews from both tourists and the cruise lines who enjoy its proximity to the city's hotels, restaurants, shopping, and cultural activities, in contrast to most cruise ship terminals that are located in industrial regions. 

Four Fortune 500 firms have their headquarters in Hampton Roads. These four businesses, which are based in Smithfield, Norfolk, Chesapeake, and Newport News, represent the food sector, transportation, retail, and shipbuilding. 

The Norfolk Tides play baseball in the International League and the Norfolk Admirals play ice hockey in the ECHL, making Norfolk the home of Virginia's two top professional teams. 

The Old Dominion Monarchs and the Norfolk State University Spartans, two Division I universities in Norfolk, provide a variety of sports, such as football, basketball, and baseball. 

Along with Hampton, Richmond, and Roanoke, Norfolk served as the Virginia Squires regional professional basketball team of the now-defunct American Basketball Association's home court from 1970 to 1976. (ABA). The Squires played their home games against Norfolk at the Old Dominion University Fieldhouse in 1970 and 1971. The Squires began hosting their home games in Norfolk in November 1971 and did so through May 1976, when both the team and the ABA league dissolved. 

In the northern part of the city, Norfolk constructed an entertainment and sports complex in 1971 that includes Chrysler Hall and the 13,800-seat Norfolk Scope indoor arena. The American Basketball Association All-Star Game and the first and second NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championships, generally known as the Women's Final Four, both took place at Norfolk Scope in 1974 and 1982, respectively. 

The Norfolk Blues Rugby Football Club is based in Norfolk. 

From the 1960s to the present, wrestling programs have been staged in Norfolk Arena and the Scope by National Wrestling Alliance, Jim Crockett Promotions, World Championship Wrestling, and World Wrestling Entertainment, with many of these being Pay Per View events. Lou Thesz, a six-time world heavyweight champion, founded Virginia Wrestling Academy in the city's center in 1988 while residing in Norfolk. 

Population 

Virginia's Virginia Beach City County contains the city of Norfolk. With a projected population of 236,565, it will rank as the 99th-largest city in the country and the fourth-largest in Virginia. The population of Norfolk has declined by -0.61% from the most recent census, which showed a population of 238,005 in 2020, and is now falling at a pace of -0.2% annually. With a length of over 96 miles, Norfolk has 4,440 residents per square mile. 

With a 19.09% poverty rate, the average household income in Norfolk is $72,315. The median monthly cost of rent in recent years has been, and the median value of a home is. In Norfolk, the median age is 30.8 years, with men being on average 29.1 years old and women 33.3 years old. 

The Hampton Roads metropolitan region, which consists of nine cities and seven counties overall, includes Norfolk. It is a hub of history, culture, and finance and one of the oldest cities in the area. 

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