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By Philip Walzer The Virginian-Pilot May 18, 2012 NORFOLK "All these blues should have yellows on them, guys," WillChristopher told his table mates while locking Legos Thursdaymorning. The exercise was far from child's play. Christopher, a Norfolk consultant, was among nearly 300 businessand civic leaders from Isle of Wight County to Chesapeake whotinkered with brightly colored Legos and strands of string. The object wasn't to create pretty designs, but to plot - on a mapof Hampton Roads without city lines - a way to house, employ andtransport the 350,000 additional residents the region's plannersexpect by 2035. The half-day event, at Old Dominion University's Ted ConstantConvocation Center, was the latest in the "Reality Check"series, sponsored by the Urban Land Institute in such areas asTampa, Fla., and North Carolina's Research Triangle. The goal: to encourage dialogue and deliberation about thechallenges ahead. Tabulators of the results Thursday said the most common theme wasthe need for multiple modes of transportation, several extending tothe Peninsula. That's what the string was for - orange for roads, green for masstransit. "I liked how a lot of the orange string turned to greenstring" as the 30 groups developed their blueprints, saidRobbyn Gayer, a financial adviser with UBS in Norfolk. Some stretched the light-rail line not only to Norfolk NavalStation and the Virginia Beach Oceanfront, but also to Suffolk.Thomas G. Johnson III, senior vice president at S.L. Nusbaum RealtyCo. in Norfolk, envisioned a series of trolley loops linking withlight-rail stations. As for the Legos, yellow meant a place to live, blue a place towork. Christopher's point - the need to join blue and yellow Legos - wasmade at another table, too, by former Norfolk City Councilman RandyWright: "You have thousands of jobs here, but if you don'thave any residences, it's not going to work." Participants tended to concentrate much of the employment andhousing growth along transportation corridors, such as Interstate264, some in clumps in downtown Norfolk and Virginia Beach's TownCenter. Other common themes included preserving green space, providingaffordable housing and maintaining a strong relationship with themilitary. Participants cited factors like cost and complacency as impedimentsto progress. Susan Hirschbiel, a philanthropist and civic activistfrom Virginia Beach, complained of the region's "aversion toraising any type of revenue." Others wondered whetherpoliticians could escape a city-first mentality. The Hampton Roads Planning District Commission plans to issue areport on the event later this year. Old Dominion's E.V. WilliamsCenter for Real Estate and Economic Development will continueresearch, serving as a conduit for citizens and public and privategroups. Some attendees said they, too, had a responsibility to continuelobbying for their priorities. "We can have all the 'Reality Checks' we want," said DanaDickens, a former mayor of Suffolk who is president and CEO of theHampton Roads Partnership, an organization advocating regionalcooperation. "If we don't take it to the next step and get itimplemented, we've wasted a great opportunity." Philip Walzer, 757-222-3864,phil.walzer@pilotonline.com. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as GPRS Mobile Phone Manufacturer , 7 Inch Android Tablet PC for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Flip Model Mobile Phones.
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