Regentrification Still Not Happening in Hampton
People with expendable incomes have been moving out of the City of Hampton at an average rate of 33 households per day since 1988, however, the city still has not reached an apex of crime and danger that warrants significant regentrification. Hampton Mayor, Molly Ward hopes that adding a P.F. Changs and a Cheesecake Factory to the slowly revitalized Coliseum area will help. “Hampton is a very central and inexpensive place to live in Hampton Roads with a number of assets like our beaches, crabs and proximity to the bridge tunnel… We’re taking many steps to try and attract younger Caucasian residents by offering free Wi-Fi and forcing bars to serve PBR and Blue Moon”, says Ward. “We have several Starbucks and a new Barnes & Noble now as well”. The Hampton Barnes & Noble location is the nation’s top B&N store for newborn baby literature and rapper biography sales in the U.S. according to The Consumer Report Advocate.
Local Thug, William “Tron” Jackson says of the movement: “These streets are ours son! If they wanna bring in a bunch of crackers, just know that we (will) be the ones who was here first!”. Tron isn’t alone in his concern over the Hampton turf. City Councilman, Paige Washington Jr. disagrees with trying to attract youthful white residents. “The thinking is that this will help our economy somehow, but let me ask you this… What white people do you know who shop at Fine’s Clothing, Bottom Dollar and AJ Wright?, That’s what I thought.” New Hampton resident Clay Burton thinks Washington may have a good point. “I only moved to Hampton because it’s close to where I work on Langley Air Force Base, I do all my shopping in Oyster Point or downtown Norfolk, especially since my Schwan’s guy got murdered in front of my house“, said Burton.
Still, Hampton continues to make efforts to attract a younger, whiter demographic. Earlier this summer, the Hampton Jazz Festival added singer Joss Stone to the bill. Although Stone put on a very good performance, she was not received well and got booed off the stage and later shot in the leg in the Denny’s parking lot on Mercury Blvd. Angela Davis, a maternity ward nurse at Hampton’s Sentera General Hospital commented that “there are tons of young Caucasian women in Hampton… I see them every day. They just seem to have very big asses and a bunch of children”. “A lot of them talk like they’re from New York, Davis added.
The current consensus is that the city’s regentrification plan is still not working. Mayor Ward plans to speed up the process next year by possibly adding a Hybrid dealership, a Trader Joes, an independent music venue and instituting something she calls “the black tax”, which has many civil rights groups up in arms.
