October 2016 - The Young Professional

Vision-Poll-Banner — 2016 Vision Poll Results

October 20, 2016

Alejandro J. Medina

2016 Vision Poll Results

Young Professionals Desire a United Region in Their Vision for the Future of Hampton Roads

tHRive, the young professionals organization of the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce, conducted a poll of its members this month to gain an understanding of how Millennials view the future of Hampton Roads. The survey focused on Millennials’ vision for Hampton Roads through the year 2040. The eight question poll was distributed via email and social media to tHRive’s membership of over 1,300 young professionals who live and work in Hampton Roads.
According to survey results, young professionals believe that regionalism is one of the most important issues facing the future of Hampton Roads. However, more than 90% of respondents indicated that they do not believe Hampton Roads will have a centralized government by 2040. Additionally, 78% of those polled do not believe that having one centralized downtown is in the region’s future and only 13.6% of respondents feel that a centralized airport is a critical issue for the region. This shows that while Millennials want to unite as a region, they are concerned about the current direction of Hampton Roads. Although regionalism remains a key concern for survey respondents, the poll also showed Millennials are largely indifferent about rebranding the Hampton Roads region as only 42.3% believe the region will be rebranded. This demonstrates the fact that Millennials believe the greatest impact to the region would be uniting the seven cities in action rather than worrying about its name. “Instead of going back and forth about the name of the region based on individual city agendas, we need to unite as ‘Hampton Roads’ and start showing up on the map because of the difference we are making in the world,” commented Alejandro J. Medina, who serves as tHRive‘s Chair of Branding and is an Architect with Clark Nexsen. The millennial oriented young professional organization took a stance on the name of the region by incorporating a capital ‘HR’ for Hampton Roads in their name tHRive.
Among tHRive‘s respondents surveyed, improving the local transit system will be the most critical component to the progress of the region. Survey results show that young professionals believe a better transit system between all cities (59.6%) and an improved vehicular transit and tunnel system (41.8% of respondents) are the most critical issues affecting the quality of life in the region.
As the most educated generation yet, Millennials value schools. This is evident by better schools being the third most important issue in the region after a public transit and private transit (40.0%). However it should be noted that only 10.8% of respondent believe that by the year 2040 the region will progress in educational competitiveness.
An overwhelming 94% of Millennials polled believe that the military will continue to be a critical part of the regional economy in the future. Survey respondents also indicated that they feel technology (35% of respondents) and connectivity (30% of respondents) will be vital to our economic competitiveness over the next 25 years. Survey results also showed that Millennials believe that a professional sports team will be attracted to the region (58.2%).
These survey results demonstrate that young professionals care about the future of our region. tHRive will be working on the key issues outlined in the results of this poll that are critical to young professionals and the growth of the region. Hampton Roads has the opportunity to tap into the local young professional force to help drive the future strategy for our region. Please contact us at info@YPtHRive.org to inquire further about the poll questions and results.

October 10, 2016

Alejandro J. Medina

IMPACT Talk: Vision

IMPACT Talk Recap on the Norfolk and Virginia Beach Vision Planning

Over 80 professionals gathered for tHRive’s IMPACT Talk “A Look Into the Future with Norfolk and Virginia Beach Vision Planning” on October 4th from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm at Clark Nexsen. The group drew a wide range of attendees from different fields of expertise and several generations of professionals.
Cindy Arocho and Peggy Layne from Envision Virginia Beach 2040, Mel Price and Joe LaFond from Re:Vision Norfolk and Joash Schulman and John Martin from VB CONNEX presented their comprehensive visions that will shape the region and emphasized how millennials play a pivotal role in realizing that future.

Arocho and Layne shared Envision Virginia Beach 2040’s four bold steps that provide clarity and direction to move toward the city’s desired future. The steps include regionalism, increasing the level of commitment and investing in early childhood education, multi-modal transportation connecting the region, establishing an ongoing ‘Vision to Action Citizen Coalition’ to monitor and measure City Council’s planning and implementation of the community vision. They encouraged Millennials to engage by attending their public meetings the second Friday of each month from 9:00 am to 11:00 am in the Strategic Growth Area Office at Town Center.

Price and Lafond of Re:Vision Norfolk focused on the importance of placemaking, which involves creating public spaces that promote people’s health, happiness, and well-being along with connecting living, working and social places. They cited many successful stories of this happening across the country and the benefits the communities have seen in their economy and the well-being of their residents. They claim the guiding principles for placemaking are activity, connectivity and sustainability. They also updated the attendees on the Friends of the Elizabeth River Trail Foundation and how the trail system would increase property values and tax base. They included information on how employers are demanding these amenities.

Schulman and Martin of VB Connex provided further insight into the transportation discussion with a focus on the current opportunity of connecting light rail in the region. They provided facts on how light rail is a proven success in other markets such as Charlotte, Denver, and Minneapolis amongst others. Light rail extension as part of Hampton Roads Regional 21^st Century Transportation Plan was a central theme of their presentation. They encouraged tHRive members to know the facts behind the light rail extension and urged those who reside in Virginia Beach to “vote yes” on November 8th for the extension to Virginia Beach Town Center.

The common theme of the evening that was echoed through all presentations was the need for a reliable, connected multi-modal transportation system. tHRive polled its members in March and found that 92.5% of young professionals are in favor of the Virginia Beach light rail extension. In another recent poll tHRive conducted, 59.6% of Millennials believe public transportation is the most important issue for the progress of the region.

The IMPACT Talk culminated with an engaging question and answer panel discussion and one-on-one networking with the attendees.

tHRive would like to extend a huge thank you to Clark Nexsen for hosting the event.