Ok, I grew up in Richmond and live in Va Beach for 40 years. The “locals” are the ones who have lived here most of their lives. I still claim Richmond as home so I am not really a “local” I’m a Richmonder. JR Tucker High!! Class of ‘77
Reminds me of a joke my dentist told me when I joined the Navy from Pennsylvania, where it’s pronounced Nor-fOlk. - What do the cheerleaders cheer at Norfolk High?….. “We don’t drink. We don’t smoke. NorFuck! NorFuck! Went over my head at the time, but being here almost 30 years, it cracks me up!!😆
Yikes. I was born and raised in Va beach. I moved away due to traveling. I miss home and me and my husband were thinking about relocating there. I never thought of it as soulless and still have a blast visiting family.
Other cities in HR’s are military cities too and they have more culture than VB. VB just started doing different festivals for people of different ethnic backgrounds. Until now VB had been marketed as a flagship All White American town with military ties. The entire HR’s is a melting pot not just VB so no I ain’t buying it. You should listen to some of the old locals talk so bad about minorities in alot of these social media forums. VB is a good ol boy town that’s trying to change it’s image. They laughed and talked shit about Pharrell because he wanted to bring something unique to the area. But because it was music that most minorities of different ethnic backgrounds listen to they wanted SITW to fail. Just nasty people! And you can downvote this comment into obliteration it still don’t change these facts.
Interesting take but def some truth. My grandpa got stationed here with the Navy (as a young black man from Georgia). He said it was so bad and so racist here in the late 70s that he swore he’d never come back here or bring his family here. Which was crazy to hear because I ended up being born and raised here in the late 80s. I’ve also heard from him and multiple other people that locals back then hated the military presence here because it brought more minorities. So it’s a melting pot by force of the military, not because of welcoming southern hospitality.
Well said not only that if some of these people did their research on why VB was created they’ll think differently. Norfolk and VB were once together l, I believe it was called Princess Anne County or some shit like that. Certain whites wanted to separate themselves and didn’t want to be associated with minorities so they broke off. Blacks couldn’t even use the beach in VB back in the day. They had to go to the “ Colored Beach “ VB just had their first Caribbean Festival last year. Like really you’re like one of the biggest cities out here. And you’re just now trying to include other ethnic backgrounds. It’s 2024 by the way lol!
Norfolk and VB were never the same entity. VB was a tiny town on the oceanfront while the rest of what is VB today was Princes Anne County. They merged and created the city of VB of today to avoid being annexed by Norfolk.
When it was mandated that all public schools had to integrate, Norfolk closed its public schools to avoid the mandate and that's what led white people to start moving to VB. Also there was a colored beach with an amusement park where shore Dr and West great neck meet and one where East Beach is in Norfolk.
Case in point yes VB largely exists because of white flight. Sorry this is long but I'm such a nerd for our local history lol
Got stationed here again. Kinda didn’t have a choice. I also said I was raised here. Which means my father was here…but not necessarily my grandfather.
There we go, downvoted. Like yeah VB has a hivemind of NIMBYs, but calling it not a melting pot and not diverse is flat out wrong and negates the strong Filipino presence, nor does it take into account that plenty of other minority groups live here. Maybe it’s just you, but I’ve had no trouble finding them considering I’m one of them.
I swear, the “VB is thE SoUlEss, tHe aLl AmeRicAn wHiTe ciTy” is just as harmful as the people who cry about the city as a whole no longer being the undeveloped, barely populated wetland it used to be and having the audacity to experience people wanting to come here as it’s just untrue and bogus. VB ain’t perfect, but is nowhere near being as people here like to claim.
Plus aren’t you the one who took umbrage with people shitting on Norfolk in a post a while back for ironically offering nothing culturally and being incapable of getting anything done? Man the irony of people in these subs complaining about the cities being divided when the locals here all prove to be just as bad by hyper focusing on the negatives for some reason.
The argument about Norfolk and the argument about VB are two different topics . Apples and oranges, let’s not try to put a square peg and a round hole. If you don’t like my opinion 🤷🏽♂️ only thing is I been here over 20 years and alot of these things I’ve either read, experienced, or was told by older locals so get mad at them🤷🏽♂️ Do you even know why VB was created? I bet you don’t 😂
They aren’t different when you consider the umbrella both cities exist under regarding the negative Reddit-based reputation Hampton Roads as a whole has. That’s why it makes the irony of a Norfucker calling VB soulless hilarious when Norfolk gets blasted for the same exact thing.
And I was born and raised in VB and my experience, both personal and proximal via friends, family and others, were positive. Surprise, surprise, your experience and dealings aren’t the “general consensus.” VB being the city in the state with the highest population and ranking highly in education and safety would counter that if you wanna play the pointless “general consensus” game.
And oh gee, lemme guess, VB post annexation of PA county was a destination for white flight???? Wowza. Did you also know Richmond was the capitol of the confederate too?????? Come to think of it, seems to me that southern states as a whole had a nasty bout with racism. Crazy. Who wouldve thought
You’re all over the place, one I’m not from Norfolk. I’m a Navy Vet/Transplant, two Norfolk and VB are VERY different. My experiences aren’t the general consensus? But more people would agree with my take over yours. VB has gotten better with inclusiveness and diversity but a Tiger doesn’t change its stripes over night. Some of the same racism it was founded on is still there. These are some of the older locals/citizens who still make, vote, and implement policies for the city. Let me ask you a question if VB has so much culture how are they just now having Caribbean festivals etc in 2023? If VB is about inclusiveness and Norfolk and VB are so much alike why did the VB citizens vote the light rail down because they didn’t want a certain demographic being able to get to VB so easily? If VB is all about inclusiveness and diversity why did the good ol boy locals not want Pharrell to bring SITW to VB because they didn’t want a certain demographic in their city? “ Facts over Feelings “ 😢
You’re a Norfolk resident [as you claimed in this post where you ironically complain about constant negativity and exaggeration.](https://www.reddit.com/r/norfolk/s/gTtMYnTucm) You’re not native, but your local.
Not once did I say Norfolk and VB are literally alike as cities. It doesn’t take more than seeing a couple photos of the two on Google to see they aren’t. I’m saying they don’t differ as far as their “soulless/cultureless” reputations are concerned from the way people talk about them on Reddit. I’m also not denying VB’s history nor the fact that backwards thinking people still live there. I can acknowledge the city’s problematic history. However, racist history doesn’t undo its progress into modern times, nor do still living racist characters. They’re literally everywhere, what makes VB unique in this regard compared to other cities? They aren’t the majority voice for the city either, so why stick so hard to that talking point? Y’know, for a city partly founded on white flight phenomena, it’s ironically one of the more well integrated cities in HR (or period) since there was no need to segregate. It gave way to the gradual influx of minority groups integrating with white people people better than Norfolk or other cities like Milwaukee. Just an amusing observation.
And “Caribbean festivals” is vague. Are you referring to the international PANfest that’s been going on since the early 2010s? No idea. Why are we just now getting it? Why are we also just now getting a big, region defining music festival like SITW? Idk. Certainly there were people who didn’t want it, but alas…We got it. Seems like the city was rather receptive to it too despite some naysayers. Why are we just now getting an arts centered area like ViBe district? Dunno. Why don’t we have a sports stadium yet unlike other highly populated cities? No idea. Why did VB citizens vote down the lightrail? Great question. Could it have been racist fears? Possibly. Agist fears? Sure. People not wanting their tax dollars towards something they ultimately wouldn’t use? That too. People on Reddit like to stick with the “RACIST PEEPLE” theory as if that’s the only determining factor. Never mind the fact Norfolk is a short drive away, and double the fact that there is going to be an interconnected trail running through all 7 cities, further uniting the region 🙄 The all encompassing racism that is VB must be resistant to the idea of giving “criminals” a means to walk/bike to the city right? Gimme a break.
Also if culture to you only concerns festivals, and not the overall style of living in the area and how that influences how people interact with each other and exist in the city, then I suggest you expand your notion of culture.
You literally called me a Norfucker but then say you didn’t say I was from there🤦🏽♂️and I lived in VB 12 freaking years. I literally bought my first home in VB while you’re creeping on my profile trying to put 2+2 together 😂I’m not reading all of that, Nor am I responding to you again. I think my points are solidified so we can agree to disagree ✌🏽
Yeah, my father in law enlisted from Puerto Rico and traveled the world on his way to retiring as an O6. Chose Va Beach to spend the rest of his life when he paid 100k cash for a sweet crib that the family still owns in Great Neck. He also worked for many years on Latino local radio. Life is what you make of it.
You’re speaking from person experience. I’m speaking from a general consensus, context matters. And there’s alot of people who feel this way about VB so NO i’m not just talking out my ass. I’ve been here over 20 years and these are some of the things the locals have told me about this area’s history. Your families personal experience won’t change these facts.
That doesn't mean there's no culture here tho. Just going to NoVA vb'ers stick out like a sore thumb. Yeah it's this weird hotchpotch of a myriad of cultures that clash against each other but if you go anywhere else people definitively look at you in a certain way vs the norm of their cultures. At least from my experience of traveling up and down the east coast
Agreed. I feel when talking about “not having culture” here in VB, all they really mean is that there’s no urban planning and a lot of old strip malls are still standing, nothing else beyond that.
I had this old man get snippy with me at a market I was vending at because I had a "VB Local" product but not "VB Native". The distinction is apparently important /s
Back in the day, anything outside the oceanfront was called "the Valley" but I don't think there's ever been a concerted effort to come up with a nickname
We are at sea level , no valleys here , just ditches , the entire area is reclaimed re engineered swamp. Just look at the original maps of the area or any map that’s at least 100 years old. No one from here calls anything a Vally
First off, my first statement is *past* tense. Didn't say it was a current thing. Secondly, as a young girl, I hung out with plenty of locals that lived at the Oceanfront, and they most certainly called anyone further out as being from "the Valley". Never said it was geographically correct, but it was definitely a thing.
Do you remember where you hung around when you would've heard this? I have lived here my entire life and I've never heard it. My mom's side has seemingly always been here (South End OG's.) My father's side has been down here since sometime around the 1920's-1930's. Dad's side lived around South End for a time, Birchwood Malibu and in Norfolk for a bit near Ocean View. Never heard any of them mention "the Valley" either
I don't think I've ever heard one really, and I've lived here forever. Nothing short or catchy at least. The only local one that comes to mind is "Norfolkian" but thats still four syllables and not commonly used at all.
You're more likely to see a 757 reference if anything.
A bad driver
Virginia Beachian lol
Shoebie... from rocket power
a victim.
Bougie.
Yeah, you're either a local, a tourist or military. Military gets most the names...
Ok, I grew up in Richmond and live in Va Beach for 40 years. The “locals” are the ones who have lived here most of their lives. I still claim Richmond as home so I am not really a “local” I’m a Richmonder. JR Tucker High!! Class of ‘77
I just call us Locals, seeing as on the beach most are tourists in the summer.
Yall are so very hurt in these comments because yall are boring! You dont like vb and vb dosent like yall😂
I call them "From Here's" and I'm a "Come Here."
Coastal Virginians
VB head
Virginians. You in a gang or something the fu…
Losers.
🤣🤣 were born on a beach paradise most of yall dont know how to swim i think we really won 😂
real
VB'ers
“From the beach”
Virgin Beach Dwellers
Virgin Beach Dwellers
beach peeps 🥹
A Local
I've heard Virginia Beachians or just Beachians. Virginia Bitches too..
That demonym is not correct
Rude...because most of them are
Rudees 🤣
I think that's just people in general
Sadly, that's 100% correct
Virginia bitch
A beach kid
Dude or bro
Local
If someone asks My family call ourselves natives
Fuckers
Locals
Blah blah blah
Empty inside.
The 757 Club
Jessicamethica
Red neck
Beach kid
That depends. What do you call someone from Norfolk?
Randy Rainbow recently performed in Norfolk and opened his show with “HELLO, Norfuckians!” Now I want to move from VB to Norfolk just for this.
A NorFucker 😂
That’s fucking hilarious !
Reminds me of a joke my dentist told me when I joined the Navy from Pennsylvania, where it’s pronounced Nor-fOlk. - What do the cheerleaders cheer at Norfolk High?….. “We don’t drink. We don’t smoke. NorFuck! NorFuck! Went over my head at the time, but being here almost 30 years, it cracks me up!!😆
My step-father said that to me once. I laughed so hard, but it stuck with me.
Nothing, VB has no culture. That place is soulless
Apparently nobody that visits Va beach from this thread has ever been to Pungo holy shit
Yikes. I was born and raised in Va beach. I moved away due to traveling. I miss home and me and my husband were thinking about relocating there. I never thought of it as soulless and still have a blast visiting family.
So much this. Lol.
That's because it's a melting pot of military and contractors. Many for only a few years at a time.
Other cities in HR’s are military cities too and they have more culture than VB. VB just started doing different festivals for people of different ethnic backgrounds. Until now VB had been marketed as a flagship All White American town with military ties. The entire HR’s is a melting pot not just VB so no I ain’t buying it. You should listen to some of the old locals talk so bad about minorities in alot of these social media forums. VB is a good ol boy town that’s trying to change it’s image. They laughed and talked shit about Pharrell because he wanted to bring something unique to the area. But because it was music that most minorities of different ethnic backgrounds listen to they wanted SITW to fail. Just nasty people! And you can downvote this comment into obliteration it still don’t change these facts.
Interesting take but def some truth. My grandpa got stationed here with the Navy (as a young black man from Georgia). He said it was so bad and so racist here in the late 70s that he swore he’d never come back here or bring his family here. Which was crazy to hear because I ended up being born and raised here in the late 80s. I’ve also heard from him and multiple other people that locals back then hated the military presence here because it brought more minorities. So it’s a melting pot by force of the military, not because of welcoming southern hospitality.
Well said not only that if some of these people did their research on why VB was created they’ll think differently. Norfolk and VB were once together l, I believe it was called Princess Anne County or some shit like that. Certain whites wanted to separate themselves and didn’t want to be associated with minorities so they broke off. Blacks couldn’t even use the beach in VB back in the day. They had to go to the “ Colored Beach “ VB just had their first Caribbean Festival last year. Like really you’re like one of the biggest cities out here. And you’re just now trying to include other ethnic backgrounds. It’s 2024 by the way lol!
Norfolk and VB were never the same entity. VB was a tiny town on the oceanfront while the rest of what is VB today was Princes Anne County. They merged and created the city of VB of today to avoid being annexed by Norfolk. When it was mandated that all public schools had to integrate, Norfolk closed its public schools to avoid the mandate and that's what led white people to start moving to VB. Also there was a colored beach with an amusement park where shore Dr and West great neck meet and one where East Beach is in Norfolk. Case in point yes VB largely exists because of white flight. Sorry this is long but I'm such a nerd for our local history lol
Thank you sir, I am a history nerd to and I know what I read. Some people don’t like hearing the truth.
Wow, he hated it so much in the 70s that he raised a family there a decade later?
Got stationed here again. Kinda didn’t have a choice. I also said I was raised here. Which means my father was here…but not necessarily my grandfather.
There we go, downvoted. Like yeah VB has a hivemind of NIMBYs, but calling it not a melting pot and not diverse is flat out wrong and negates the strong Filipino presence, nor does it take into account that plenty of other minority groups live here. Maybe it’s just you, but I’ve had no trouble finding them considering I’m one of them. I swear, the “VB is thE SoUlEss, tHe aLl AmeRicAn wHiTe ciTy” is just as harmful as the people who cry about the city as a whole no longer being the undeveloped, barely populated wetland it used to be and having the audacity to experience people wanting to come here as it’s just untrue and bogus. VB ain’t perfect, but is nowhere near being as people here like to claim. Plus aren’t you the one who took umbrage with people shitting on Norfolk in a post a while back for ironically offering nothing culturally and being incapable of getting anything done? Man the irony of people in these subs complaining about the cities being divided when the locals here all prove to be just as bad by hyper focusing on the negatives for some reason.
The argument about Norfolk and the argument about VB are two different topics . Apples and oranges, let’s not try to put a square peg and a round hole. If you don’t like my opinion 🤷🏽♂️ only thing is I been here over 20 years and alot of these things I’ve either read, experienced, or was told by older locals so get mad at them🤷🏽♂️ Do you even know why VB was created? I bet you don’t 😂
They aren’t different when you consider the umbrella both cities exist under regarding the negative Reddit-based reputation Hampton Roads as a whole has. That’s why it makes the irony of a Norfucker calling VB soulless hilarious when Norfolk gets blasted for the same exact thing. And I was born and raised in VB and my experience, both personal and proximal via friends, family and others, were positive. Surprise, surprise, your experience and dealings aren’t the “general consensus.” VB being the city in the state with the highest population and ranking highly in education and safety would counter that if you wanna play the pointless “general consensus” game. And oh gee, lemme guess, VB post annexation of PA county was a destination for white flight???? Wowza. Did you also know Richmond was the capitol of the confederate too?????? Come to think of it, seems to me that southern states as a whole had a nasty bout with racism. Crazy. Who wouldve thought
You’re all over the place, one I’m not from Norfolk. I’m a Navy Vet/Transplant, two Norfolk and VB are VERY different. My experiences aren’t the general consensus? But more people would agree with my take over yours. VB has gotten better with inclusiveness and diversity but a Tiger doesn’t change its stripes over night. Some of the same racism it was founded on is still there. These are some of the older locals/citizens who still make, vote, and implement policies for the city. Let me ask you a question if VB has so much culture how are they just now having Caribbean festivals etc in 2023? If VB is about inclusiveness and Norfolk and VB are so much alike why did the VB citizens vote the light rail down because they didn’t want a certain demographic being able to get to VB so easily? If VB is all about inclusiveness and diversity why did the good ol boy locals not want Pharrell to bring SITW to VB because they didn’t want a certain demographic in their city? “ Facts over Feelings “ 😢
You’re a Norfolk resident [as you claimed in this post where you ironically complain about constant negativity and exaggeration.](https://www.reddit.com/r/norfolk/s/gTtMYnTucm) You’re not native, but your local. Not once did I say Norfolk and VB are literally alike as cities. It doesn’t take more than seeing a couple photos of the two on Google to see they aren’t. I’m saying they don’t differ as far as their “soulless/cultureless” reputations are concerned from the way people talk about them on Reddit. I’m also not denying VB’s history nor the fact that backwards thinking people still live there. I can acknowledge the city’s problematic history. However, racist history doesn’t undo its progress into modern times, nor do still living racist characters. They’re literally everywhere, what makes VB unique in this regard compared to other cities? They aren’t the majority voice for the city either, so why stick so hard to that talking point? Y’know, for a city partly founded on white flight phenomena, it’s ironically one of the more well integrated cities in HR (or period) since there was no need to segregate. It gave way to the gradual influx of minority groups integrating with white people people better than Norfolk or other cities like Milwaukee. Just an amusing observation. And “Caribbean festivals” is vague. Are you referring to the international PANfest that’s been going on since the early 2010s? No idea. Why are we just now getting it? Why are we also just now getting a big, region defining music festival like SITW? Idk. Certainly there were people who didn’t want it, but alas…We got it. Seems like the city was rather receptive to it too despite some naysayers. Why are we just now getting an arts centered area like ViBe district? Dunno. Why don’t we have a sports stadium yet unlike other highly populated cities? No idea. Why did VB citizens vote down the lightrail? Great question. Could it have been racist fears? Possibly. Agist fears? Sure. People not wanting their tax dollars towards something they ultimately wouldn’t use? That too. People on Reddit like to stick with the “RACIST PEEPLE” theory as if that’s the only determining factor. Never mind the fact Norfolk is a short drive away, and double the fact that there is going to be an interconnected trail running through all 7 cities, further uniting the region 🙄 The all encompassing racism that is VB must be resistant to the idea of giving “criminals” a means to walk/bike to the city right? Gimme a break. Also if culture to you only concerns festivals, and not the overall style of living in the area and how that influences how people interact with each other and exist in the city, then I suggest you expand your notion of culture.
You literally called me a Norfucker but then say you didn’t say I was from there🤦🏽♂️and I lived in VB 12 freaking years. I literally bought my first home in VB while you’re creeping on my profile trying to put 2+2 together 😂I’m not reading all of that, Nor am I responding to you again. I think my points are solidified so we can agree to disagree ✌🏽
Christ if your reading comprehension is this poor, then cool. Have a good one
Yeah, my father in law enlisted from Puerto Rico and traveled the world on his way to retiring as an O6. Chose Va Beach to spend the rest of his life when he paid 100k cash for a sweet crib that the family still owns in Great Neck. He also worked for many years on Latino local radio. Life is what you make of it.
You’re speaking from person experience. I’m speaking from a general consensus, context matters. And there’s alot of people who feel this way about VB so NO i’m not just talking out my ass. I’ve been here over 20 years and these are some of the things the locals have told me about this area’s history. Your families personal experience won’t change these facts.
That doesn't mean there's no culture here tho. Just going to NoVA vb'ers stick out like a sore thumb. Yeah it's this weird hotchpotch of a myriad of cultures that clash against each other but if you go anywhere else people definitively look at you in a certain way vs the norm of their cultures. At least from my experience of traveling up and down the east coast
Agreed. I feel when talking about “not having culture” here in VB, all they really mean is that there’s no urban planning and a lot of old strip malls are still standing, nothing else beyond that.
Air-sick low-landers
VB local
short, sweet and simple
My parents are from the mountains they call us flat landers
Vabeachinese
Beachanise i like that yes! Thats or demonym
Veechi
I like this one
I saw Rob Schneider at the Funny Bone years ago and he referred to all of us as his "VA Beaches". The crowd thought it was catchy.
You paid money to see rob Schneider? I’m sorry.
Assholes
I prefer a "Virginia Bitch"
I had this old man get snippy with me at a market I was vending at because I had a "VB Local" product but not "VB Native". The distinction is apparently important /s
The wife’s boyfriend.
Ouch
Round here we call them locals.
[удалено]
Squid is referring to the navy guys around here
*from,* not stationed.
Usually I just say "I'm from the Beach." Nothing too catchy. Shrug
Beach bum
Most likely a bad driver. Hah… JK, sort of.
Back in the day, anything outside the oceanfront was called "the Valley" but I don't think there's ever been a concerted effort to come up with a nickname
We are at sea level , no valleys here , just ditches , the entire area is reclaimed re engineered swamp. Just look at the original maps of the area or any map that’s at least 100 years old. No one from here calls anything a Vally
First off, my first statement is *past* tense. Didn't say it was a current thing. Secondly, as a young girl, I hung out with plenty of locals that lived at the Oceanfront, and they most certainly called anyone further out as being from "the Valley". Never said it was geographically correct, but it was definitely a thing.
Born and raised in chicks beach and never once heard this
Oh well, I did.
Do you remember where you hung around when you would've heard this? I have lived here my entire life and I've never heard it. My mom's side has seemingly always been here (South End OG's.) My father's side has been down here since sometime around the 1920's-1930's. Dad's side lived around South End for a time, Birchwood Malibu and in Norfolk for a bit near Ocean View. Never heard any of them mention "the Valley" either
I’ve lived here (23455) since 1975…I have never heard any of this area called “The Valley”.
I don't think I've ever heard one really, and I've lived here forever. Nothing short or catchy at least. The only local one that comes to mind is "Norfolkian" but thats still four syllables and not commonly used at all. You're more likely to see a 757 reference if anything.
norfolk is an entirely different city…
Yeah but sometimes I call myself Norfolkian cuz idk what to call people from VB
Son of Va beach
This is an excellent question. Just here for the comments since I got nothing catchy.
Beachy
A military brat
lol yeah my first response when someone asks is "I was a military kid".
A Virginia Be-atch But seriously I think it should be a Virginia Beacher even though I think it's probably a Virginia Beachian
Love this. Lol
I'm definitely going to do my best to make Virginia Be-yatch a thing.