SOUTHSIDE HAMPTON ROADS HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN COMMUNITY PROFILE 2011 UPDATE The section was edited to revise and update economic data and to incorporate the limited data available from the 2010 U.S. Census. Figures 3.3 and 3.5 were updated using current data, and additional detail was added to the City of Norfolk section describing the Port of Virginia and its recently expanded capabilities. INTRODUCTION This community profile provides a general overview of the Southside Hampton Roads region, including Isle of Wight County, the cities of Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk and Virginia Beach and the towns of Smithfield and Windsor. This section consists of the following five subsections: GEOGRAPHY AND THE ENVIRONMENT POPULATION AND DEMOGRAPHICS HOUSING, INFRASTRUCTURE AND LAND USE EMPLOYMENT AND INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT TRENDS GEOGRAPHY AND THE ENVIRONMENT The Southside Hampton Roads region is located in the “Tidewater” region of Southeast Virginia and is bounded by the state of North Carolina to the south, the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The area that comprises the jurisdictions in the region was part of eight shires, or counties established in 1634, and today the seven jurisdictions are located within the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). These jurisdictions are located along the Atlantic Ocean and between the two largest estuaries in the world – Chesapeake Bay and the Albemarle–Pamlico Sound. Numerous military installations, including U.S. Naval Base Norfolk, Naval Air Station Norfolk, Dam Neck U.S. Naval Base, Little Creek U.S. Navy Amphibious Base, Oceana Naval Air Station and U.S. Naval Fleet Training Station, Virginia Army National Guard Camp Pendleton and Fort Story Army Base, dot the planning area and comprise a significant part of the local economy. The region is comprised of 1,443 square miles, including 1,061 square miles of land and 382 square miles of inland water. The general topography is relatively flat with slightly rolling hills, and elevations ranging from sea level to several hundred feet above. A moderate climate prevails throughout the region with an average July temperature of 78 degrees, and an average January temperature of 41 degrees. The region averages approximately 47 inches of rainfall per year (mostly in the spring and summer months), and another 8 inches of snowfall during the winter months. The City of Virginia Beach is the largest municipality, while the Town of Windsor is the smallest. The City of Norfolk, with a population of 242,803, including 95,018 housing units, is the most densely developed. Table 3.1 provides a summary of the population, housing and land area present within the Southside Hampton Roads region, as well population and housing densities per square mile. Figure 3.1 provides an orientation map for the Southside Hampton Roads region that illustrates the geographic location of each COMMUNITY PROFILE 3:11 dredge to 55 feet when needed. NIT has 5 berths, 14 container cranes, 3 finger piers, covered and container storage, and now 89,300 feet of direct rail access, which will soon connect directly to the Commonwealth Railway Project. FIGURE 3.5: EMPLOYMENT DISTRIBUTION IN PERCENT BY SECTOR, 2010 Source: Virginia Economic Development Partnership, 3rd Quarter, 2010 Isle of Wight County and the incorporated towns of Smithfield and Windsor are located near major industries, such as paper products, lumber, meat processing, information systems, farm and seafood products, building materials, logging tractors, manufacturing and equipment assembly. Isle of Wight County is home to Smithfield Foods, Inc., a Fortune 500 Company and the largest hog producer and pork processor in the world. Subsidiaries include Smithfield Packing Company and Gwaltney of Smithfield. Smithfield Foods and its subsidiaries employ approximately 4,500 people, and experienced a 53 person reduction in labor force in March 2011. As shown in Figure 3.5, approximately 30 percent of the Isle of Wight County population is employed in manufacturing industries. The City of Suffolk has experienced rapid population growth since 1970. The city is becoming a center of industrial and advanced technology. The Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center and the U.S. Joint Forces Command are part of northern Suffolk’s high-tech corridor; however, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced in August 2010 that he would recommend the command be eliminated and its essential functions assigned to other organizations over the following months. Over $132 million in new capital investments were made in Suffolk in 2001, including major office and industrial projects such as the Ferguson and Target distribution centers. Suffolk is home to some of the country’s most progressive high-tech firms producing advanced computer simulations to help business, government, and the Department of Defense predict and plan the future. New and expanding technology companies include Raytheon, MITRE Corporation, and Alion, who all support evolving modeling and simulation technologies. The majority of the City of Portsmouth population works in the government and service industries, ship repair, marine engineering and health care due to the City’s location adjacent to the shipyard. Thirty-nine percent of the total labor force is employed by city, state and federal government. SOUTHSIDE HAMPTON ROADS HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN SEPTEMBER 2011 COMMUNITY PROFILE 3:10 EMPLOYMENT AND INDUSTRY Nearly two million people live in or within an hour's drive of the Southside Hampton Roads region, and because of the presence of several naval bases, a large proportion of the total population are employed in military and service related industries. The military bases not only contribute billions of dollars annually to the regional economy but also supply a skilled labor force. Over 15,000 trained and disciplined personnel leave the military installations each year, and many of these persons decide to stay in the area and look for local private sector employment. In addition, there are approximately 40,000 military spouses available to work. The region's tourism industry creates over 10,000 seasonal jobs during summer months. This group provides an additional source of workers to companies with personnel needs that peak at other times of the year. Lastly, over 86,000 students attend eight universities and four community colleges in the area. Most of these students are permanent residents available for part-time or full-time employment while in school and upon graduation. Table 3.6 shows labor force data, unemployment rates and income and poverty information for each jurisdiction. Isle of Wight County and the City of Virginia Beach had the lowest unemployment rate in the region, while the City of Norfolk has the highest unemployment rate. The City of Virginia Beach had the highest per capita income, which is roughly equivalent to the state average. Also, the poverty level for Virginia Beach is significantly lower than the state average. The City of Norfolk has the highest poverty level. TABLE 3.6: EMPLOYMENT, INCOME AND POVERTY INDIVIDUALS UNEMPLOYMENT PER CAPITA CIVILIAN LABOR BELOW POVERTY JURISDICTION RATE (%) INCOME FORCE (2011) LEVEL (%) (2009 (2011) (2009) estimate) Isle of Wight 18,999 6.7 $39,113 8.1 Norfolk 98,827 8.4 $36,838 17.0 Portsmouth 45,072 8.1 $33,637 15.2 Suffolk 40,840 7.1 $36,494 10.7 Virginia Beach 220,286 6.0 $44,999 6.9 VIRGINIA 4,192,863 6.3 $44,057 10.1 Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Virginia Economic Development Partnership, Bureau of Labor Statistics The City of Virginia Beach is the most populous city in the state and the fastest growing city in the planning area. The city added an average of 100 new businesses per month in recent years and this phenomenal growth can be attributed to the city’s inter-modal location between Washington, D.C. and the Atlantic Ocean. In comparison to other cities, Virginia Beach has a higher employment rate in trade and service industries as shown in Figure 3.5. The City of Norfolk is home to the world’s largest naval base and the North American Headquarters for NATO. The service industry is the largest employer in the city (41.3 percent), while 25.7 percent of the city’s labor force works in government. More investment is underway in Norfolk than at any time in its modern history, with over $1 billion in construction in 2010 spearheaded by a new 7.4-mile light rail line opening in 2011. Norfolk is home to a booming cruise port industry and, with 648 acres, Norfolk International Terminals (NIT) is the Port of Virginia's largest terminal. NIT is home to fourteen of the biggest, most efficient cranes in the world, capable of handling the "ships of tomorrow". With a reach stretching 245 feet, the cranes will be able to offload ships loaded 27 containers wide with cargo. The main channel leading to the terminal is 50 feet deep and the Virginia Port Authority has authorization to SOUTHSIDE HAMPTON ROADS HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN SEPTEMBER 2011 COMMUNITY PROFILE 3:9 FIGURE 3.4: LAND COVER / LAND USE Norfolk Isle of Wight County Portsmouth Virginia Beach Suffolk Low Intensity Residential Deciduous Forest High Intensity Residential Evergreen Forest Commercial/Industrial/Transportation Mixed Forest Quarries, Strip Mines, Gravel Pits Urban Recreational Grasses Bare Rock, Sand, Clay Woody Wetlands Transitional Open Water Pasture/Hay Emergent Herbaceous Wetlands Row Crops Source: U.S. Geological Survey SOUTHSIDE HAMPTON ROADS HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN SEPTEMBER 2011 COMMUNITY PROFILE 3:8 maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey1. These data were acquired through the Geospatial and Statistical Data Center at the University of Virginia Library, and are based on 1992 Landsat thematic mapper imagery and supplemental data. Figure 3.4 illustrates the data in a series of images for each jurisdiction. The cities of Norfolk, Portsmouth and Virginia Beach are the most developed jurisdictions in terms of land use and land cover.