THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA Vol. 57, No. 11

THE GEOGRAPHY OF VIRGINIA By James W. Fonseca

Mr. Fonseca is an associate professor ofgeography in Virginia suburbs of Was~ington, D .. C. Beyond the beltwa~, a sUburba~ landscap.e the Department of Public Affairs, George Mason Northern Virginia shares In the relatlve . of single family homes predomInates untll University. weahh and dense population ofthis econ?~­ the rural fringe of western Loudoun and ically complex, urbanized regi.on, but It ~s Prince William counties is reached. The human geography of contemporary less oriented to manufactunng than IS co~plex int~rac­ CHESAPEAKE FRINGE Virginia is the product of Megalopolis as a whole. Instead, Northern tion between the state's physIcal enVIron­ Despite its proximity to Northern Virgin­ Virginia is more oriented both to govern­ ment and its human population. The diverse ia, the Virginia portion of the Chesapeake ment employment and to indirect, physiographic regions of the state~the Fringe of Megalopolis-Northern Neck, the government-related employment with ~on­ Coastal Plain, the Piedmont, the Blue RIdge, Middle Peninsula, and the Eastern Shore­ cerns such as consulting firms, legal offIces, the Shenandoah Valley, and the Appala­ is a very different area. The Chesapeake public interest groups, trade associations, chian Plateau-are important influences, Fringe has preserved enough of its natural and firms specializing in government con­ but they are not the only factors explaining ,environment to be able to take advantage of tracts. Although the cutbacks in federal regional population distribution and eco­ the "Four Fs" of farming, fishing, forestry, spending can b~ expected to have an adverse Common~ealth. ~ne and fun (tourism, water recreation, and nomic activity in the impact upon the region's economy, ot?er of the more critical factors InfluencIng vacation homes). The importance of these recent developments such as the relocatlon Virginia's geography is the lo.cation o~ the activities can be seen, for example, in of regional and national headqu~rters of state in reference to larger multlstate regIons, Accomack's rank as one of the five counties large corporations may counter thIS effect. such as Megalopolis, Appalachia, and the in the state with the largest agricultural Mobil Oil, American Telephone and Tele­ Piedmont Manufacturing Belt. The bound­ production, as measured in terms of s~les graph, and Time-Life are examples ?f value; in Northern Neck's role as a vacatlon aries of these regions are seldom sharply corporate offices that have relocated In demarcated, either on the national or the Northern Virginia· in the last few years. and retirement home area; in the numerous usef~1 Virginia landscape. However, a Northern Virginia's population will con­ coastal towns dependent upon fishing and approximation of their spatial ex~ent In oystering; and in the rather high dependence tinue to grow, although most likely no~ so Virginia can be obtained by analyzIng t~e of Northern Neck and the Middle Peninsula rapidly as during the 1970-~980 penod. state's physical geography in terms of socIal ind~stry: During that interval, the regIon grew by upon the forestry products . and economic data for nine contemporary qUI~e almost 20 percent, to more than 1.1 million The Chesapeake Fringe thus IS still regions that are ba ed on the boundanes· 0 f... people. Recently, however, ~rowth in the tied economically to its physical geographIc the state's twenty-two planning districts (see entire Washington metropohtan area has qualities, including its scenic beauty. En­ Figure 1). This analysis will begin .in slowed, although Northern Virginia con­ croachment upon the· region by the three orthern Virginia, proceed clockwIse R~c~­ tinues to grow much faster than the area as a large, close urban concentrations of. around the periphery of the state, and whole. mond, Tidewater, and Northern VIrgInIa conclude with an examination of the The landscape of Northern Virginia is appears inevitable. The Chesapeake Fringe Richmond Region in the heart of the state. increasingly an urban rather than a subu~­ gained approximately 17,810 people ?e­ ban landscape. Arlington and Alexandna tween 1970 and 1980, giving it a populatlon NORTHERN VIRGINIA have characteristics of many of the nation's growth rate of 13.9 percent, compared to the central cities including substantial black 14.4 percent rate for the state as a whole. orthern Virginia is an integral part of Also, as of 1978, the Middle Peninsula Megalopolis, a region first analyzed by population, 'diverse ethnic co~munities, (Planning District No. 18): in p~rtic~lar, had internationally known geographer Jean urban deterioration, and populatlon loss­ the second highest net In-migratlon rate Gottman. Megalopolis reaches from ~he more than 31,000 people between 1970-1980. The continuing construction of the Metro among the state's twenty-two planning New Hampshire suburbs of Boston to the districts. subway system and the developme~t of a Author' note: The information and statistics used in the article highrise skyline in downtown Arhngton are drawn from a variety of sources, including publications of the TIDEWATER appear~nce. Tayloe Murphy Institute, University of Virginia; the. Scho~l of (Rosslyn) add to the urban Urban Tidewater, consisting ofthe Census Forestry and Wildlife Re ources, Virginia Polytechnic Institute About five miles from the Potomac RIver, Bureau's two Standard Metropolitan Statis­ and State niver ity; the U.. Bureau of the Census; the Virginia this urban landscape grades into a zone of tical Areas (SMSAs) of Newport ews­ Employment ommi sion; and the Virginia State Chamber of Beac~­ Commerce. Jean Gottman's texts are Megalopolis (New York: dense suburbanization (e.g., condominiums, Hampton and Norfolk-Virginia Twentieth Century Fund, 1961) and Virginia in Our Century office parks, and townhouse clusters) that Portsmouth, is a sprawling, polycentnc (Charlotte ville: Univer ity Press of Virginia, 1969). extends to 1-495, the Capital Beltway. urban area of some 1.15 million people,

INSTITUTE OF GOVERNMENT / UNIVERSITY OF VIRGIl'lIA / CHARLOTTESVILLE / JULY 1981 FIGURE 1. CONTEMPORARY VIRGINIA REGIONS

NORTHERN VIRGINIA

NORTHERN PIEDMONT

NORTHERN VALLEY

SOUTHERN PIEDMONT-VALLEY SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA INDUSTRIAL ZONE SOUTHSIDE TIDEWATER SOURCE: Constructed by the author from a map of planning districts provided by the Office of Local Development Programs, Virginia Department of Housing. OTE: The numbers in each region identify the state's twenty-two planning districts. worthy of being called the "Los Angeles of which is the principal export ofthe Hampton a low wage type such as textiles, apparel, Virginia." The Census Bureau's division of Roads area. The coal exports, while not an and forest products. Three Southside coun­ this area into two separate SMSAs makes it exceptional generator of employment, also ties are included among the six Virginia easy to lose sight ofthe impressive size ofthis have increased tremendously over recent counties that produce the mo t hardwood urban agglomeration. The combined metro­ years. timber, and three Southside counties are politan region not only is the largest among the six highest in softwood timber metropolitan area in Virginia but also, with SOUTHSIDE production as well. the exception of Atlanta, is the largest urban Southside, which include planning dis­ Petersburg and Hopewell are exception concentration in a vast area of the southern tricts 13, 14, and 19, is Virginia's poorest to the manufacturing pattern in South ide. United tates' whose boundary to the north region. It is located mainly on the Piedmont The pecialties of the e citie are cigarette extend to Washington, D.C., to the south to and partly on the Coastal Plain of south and chemical production, both of which pay Tampa, and to the west to Houston. central Virginia. Southside forms part of a higher wages than other Southside indu ­ Urban Tidewater's economic base is port­ larger region that includes much of adjacent tries. Petersburg and Hopewell could, in related, including shipbuilding, ship repair, north central North Carolina. This area, fact, be considered part of the Richmond naval installations, cargo transfer and which has a large black population, is just Region, in which case the importance of storage, and manufacturing related to the outside the reach of the economic spillover agriculture and forestry to Southside would proce sing of imports and exports. Associat­ effects from Tidewater, Richmond, and be much more striking. Thus, in a fashion ed with the ports' military role are almost Lynchburg. Low incomes, low educational similar to the Chesapeake Fringe the 50,000 federal civilian employees. The attainment, high unemployment, and gener­ ph sical environment and it primar touri t industry of Virginia Beach and the al lack of economic opportunity make this products overall, greatly influence the William burg area and the agricultural area one of exceptionally slow growth (2.0 economic character of this region. activity of Suffolk and Southhampton percent). In income levels, for example, SO THER PIEDMONT-VALLEY counties add variety to the region's econo­ Greensville County had the lowest per capita INDUSTRIAL ZONE my. Meat processing (especially pork pro­ personal income for all 136 of the state's Virginia' southwestern Piedmont area i ducts), soybeans, and peanuts are among citie and counties in 1978 ($4,296, only 56 the northernmost extension ofthe Piedmont that area's specialties. percent of the state's average). Manufacturing Belt. This industrial zone, a Tidewater's economic future is bright for An important factor in the economic base dynamic belt of small- and medium-sized many reason . Increased defense spending, of most of this region is general agriculture, manufacturing cities, sprawls across the particularly for shipbuilding, will aid· the with tobacco a particularly important Piedmont from northern Georgia to Lynch­ region. In addition, Tidewater's hinterland product in the western half of the region. burg. Although the western edge of this for all types of cargo is a bustling Sunbelt Southside's agriculture is characterized by a industrial zone in the rest of the South region that extends well west of the Appala­ high rate of tenant farming, a small propor­ corresponds closely with the Blue Ridge chians into the Tennessee Valley, and well tion of part-time farmers, a large number of Mountains, in Virginia's case the river gap beyond the Coastal Plain into the Piedmont farms operated by blacks, and a relatively cut in the Blue Ridge by the James and of the Southern Atlantic coast. Tidewater low investment in farm machinery. Roanoke rivers have helped to shape the also stands to benefit from its own momen­ Manufacturing is also important to the state's transportation corridors and have tum. The increasing concentration of popu­ economy but it is not well distributed allowed the ind ustrial development of the lation and manufacturing within the Tide­ throughout the region. Most manufacturing Piedmont to spill west beyond the Blue water region itself makes the ports both a is concentrated in Halifax and Mecklenburg Ridge. Therefore, it is appropriate to add producer and consumer ofmore and more of counties, adjacent to the Piedmont-Valley Roanoke and several adjacent cities in the their low bulk, high value general cargo. This Industrial Zone, and in the cities of Peters­ Southern Valley to the zone. The whole type of cargo generates much more employ­ burg and Hopewell, adjacent to the Rich­ Virginia region, appropriately called the ment growth in Tidewater than does coal, mond Region. Manufacturing is primarily of Southern Piedmont-Valley Industrial Zone, includes planning dist'ricts 4, 5, 11, and 12. and Valley Province and the Appalachian Farming in the three plateau counties is The region is home to about 827,000 people, Plateau. The high, rugged topography ofthe particularly limited due to topography. The 15.5 percent of the state's 1980 population. plateau is most pronounced in the three Southern Valley has a better quality of land A wide variety of products are manufac­ counties ofWise, Dickenson, and Buchanan. but is handicapped by distance from large tured in the cities and counties ofthis region, Southwest Virginia is also part oftwo larger, markets. As a result of these factors, a but most employment derives from the overlapping regions of national importance, specialization has developed in the raising of manufacture of textiles, apparel, shoes, and Appalachia and the Tennessee Valley. Both beef and dairy cattle and sheep. A high furniture. Chemicals, primary and fabricat­ regions have been designated as areas in need percentage of farmland is devoted to ed metals, electrical machinery, and food of economic development and have benefit­ pasture, and a high percentage ofcropland is processing are secondary specializations. In ed greatly from federal assistance through devoted to hay production. Many farm total, this region employs more than 125,000 the Appalachian Regional Commission and operations are of a part-time nature with manufacturing workers, about one-third of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). limited sales. the state's labor force in manufacturing. Almost all of Southwest Virginia (generally, Lynchburg and Roanoke are the two planning districts I, 2, and 3) falls under the NORTHERN VALLEY largest metropolitan areas in the region. jurisdiction ofboth ofthese authorities. (The The Northern Shenandoah Valley is While metropolitan Lynchburg's specialties exceptions are Buchanan and Carroll coun­ characterized by a nicely balanced, diverse are electrical machinery and primary and ties, which are not included in the TVA.) landscape combining natural beauty, agri­ fabricated metals, all manufacturing catego­ The last decade has seen the economy of culture, rural towns, and small cities. The ries important to the zone are located in the Southwest Virginia change dramatically. cities and towns have one or more functions Lynchburg SMSA. Roanoke, by compari­ Traditionally a poor, predominantly white based on agricultural supply, manufactur­ son, is a more diversified city. Despite a area characterized by many of the same ing, college, or resort specializations. The larger population-223,000 in the Roanoke limited opportunities that have hindered economic ties of the Northern Valley to its SMSA and 154,000 in the Lynchburg Southside, Southwest Virginia is now an regional continuation northward through SMSA-the Roanoke SMSA has 8,000 area of reduced unemployment, higher West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania fewer manufacturing employees. Instead, educational attainment, and better incomes. are now weak, due to the eastward pull ofthe Roanoke is more specialized in transporta­ Even with such improved conditions, how­ Baltimore, Washington, and Richmond tion, communications, trade, and services. ever, Southwest Virginia is not as well off as markets. Yet the historical ties of the This partly reflects the location in Roanoke the state as a whole, according to various Northern Valley to the larger Appalachian of the headquarters of the Norfolk & socioeconomic measures. Perhaps the most Valley region have indelibly shaped its Western Railroad, as well as the city's promising sign is that Southwest Virginia culture and landscape. The northern portion geographic situation at the crossroads oftwo now not only retains much of its native of the Shenandoah Valley was settled major transportation corridors: the north­ population but also is experiencing net in­ initially by German and Scotch-Irish pio­ south 1'.;.81 corridor through the Shenandoah migration. Planning districts I and 2 neers who traveled through the Valley Valley and Route 460 east to Lynchburg and illustrate this with growth rates of 15.5 southward from Pennsylvania. the Richmond Region. Roanoke is in a percent and 23.6 percent, respectively, The main economic base of the Northern better position than Lynchburg to capture between 1970 and 1980. Valley is agriculture, a specialization ex­ wholesale and retail trade from all of the The renewed demand for coal, ofcourse, is pressed most fully in Rockingham and Southern Valley and from Southwest part of the reason for the renaissance of Augusta counties. Rockingham County is Virginia. Southwest Virginia. But coal production is the leading county in the state in terms ofthe To the south of Roanoke and Lynchburg not widely dispersed throughout the region; sales value of agricultural products. Live­ is the Danville-Martinsville complex, an it is extremely concentrated within the stock is the region's agricultural mainstay. urban concentration that could be called plateau counties of Buchanan, Dickenson, Pigs, beef and dairy cattle, sheep, and Virginia's 44undesignated SMSA." These two and Wise, which accounted for about 83 poultry are raised. Alfalfa and grain for cities, only thirty miles apart, together with percent of the state's production in 1976. In livestock are major crops, and the northern their surrounding counties of Henry and the counties of the southern Appalachian counties of the region, especially Frederick Pittsylvania, are home to 183,000 people­ Valley, manufacturing, agriculture, trade, and Clarke, also specialize in apples and 29,000 more people than in metropolitan and transportation-related employment add apple products. Unlike the Southern Valley Lynchburg. Approximately 43,500 manu­ substantially to the economy. portion of Southwest Virginia, farming is facturing employees work in these four cities Galax, a Valley city, contributes to the largely a full-time operation; and unlike and counties-a remarkable figure in com­ region's urban economy with its specializa­ Southside, investment in farm buildings and parison to population size. Thus, the urban­ tion in the manufacture of many of the same machinery is high. industrial core of Virginia's Southern products as the Piedmont-Valley Industrial Manufacturing, the second most impor­ Piedmont-Valley Industrial Zone is best Zone, particularly furniture and textiles. tant activity of the region, is present in all of thought of as centered not simply along the Bristol, located on the Virginia-Tennessee the cities of the Northern Valley; but the Lynchburg-Roanoke axis, but rather as border, is a Tennessee Valley city and part of largest concentrations of manufacturing centered about a triangle whose three points the Johnson City-Kingsport-Bristol SMSA employment are found in the cities of are Danville-Martinsville, Roanoke, and of 411,000 people, of which 90,500 are in Waynesboro and Winchester and Rocking­ Lynchburg. Virginia. While Bristol also has many ham County, each of which has more than In addition to manufacturing, this region workers in the textile, apparel, and furniture 5,000 workers. Electrical machinery, appar­ also has important agricultural and forestry industries, it is much more specialized in el, and food processing are the region's production. Pittsylvania is one of the five industries such as printing and publishing, manufacturing specialties. Virginia counties with the largest agricultur­ fabricated metals, and nonelectrical machin­ Per capita income is slightly below the al production, as measured in terms ofvalue; ery. This specialization in less traditional state average in the Northern Valley, while and the Valley counties of the region industries is perhaps responsible for the population growth has been slightly above produce a variety of livestock products and Bristol area's very rapid growth as a average. The three largest cities ofthe region crops, especially tobacco. Because of the manufacturing center. The value added by are Harrisonburg, Staunton, and Winches­ importance of the furniture industry as well manufacture in the Virginia portion of the ter; the counties surrounding these cities as forestry production, the region's Planning SMSA grew by 138 percent between 1972 (Augusta, Rockingham, and Frederick, District 12 is dependent on the forest and 1977, a figure far in excess of the state respectively) experienced the majority of the products industry for one-third of its base average growth of 76 percent. Northern Valley's population growth be­ employment, the largest proportion of Agriculture is the leading economic tween 1970 and 1980. dependence among all ofthe state's planning activity in Planning District 3, as measured districts. by employment, and is second only to NORTHERN PIEDMONT mining in planning districts I and 2. This is The Northern Piedmont is a diverse, SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA true despite the fact that Southwest Virginia rapidly growing, nonmetropolitan region Southwest Virginia straddles two very as a whole presents some of Virginia's concentrated primarily on the Piedmont and different physiographic regions, the Ridge poorest opportunities for agriculture. partly on the Coastal Plain. It is generally the area encompassed by planning districts 9,10, the growth is a spillover both from Northern payrolls of local jurisdictions. In fact, when and 16. Virginia and from Richmond. Growth in the number of state employees as a percen­ The economic base of this large region is Albemarle County is tied directly to the tage of population is considered, Richmond diverse and defies simple generalization. growth of the University of Virginia, as well is not heavily specialized in government Employment in construction is important to as indirectly to that institution through its employment. Banking, the manufacture of all three planning districts, due to rapid attraction ofengineering firms, high technol­ nondurable goods, transportation, and trade population growth in the region as well as to ogy firms, and state and federal agencies. are greater relative specializations. long-distance commuting by some construc­ The City of Richmond, the major employ­ tion workers living in the region to jobs in RICHMOND REGION ment focus, best illustrates the diversity of Washington and Richmond. Government is the region. Richmond provides employment The Richmond Region straddles the Fall for a total of approximately 193,000 a large employer also. Planning District 16 is Line, the meeting zone of the Coastal Plain second only to the Northern Virginia workers. In order of the number ofworkers, and the Piedmont. It is home to approxi­ the major employment categories of the city planning district in the number of workers mately 631,000 Virginians, a gain in popula­ specializing in public administration; this is are wholesale and retail trade; services; tion of about 15 percent between 1970 and manufacturing; state government; finance, largely attributable to residents commuting 1980. Approximately 22.0,000 of the region's to Northern Virginia to work. Another insurance, and real estate; transportation residents live in the City of Richmond, a and public utilities; and Richmond city concentration of, government workers is drop of about 30,000 from 1970. However, located in Charlottesville and adjacent government. Within the manufacturing this loss of population is more than made up category of some 32,000 employees, almost Albemarle County. This area has more than by migration into the suburban ring. 12,000 state employees, most related to the one-third work in the tobacco industry. Chesterfield, Hanover, and Henrico coun­ Other important manufacturing categories University of Virginia, as well as 1,000 ties, in particular, have experienced growth federal workers. Agriculture is a major are printing, paper, food processing, appar­ rates of 83 percent, 34 percent, and 17 el, furniture, fabricated metals, and chemi­ employer in planning districts 9 and 10. A percent, respectively, over the last decade. variety of crops are grown, and livestock­ cals. This economic diversity, which is Richmond is well situated to play an typical of the entire Richmond region, helps particularly beef and dairy c ttle and' important role among Virginia's regions. It horses-also contributes to the economy. to insulate it from hardship due to economic is located approximately equidistant from fluctuation in particular sectors of the Albemarle County-Charlottesville and Northern Virginia, Tidewater, and Lynch­ economy. The region's location also allows it Spotsylvania County-Fredericksburg are burg and is very close to the state's center of to benefit from growth in Northern Virginia, the region's two largest manufacturing gravity of population-which, by the 1980 Tidewater, and the Piedmont-Valley regions concentrations. Interestingly, a dispropor­ calculation, is located thirty miles west of and, indeed, the state as a whole. tionate number of industrial workers in the Richmond near the Powhatan-Goochland Northern Piedmont work for foreign­ County border. The city also benefits from SUMMARY affiliated companies. In particular, in a an excellent position in reference to the As this discussion of Virginia's geography continuous strip of Piedmont counties be­ state's transportation network, lying at the has shown, each of Virginia's nine contem­ ginning with Loudoun (in ~he Northern Vir­ junction of 1-64 and 1-95, two of the most porary regions has a physical geographical ginia region) and proceeding south through heavily traveled highways inthe state, as well base that offers opportunities for varying Fauquier, Culpeper, Orange" Louisa, and as along several major rail lines. combinations of agriculture, fishing, forest­ Fluvanna, ten foreign-affiliated manufac­ The outlook for the Richmond Region's ry, mining, and recreation. The location of turing plants employ approximately 2,400 economic future is a positive one, not each region, both in relation to the rest ofthe workers, or about 39 percent of the manu­ because of any single factor but because of state and to the larger national regions, also facturing workers in the six counties. the diversity of the region's economy. has an important influence on industrial and The Northern Piedmont accounted for Richmond's role as the state capital contrib­ urban development. These environmental more than one-third ofall the nonmetropoli­ utes to, but does not dominate, the region's and locational qualities interact in complex tan population growth in the state between economy, as does government-related em­ ways to influence the economic base of each 1970 and 1980. During that same period ployment in Northern Virginia or federal Virginia region, providing a wide-ranging thirteen ofthe region's fourteen counties (the military spending in Tidewater. While there diversity in employment and economic exception being Nelson County) expe­ are 37,000 state workers in the region, this is activity. Overall, this diversity adds stability rienced growth in excess of the state average only 12 percent of the labor force. Another to the state's economy and provides the of 14.4 percent. A variety of factors appear 9,500 people work for the federal govern­ residents of Virginia with a fascinating, to be contributing to this growth. Some of ment, and almost 25,000 work on the heterogeneous landscape.

THE UNtVERSITY OF VIRGINIA

Entered as second-class 'matter EWS Charlottesville, Virginia LETTER

. (ISSN 0042-0271) Editor / Clifton McCleskey Assis~nt Editor I Sandra H. Wiley Published each rildnth from September through August By the Institute ofGovernment, tJnivtrsityof Virgiitia, Charlottesvi1l~, Virginia 22903. The yiews and ~pinions expressed .li~r,ein ,IR thos~ of, !he authot; and are dot tobe ~terpretedas rep~rttlng the official position o~ tti~ !~tit~te ~!,·t~eUnive1Si~Y. Bntered,a~ seegnd-c~s~tnat.tet Januaty2 1 ,It J Jl~' the postoffiee at CHarlottelvute, Virginia, tlb ..N act of August 24, 1912. c 1981 by The R.eCtor and VisitorS of the 11niversity of Virginia. Printeii by the University Printing Office.