Hampton Roads Parkland Deficit

The new report, "Bracing for Change," shows that the area of Hampton Roads, Virginia, lacks public parkland, especially along its coastline, compared to other major bay cities in the country. (The Hampton Roads area includes the cities of Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth and Virginia Beach.)

Prepared for the Fort Monroe National Park Foundation, the report shows that conserving the 400-year old Fort and converting its 570 acres to a park would help reduce the parkland deficit of the entire Hampton Roads area. This would have a significant positive impact for the entire region. The study compares Hampton Roads cities to New York City, Boston, and the California Bay Area cities of San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose. The report also provides examples from these cities where former military bases have been successfully converted to popular parks—most notably San Francisco's Presidio.