Finding Somewhere in a Suburb of Nowhere

Finding Somewhere in a Suburb of Nowhere

Virginia Beach is often dismissed as a “suburb of nowhere”—a flat, car-dependent expanse defined by shopping, residential sprawl, and long drives between destinations. It is not an unfair caricature. The region was largely designed for motion, not mingling. And yet, returning now after time spent here during Covid when I explored much of the city and region, I find something increasingly striking: Virginia Beach continues to double down on the v…