Metro Core Definitions
There are six types of job cores that share similar characteristics
across regions.
The Hampton Roads region has four out of six of
these core types. They are determined by geographic positioning within
the region, depth and make-up of their industrial/retail/office markets,
and the area’s history. The analysis did not include the cores on the
Peninsula which are Oyster Point/Jefferson Avenue and Coliseum
Central.
CORE TYPE
DESCRIPTION
HAMPTON ROADS CORES
Urban Centers
• Cultural, financial, and often governmental centers of their respective regions.
• Typically has the largest concentration of high-density office space and the majority of the
Downtown Norfolk
region’s highest paying jobs.
Catalytic Core
• Locations are decided by individual actors (e.g. governments, corporations, universities,
etc.) and have the ability to change growth patterns in a region, because of their size.
Lynnhaven/Oceana
Ind strial Core
• Tend to emerge where land is cheap and there is good transportation access to the larger
region (e.g. major freeways and interstates, rail lines, airports, and seaports).
Village Ave, Port Areas,
u
• An alternative version of this core (prevalent in San Diego) emphasizes R&D/Flex use over
warehousing/distribution or manufacturing.
Cavalier
Favored Quarter
Office Core
• High-end office space tends to develop in the region’s primary favored quarter, most often
along the region’s principle interstate.
• Tends to begin after a critical mass has been established at the closer-in core although
Greenbrier, Virginia Beach
Town Center
,
these areas continue to increase in density many years after their creation.
Historic Satellite
Cities
• Tend to have older commercial stock and smaller employment bases.
None
• Often established along major roadways within close proximity to significant residential
development.
Retail Cores
• In larger MSAs, these retail cores often do not have enough regionally serving/office-
oriented employment to be considered a major export and regional serving employment
core.
None
Dominion Boulevard | City of Chesapeake | April 11, 2014 | E4-11982.40
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