I want to give 3.5 stars but can't.
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1/23/2023
So, let's start with the positives.
Newport News Park is gigantic and has archery, disc golf, canoeing, camping, playgrounds, picnic areas, a beautiful reflecting pond, and many trails.
Patrick Henry Mall has a full-blown arcade with Laser Tag, a shooting gallery, bowling, skee ball, bumper cars, and various arcade games, and they rotate them constantly so there's a new selection of games without getting rid of the staples.
That mall also has a Red Robin, Chipotle, and a really big food court. Plus it has a tech repair shop that does great work. I've used them myself.
Now, Newport News also has the best selection of small businesses a person could ask for. There's literally a local business owner for about 90% of things a person could want. And there's an absolutely stunning restaurant scene.
More specifically, there's a daaBin, which is an Amazon returns supplier where you dig through bins and everything is a single set price. This is a very rare type of store. There's a Tuscany Italian restaurant where the chef literally went to train in Tuscany, so it is about as authentic as it gets to Tuscan cuisine. He even makes the pasta himself.
And, just a few months ago, two New Yorkers who moved down from New York City itself took their pizza shop with them. All the New York natives here that I have spoken to have said it tastes just like New York Pizza, and I have been there. It is pretty awesome.
Onto chains. You have Sweetcakes for cupcakes and ice cream and cookies. We have a gigantic shopping cplex with a Lowes, Home Depot, Habitat for Humanity thrift store, Walmart AND Sam's Club (with a Sam's Club gas station) all right next to each other. And across the street from that is a shopping center with the following:
Trader Joes, Aldi, Homegoods, Pier 88, uBreakIFix, America's Best Wings, Pop Shelf, Kohls, Great Clips, Longhorn Steakhouse, Total Wine, a spa, and about a dozen more places that I can't remember at the moment.
Then there's City Center. Now. I grew up in Fairfax, and, for anyone who has been there, Reston Virginia has their own nice city center with a fountain, ice skating rink, etc. This City Center is just as beautiful and lush, it has a little manmade pond with a fountain, a Texas De Brasil, an Ice Cream Shop, and a bar with outdoor seating and fire pits right on the pond. There's also a theater there and a concert hall that also turns into a dance club at night. They also do concerts there. In short, City Center is beautiful. It is AMAZING for dates. And nothing there will really break the bank unless you nuy something from the home decor store or Jeweler (which sells some imported watches).
At Christmastime, Newport News Park has a drive-through light show with 100 miles of lights. It is always fun and, believe me, they don't go cheap on it. You should see it once before you die. The only better one I know of is in Northern Virginia. In City Center, there's a Christmas celebration they put on with a street performer, an ice sculptor, a huge Christmas Tree, and various small business tents. They also put out see saws for adults and kids.
There's also Huntington Beach. Newport News made their own bay beach. But it isn't just a beach. It has volleyball nets, basketball courts, tennis courts, a playground for the kids, an army museum, a pond with a deck that is stocked with fish and turtles, and a beautiful garden. Plus a picnic area and a huge field. Oh, and a burger shack and seafood place both on the beach.
All of these things I have so far mentioned in my review are just a 10-15 minute drive AT MOST from where the overwhelming majority of people possibly live in this city. To date I have not lived in a place with more uniqueness and things to do than Newport News except Fairfax, and even then, Fairfax doesn't have an authentic New York Pizza place. There is even a coffee shop, Angie's Cafe, that opened up just a year or two ago owned by Puerto Ricans who literally import the coffee themselves. They serve homemade pastries too.
So, why could I possibly give this place only 3 stars despite this amazingness? The crime. Even though Newport News is constantly investing in infrastructure and adding all sorts of unique shops, small businesses, and other things (basically something for everyone), the crime rate has been increasing significantly since 2016. There's shootings, ****s, assaults, and, now, as of January 2023, regular kidnappings.
But they just beefed up their police budget as of 2022 and police response time is really good in general (outside of East End. DON'T GO INTO EAST END. It's extremely dangerous). And I always see police cars patrolling the streets now. So it remains to be seen whether the crime rate will continue to rise or if all this money being put into the police force will clear the criminals off the streets. But, because of the crime, I just can't give this place the 5 stars it would easily get otherwise.
If you want to learn everything else there is to do here, including a no-kill shelter that lets you pet the animals and a wildlife museum, and a whole host of other things, just go to newport-news.org and browse around. There's a lot of stuff I haven't even tried yet. This is just the stuff I've learned about and done since moving here in 2021.
But, sadly, the crime rate just makes this city unappealing for most, despite these amazing positives. For clarity, Newport News is nothing like Baltimore or Chicago or Flint. But you'll definitely hear gun shots and your car may get broken into in safe neighborhoods now. So that is seriously a problem. They need to solve that. They need to double their police force. Because, if they can just fix the crime rate, this would be a 5-star city.
J | ,