February 2003

One Big City?

Could We Supersize Hampton Roads?

by Karen Haywood Queen

Driving north from the Outer Banks, you’d cross the state line and arrive in the country’s sixth-largest city—population 1.6 million—stretching from the state line across the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel and past Busch Gardens.

After your big convention was over, you could stop and stay awhile. Watch a pro football game. Drive by AT&T’s new headquarters.

Some local leaders envision some or all of the area’s cities and counties banding together to become one super city larger than Nashville. They predict savings as libraries, water, sewer, police, fire, schools and other services are consolidated. One mayor. One city manager. One police chief. One school superintendent. One fire chief.

No longer would Norfolk compete with Virginia Beach for big conventions. Newport News and York County would no longer compete for industry. Instead, the area would compete with the likes of Philadelphia and Phoenix. Instead of 5 or 10 localities standing alone, the entire region, or large portions of it, would stand together. With that much clout, this new super city or cities certainly could attract one or more pro sports teams.

A dream, to be sure—or a nightmare? Some local leaders couldn’t keep from laughing at the idea. Opponents say the best government is that which is closest to the people. Each locality in Hampton Roads has established its own identity. Some are rural. Others are urban. Others are bedroom communities. Each school system is different.

“We’d be a bigger market,” says Del. Johnny D. Joannou of Portsmouth. “That would be true economically. That would be true in sports. I’d like to get two or three major Fortune 500 companies headquartered here. I’d love to see Texaco or Aetna Insurance or AT&T headquartered here.”

Driving around Hampton Roads, there’s no clear distinction when moving from one city to another, Joannou says. “How do you know when you go from Portsmouth to Norfolk to Suffolk to Chesapeake to Virginia Beach? We’re all neighbors. It’s like going from one neighborhood to another. It doesn’t hurt to sit down and communicate with each other. We’re one family; let’s see if we can work together.”

Portsmouth Mayor James Holley says it’s hard to envision all the cities coming together, but if it could be done, the whole region would benefit. It’s time now to at least consider it, he says.

“I don’t think you need to wait a decade to say you ought to do it,” Holley says. “The kicker is, we really need it now.”

Consolidations of governments are nothing new. In 1854, the city and county of Philadelphia were combined. In 1856, the city and county of San Francisco became one. The most famous merger, of course, was the creation of the five-borough New York City in 1898, which then became the second largest city in the world, after London.

If all of Hampton Roads were to merge—Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Virginia Beach, Hampton, Newport News, Poquoson, York County, Williamsburg and James City County—the area would rank nationally in population behind only New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston and Philadelphia, and ahead of Phoenix. Currently, the region’s city with the highest national ranking in population is Virginia Beach, the 35th largest in the country with about 450,000 people.

Interest in consolidations is rising here and across the country over the last two decades and is picking up even more as governments look for ways to cut spending and perhaps increase their clout with a bigger population base.

The most recent is the merger of Louisville, Kentucky, and surrounding Jefferson County, effective in January. Louisville has now vaulted from the nation’s 67th most populous city, with 256,231 people as of the 2000 Census, to 16th, with 693,604 people. In that merger, a major city, a county and 85 smaller towns managed to work things out. Leaders in other areas interested in merger are watching events in Louisville and seeking advice.

From 1980 to 2000, 47 regions across the country considered consolidation. Eight referenda passed, according to National Association of Counties (NACO), which tracks such efforts. Interest picked up in the 1990s after successful referenda in Augusta, Ga., and neighboring Richmond County; and Kansas City and Wyandotte County, Kansas, according to a study by Richard C. Feiock and Jered B. Carr.

“Right now we’re in a fiscal crisis,” says Jacqueline Byers, NACO’s director of research. “States are cutting back on the money they’re giving counties. So many people are being laid off. The needs are going up as the finances are going down. In a lot of instances, consolidation makes a lot of sense.”

But even studying the concept costs money. Joannou had planned to introduce a bill in the General Assembly this year calling for a study of consolidating Norfolk, Portsmouth and Suffolk, but backed off because legislators don’t expect to approve funding for many studies.

Del. Thomas D. Gear of Hampton also had planned to introduce legislation to study merging Hampton and Newport News. Instead, he is asking government and business leaders in those two cities to form a bipartisan committee to look at ways to consolidate services and save money.

“I’m definitely going to push it,” Gear says. “It’s not going to go away. We need to look at this.”

Both Joannou and Gear expect that studies, if they were ever done, would show savings and economies of scale.

“It’s been talked about for the past 30 years,” Gear says. “Now is the time with the economic conditions that are upon us. As an elected official, I should explore every possibility of saving the taxpayers money.”

Continued...