Highland Park, the area just east of Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia is hard to define. It can be described as institutional, industrial, residential and commercial. Sometimes it can be all of these things within the same block. Even what the neighborhood should be called is questionable. Some maps define the overall area as Highland Park, others split it right down the middle, giving ownership of the eastern half to ODU.
This neighborhood, which falls neatly into U.S. Census District 26, is bounded to the west by Hampton Boulevard, to the north by 49thStreet, to the south by 38thStreet and to the east by Colley Avenue.
The western blocks of Highland Park line a busy thoroughfare called Hampton Boulevard. This area is composed of small businesses, university parking garages, the Ted Constant Convocation Center and also a few empty fields. Students and faculty are constantly crossing this busy roadway.
The second blocks going eastward is known as The Monarch Way and ODU Village. This area hosts a number of popular restaurants and is the gateway to multiple housing units for university students. Several ODU facilities, including the Innovation Research Park, university theatres and art galleries, can be found here. Recent construction of the new art building at the northern end has created a cluster of art buildings complete with a modern outdoor stage.
Old Dominion University incorporates this area into their campus map.
The third and final blocks run from Killam Avenue to Colley Avenue. After WWII, single family homes dominated this area and residents were primarily white, blue collar workers. Today most of those homes are used for student housing.
Historically North Colley Avenue, once home to the Lambert’s Point Knitting Mill, offered service businesses such as garages and appliance repair shops. Recently there has been a transformation in the neighborhood and numerous popular restaurants have opened and are thriving.
The southern part of Highland Park was traditionally manufacturing and industrial. There are still several businesses operating today but the numbers are dwindling.
In 2016, students in a geography class collected a cultural history of this area. They noted that red solo cups, ODU placards and restaurants like Jimmy Johns made it obvious that students lived and spent time in the district. Others noticed that single-family homes with strollers and kids toys in the yards indicated that families also shared this area and that businesses, some hidden in the back streets, were remnants of an industrial and service presence in the area.
Student’s notes from the project included:
“I believe the area is a perfect definition of the city of Norfolk. Everywhere in the city is very diverse. You may be on one street and it may seem to be higher socioeconomic status, but only a few blocks further down the same road, and it seems you are in a completely different area.”
“The northern section is completely given over to ODU, everything built there either belongs to, or remains at the will of the university. The southern section is where ODU’s expansion and displacement of what was already there has stalled. The scene of those two areas reflect this.”
In 1998, Old Dominion University’s master plan included the redevelopment of this neighborhood. With the help of the City of Norfolk, plans were made to expand the area, with the use of eminent domain. Numerous properties were acquired and handed over to ODU. Three of the property owners, Central Radio, Norva Plastics and PKO Ventures refused to leave and in 2013, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled against the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority in the use of eminent domain in the neighbhood.
The court case put an immediate stop to redevelopment plans across the street from ODU. This left large areas of undeveloped land alongside modern housing geared toward college students and retail shopping.
A detailed article on the eminent domain case can be found here.