Is the 757 experiencing a regional identity crisis?
During the Virginia Beach State of the City Address Thursday, Mayor Will Sessoms didn’t refer to the region as Hampton Roads or Tidewater, instead he used another moniker: Coastal Virginia.
“We’ve got to do a better job promoting our region. I don’t know if it’s changing the name or not, Coastal Virginia I kind of like- I don’t know if you picked up on that,” Sessoms said with a laugh following the speech.
“I don’t hear Hampton Roads very much, I hear Tidewater still. I mean I don’t think people know what Hampton Roads is,” he continued.
NewsChannel 3 hit the Boardwalk Friday to find out what out of town visitors call the region.
Sheila and David Minett were in town from Germantown, Wisconsin to participate in the Shamrock Marathon.
Sheila told NewsChannel 3’s Todd Corillo that she had heard of Hampton Roads before but didn’t previously know exactly where that was.
Neither had heard of Tidewater or Coastal Virginia, but both agreed that Coastal Virginia seemed like the most appropriate moniker.
“That would make sense,” David Minett said.
Nancy Brown-Park of Palm Desert, California admitted she hadn’t heard of Tidewater, Hampton Roads or Coastal Virginia before, but preferred Coastal Virginia.
“Coming from the desert, if I saw Coastal Virginia I would know I was on the water,” Brown-Park said.
