Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk-Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia. Hampton Roads is notable for its year-round ice-free harbor, for the United States Navy, Coast Guard, Air Force, NASA, Marines, and Army facilities, as well as hundreds of miles of waterfront property and beaches, all of which contribute to the diversity and stability of the region's economy. Many are predicting that the Hampton Roads Area, and especially the seven cities of Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Newport News, Hampton, Portsmouth, and Suffolk, will grow faster than expected. The predictions of some researchers estimate that the 2010 census will show a population well in excess of 2 million. |