Daily Press Coverage of HRBOR/City of Hampton Meeting

I previously reported on the very positive meeting that representatives of Hampton Roads Business OutReach ("HRBOR") had on June 6, 2010 with representatives of the City of Hampton Department of Economic Development concerning investment opportunities in connection with the revitalization of the Phoebus area of the City of Hampton (the main street is pictured at left). My post can be found here on this blog and here on The Bilerico Project. Yesterday, the local paper, the Daily Press, ran an overall positive story about the meeting, citing Richard Florida's work on the "creative class' and referencing other cities/neighborhoods where LGBT businesses and residents have sparked a gentrification and economic blossoming. Unfortunately, the story - which referenced me by name - has set off a firestorm among Christo-fascists and the truly ignorant and prejudiced who apparently would prefer to live in a seedy economic backwater than have more upscale, legitimate LGBT owned businesses move into the area. The irony, of course, is that some are already in the area but the Neanderthals apparently don't realize it.

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The running commentary on the article can be found here and I would encourage readers to create a simple log-in and leave supportive statements to counter balance those posted by knuckle draggers. Comments can be posted here. So far, City personnel have remained steadfast in their support of the HRBOR/DED meeting. Obviously views other than those posted by Pat Robertson's Kool-Aid drinker crowd would be most appreciated.

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As I explained to a Daily Press columnist, overall my experience with Hampton has been most positive - particularly among the educated, well to do, and professional class. The nasty comments posted to the Daily Press article obviously do not appear to be from the better elements of Hampton's population. Instead, they appear to represent the ignorant, Bible beating segment of the population which would drag the city and the nation back to the Dark Ages if given the opportunity.