Hampton is part of a larger area known as Hampton Roads, which consists of several cities that all run together: Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach, Suffolk, and Chesapeake. This area is made up of primarily suburban sprawl from Norfolk, which is home of the largest naval base in the world, placing Hampton in the middle of a major military area. Being right next to the water, it has the Norfolk Naval Base to the right, Langley Air Force base to the left, and a little higher, we have Guanaco. You are sure to meet one of our nation’s finest in the area, and even on campus. Still, there is not a lot for a college student to do or be attracted to in the immediate area. Across the little bridge, we have Downtown Hampton, and there is a little shopping area—mostly utilized by the locals. Going further into the Downtown Hampton area, there is a strip of restaurants and big stores like Wal-Mart, where they are beginning to build up the area to make it more suitable for the college students.
The area is split into two sides, “this side of the water,” which is Hampton and Newport News, and “the other side of the water,” which is mainly Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Virginia Beach. “This side” has a lot of cheaper stores which do attract the many college students; however, across the long tunnels to “the other side of the water,” there are many upscale malls where many of the students would prefer to go for shopping, dining, and hanging out with friends, but prove to be rather costly, as well as being a good distance to drive to. Hampton, Va., though, is very small and becomes repetitious.