In 2003 the planning and urban design firm Wallace Roberts & Todd, LLC (WRT) was commissioned by the City of Norfolk to prepare the Greater Wards Corner Comprehensive Plan.
On October 7, 2003 the City of Norfolk the first of several community meetings at Granby High School in order for the consultants to make a progress report on their work to the community and to revise and refine the previous vision statement prepared by the Wards Corner Task Force and the Wards Corner Partnership. What came out of this discussion is the following set of principles and priority actions for the Comprehensive Plan for the Greater Wards Corner Area.
PRINCIPLES
• Use City powers and new investment to eliminate blighting influence of high-crime areas and encourage maintenance through comprehensive code enforcement
• Create a vibrant new mix of quality retail, entertainment and local services responding to the needs and preferences of local residents as well as the regional trading area• Encourage a new, more urban pattern of development in Wards Corner; one with a lively mix of uses, a pedestrian orientation and a renewed sense of place
• Encourage diversification of the housing stock, with quality higher density housing interspersed with retail to generate an active pedestrian environment
• Enhance the scenic character and more efficient vehicular and pedestrian travel patterns along Little Creek Road and other highway corridors
• Improve amenities to help re-establish Wards Corner neighborhoods as among the most desirable in all of Norfolk for families of various economic means
These Principles are what the Wards Corner Partnership championed in 2003 and these same Principles are what Wards Corner Now continues to champion today.
See the Greater Wards Corner Comprehensive Plan which was adopted by City Council on November 21, 2004.
Wards Corner Now - Wards Corner, Norfolk, Virginia 
What’s taking the City so long to begin implementation of the comprehensive plan for Wards Corner? It’s time for the City to step up to the plate and fulfill promises made. We are a gateway to Norfolk, ODU and the naval base. Let’s not give visitors the impression that Norfolk is a city of blight. Thousands of vehicles pass through Ward Corner every day. What a golden opportunity the City has for income here!!
I ask all members of the Wards Corner community: do we really want to keep in office a mayor and members of city council who only seem to care about downtown?
I can’t wait to see action at Wards Corner. I used to live in West Ghent and would take the 2 to the 15 to do my shopping at Farm Fresh every Friday or Saturday. I may now be in Virginia Beach, but considering one of my cousins lives off of E Little Creek (just on the other side of I-64 from Farm Fresh), I support the Wards Corner plan.
I built my house in Oakdale Farms two years ago and im disgusted with all the filth in the surrounding apartment buildings. The city has raised my assesment well over three hundred thousand dollars and I love them for it because with my beautiful view of apartments out my front door I cant even sell my house in this market so that I could escape this hell hole. I have two small children that have to be held prisoner so that they wont be exposed to a criminal life out of our front door.
I hope this plan will improve these neighborhoods. The ultimate solution would be to remove these apartments that house the majority of the people breaking the law in this area. If the city would do so new properties could be built and that would generate more tax revenue. I dont see what the problem is, it was done in ocean view. I go to work every day and pay my taxes while my neighbors hang out on the corner all day drinking and selling drugs day in and day out. Until thes structures that harbor this behavior are removed I dont see anything getting any better.
Are there any plans for the Kroger area of Wards Corner? I rent in the neighborhood beside them.
What is the new building where the BP Gas station was?
Mattress Factory — the marquee went up today.
Is there a reason that we need three mattress stores on one corner in a “revitalized” area of Norfolk? Can the city not find any other types of businesses to support this revitalization?
SForbes:
The City doesn’t pick the stores that locate in the shopping centers. The owners of the shopping centers picked them =(
Great meeting tonight, I think we gave the city planners a lot to think about. A recurring theme was that the plan needs to be reviewed to meet the needs of the community as it stands now, not as it was 10 years ago.