It’s been less than two years since Berlin took first place in an online poll celebrating its small town charm, but it’s clear this victory is one of the biggest developments in the town’s history.
Claiming the title of America’s Coolest Small Town, an honor bestowed by Budget Travel through online voting, has brought Berlin an unprecedented level of commerce as well as notoriety. The free exposure has brought more visitors to town than ever before and continues to be a big deal.
Additionally, it’s become quite apparent of late that the poll along with the uniqueness of the historic town and burgeoning special events has opened the town up to what will likely be an unprecedented building boom in future years. The resulting growth will swell the town’s population over the next couple decades.
Whether that’s a good thing or not is what needs to be at the heart of public and private conversations, as the town is at a critical crossroads now with hundreds of new residential units proposed for the near future.
There are several developments worthy of discussion. First is the 700-unit apartment community planned for Seahawk Road that will surely change the eastern side of town forever. The development continues to move ahead and the first phase of 150 units is close to securing all the approvals it needs from the town.
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DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
9 comments:
Lol building boom......the eastern shore wouldn't know what a building boom is......you can build all the apartments you want.....you have to have the people to rent and afford them.....real business growth and retail growth and industrial growth is what creates a boom so to speak......America's coolest small town by one travel website for a year......that's cute but not sustaining much......
I'll say it again.. over-development ruined Virginia Beach and many other formerly 'great' places.
If you want to keep what you've got, zone it carefully and enforce the codes.
the apartments are for section 8, just turning berlin into little baltimore/salisbury!
Va Beach was never a great place. It was and is a huge city with a beach problem.
Also, I believe section 8 as a category is no longer valid.
More really nice welfare apartments.
They will be just another trash ghetto in 5 years or less.
The number of these complexes that were built under various pretenses (an Arts community, for example), and DIDN'T turn into run down, ghetto dumps with a high crime rate can be counted on, uh, .....well, uh....ok there are none....
Been to Greenwood apartments in Cambridge? That's a great example. Fairground apartments in Salisbury is another. They are everywhere.
In every state.
Tax dollars might as well be burned like trash. Despite such a track record, there is always another liberal dreamer who thinks HE (or she) can solve everything with ONE MORE apartment complex (can we get some really nice shrubbery and stuff, too).
Keep cheering.
"..Va Beach was never a great place.."
I lived there in the late 70's-early 80's.. it was a great place.
Then came the stampede from DC/Baltimore of people wanting condos and 'summer homes'.
They went up 3 and 4 high on every little creek and ditch till the town was completely destroyed.
Good Luck, Berlin.
Another "nice place to live" destroyed by greed..
It isn't greed, directly, that destroys them initially.
It's the "clientele" with their degraded, degenerate lifestyle, utter disrespect for others and their property, and the subculture of self-entitled criminality and parasitism.
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