New Town In Williamsburg, Changing Times, Part One

Just a few short years ago, the area now known as New Town in Williamsburg was nothing more than a fairly dense wooded area. Today it is a mini metropolis. A city within a city. New town is one of several of these projects that is forever changing the landscape of Williamsburg. Last year the New Town projects was thriving fairly well with lots of people in the shopping district, today more empty spaces exist than did last year and the market to fill these stores is tougher than ever in today's economy.

The row houses have seemed to fill up fairly well, despite their salt and pepper look. Overall the architecture is fitting within the Williamsburg atmosphere but parking is horrible. Views from many of the townhouses are of parking lots. At least one never has to worry about mowing a lawn as there are no lawns to be had. From a business standpoint, the area was doing well until the latest economic conditions which now seem to be crushing the area especially in light of the new competition. Williamsburg seemed immune to the ravages of a slow economy, but that is now fading very quickly.

It seems to many people were over zealous about the growth potential of the area. Although New Town is one of our favorite places to shop these days, we see rapid decay setting in on the area. There have always been a number of empty store fronts and more office space than could be filled, but the numbers are higher now than before. Some businesses have already moved out, no real new one coming in quick to fill the spaces. There are some strong retailers in the area, but for how long? Some of our favorites are Panera Breads, Trader Joe's which is incredible, Barnes and Noble and Bath and Bodyworks. Old Navy is always worth a stop for their clearance items.

This is the first part in our series of changing times in Williamsburg. We will be covering all the growth the area has experienced over the past few years and take a deeper look into the impact it is having. We will include a detailed slide show with each post to show what Williamsburg looks like these days as we have a lot of readers that have not been to the area in some time and like to keep up with what is going on.

The Picture accompanied by the slide show is a representation of what the area looked like before New Town was developed. New Town is located along Monticello Avenue and Ironbound Road.

Gloucester County Renaissance Fair Has One Day Left, Sunday July 19th, 2009

There is still a chance to get on over to Gloucester for the Renaissance festival. We spent a good part of the day there and it is a very well orchestrated event. There is fun for everyone of all ages as there is music, dance, fencing, games, belly dancing, and more all for your enjoyment. Having attended events nearly every weekend, we are rather pleased with this one. So clear your calendar and and get on over to the Historic Court House area, about 10 miles past the Coleman bridge, just follow the signs. You will not be disappointed.

Renaissance Festival Over In Gloucester County This Weekend, July 18th & 19th, 2009

Gloucester County is hosting it's 3rd annual Renaissance Festival this coming weekend, July 18th and 19th at the historic Courthouse area. Time to get into the car and head out over and party Gloucester style. So take a break from colonialism and step back further in time and join the fun of the Renaissance. Food fun and games abound at the festival this year. What? You want more information? Okay, here it is. CLICK HERE.

Colemand Bridge View From Yorktown

This is a new photo we just took of the Coleman Bridge at night time from the Yorktown side. We got some nice golden hews from the lights on the bridge.

Fireworks From Colonial Williamsburg, July 4th, 2009

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend. Colonial Williamsburg had a few surprises this year. The fireworks were the typical 15 minutes before the grand finale, but a few moments after the grand finale, a second grand finale began, followed by yet a third grand finale that also didn't seem to want to end. We captured most of it here on video. Enjoy.

Fife and Drum Junior Corp Performing in Colonial Williamsburg, July 4th, 2009

The pre show at Colonial Williamsburg this year consisted of a one hour set of the Fife and Drum Corps. The show started with the Junior corp on stage. We shot all but two tunes due to batteries dying and running out of memory. The rest we captured and we are working as fast as we can to process all the clips and get them on line for everyone. We have about 5 clips up now and we are working on another 13. We are going to do a special here for this site only and host the entire show once it is finished. So stay tuned.