This is a copy of the home page of a Web site posted on December 11, 2034. Additional textual information and video are available to those who visit the site.

Top Stories (Click MORE to read the entire article)

Hampton Roads Facts

Before GDA, Hampton Roads housed the world's largest concentration of military power.

Hampton Roads became a unified city in 2018 with the merger of Norfolk, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Suffolk, Isle of Wight County, Hampton, and Newport News.

In 2029, almost a million people in Hampton earned their livelihoods, directly or indirectly, from jobs created by the United States Navy, Army, and Air Force

The unemployment rate this year (2032) stands at 52 percent.

One in four Hampton Roads residents moved out of the area since 2029.

The Hampton Roads area has survived violent coastal storms, devastating epidemics, occupation by foreign troops, and even total destruction during the American Revolution.

Disarmament treaty crushes Hampton Roads economy

The peace on Earth produced by the 2029 Global Disarmament Accord (GDA) continues to plague Hampton Roads. When world leaders agreed to disband armies, destroy weapons of destruction, and convert war ships, jets, and spacecraft to peaceful use, they damaged virtually every aspect of the Hampton Roads ecomomy. Jobs in all....MORE

Hampton Roads population caught in downward spiral

Population declines create spirals that lead to further declines. It works like this: Residents lose their jobs and leave the area to find employment elsewhere. Since fewer people are left to support other jobs (restaurants, stores, education, medical services, etc.) cooks, clerks, teachers, and nurses lose their jobs. Then, the spiral starts again with....MORE

Senior citizens bargain hunt for Hampton Roads housing

One, and only one, segment of the Hampton Roads population has actually grown ­ the elderly. Since the resale price of a home in the area has dropped by 50 to 60 percent, retired persons can pick up a substantial home at a fraction of its pre-GDA price. Of course, the lack of available jobs is of no concern to... MORE

Hampton Roads population decline harming other areas

The population exodus from Hampton Roads has created numerous problems for other areas of state as well. Since thousands of citizens from Hampton Roads pour into other Virginia communities looking for work, they take jobs away from locals and strain city services. The situation is especially serious in central and northern Virginia where....MORE

Hostility toward Hampton Roads newcomers increases

Residents in various parts of the state are looking for ways to keep Hampton Roads emigrants out of their communities. Resentment toward the outsiders has been angry and ugly at times. Some have taken to calling Hampton Roads residents "Roadies" as

an insult. At one town meeting in Reston, Virginia, loud arguments led....MORE

Demographers weigh in - "Nothing new here!"

Demographers attending a population conference in July tried to reassure Hampton Roads citizens that mass migrations are common in history and that other towns and cities, even in Virginia, have lost bases and military payrolls in the GDA disarmament process. But the crisis in Hampton Roads seems uncommonly painful and....MORE

Hampton Roads struggles to find itself

Although shipbuilding, tourism, and international shipping play an important part in the region's economy, Hampton Roads' identity has been closely bound to the military for more than a century. The area expected to continue growing as it had for the past eighty years but now finds its "reason for being" called into question as....MORE

Problem Solving teams to tackle population dilemma

Teams of Future Problem Solvers have scheduled problem solving sessions to brainstorm solution ideas for the Hampton Roads crisis. After considering various

challenges presented by this dramatic population shift, each team will concentrate on how Hampton Roads and Virginia can deal effectively with one important aspect of....MORE

© 2001 Future Problem Solving of Virginia