THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Wednesday, October 16, 1996           TAG: 9610160397
SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY ALEX MARSHALL, STAFF WRITER 
                                            LENGTH:   43 lines

NORFOLK MAY EXPAND MARKET STUDIES COUNCIL LOOKS FOR WAYS TO POSSIBLY HELP NEIGHBORHOOD BUSINESS DISTRICTS.

The City Council on Tuesday discussed expanding market studies of neighborhood business districts throughout Norfolk.

The council hopes the studies will reveal ways to reinvigorate the areas and help them compete with larger shopping centers and malls.

Norfolk has a number of such small, neighborhood commercial districts. But with the exception of Ghent, most are struggling. They include Lafayette/Winona, Five Corners in Norview, Bay View, Wards Corner, 35th Street and East Little Creek Road.

The council agreed that improving these areas was necessary, but said it must find an effective way to do it. The market studies were discussed after Councilman G. Conoly Phillips warned of spending money without knowing whether it would work.

``We can only do so much,'' Phillips said. ``We can't force the market.''

Councilman W. Randy Wright said revitalizing the centers is ``extremely crucial to the long-term health of these communities. This is really a problem citywide, and we have to be prepared to step up to the plate.''

The city and the council have been focusing on improving the city's smaller business areas for several years. With their small shops, restaurants and other businesses within walking distance of homes, such districts can make a neighborhood more inviting and marketable.

The city has already finished or is conducting market studies of East Little Creek Road, the 35th Street area and Wards Corner.

The council Tuesday discussed expanding such studies to include the other neighborhood business areas.

The council also approved spending $1.5 million this year for various infrastructure improvements in neighborhood business areas. Under a separate fund of money, the city is installing new streetscapes along Colley Avenue and 21st Street in Ghent.

Finding ways to revitalize fading commercial areas has sometimes proved controversial. Last month, the council rejected a proposal to encourage more commercial development in a small set of existing shops in the Bay View area after the civic league split on the issue.

KEYWORDS: NEIGHBORHOOD BUSINESS DISTRICTS by CNB