Chesapeake is located in theHampton Roads metropolitan area. One of the cities in theSouth Hampton Roads, Chesapeake was organized in 1963 by voter referendums approving the political consolidation of thecity of South Norfolk with the remnants of the formerNorfolk County, which dated to 1691. (Much of the territory of the county had been annexed by other cities.) Chesapeake is the second-largest city by land area in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the17th-largest in the United States.
Chesapeake is a very diverse city in which a few urban areas are located; it also has many square miles of protected farmland, forests, andwetlands, including a substantial portion of theGreat Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. Extending from the rural border withNorth Carolina to the harbor area ofHampton Roads adjacent to the cities of Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk, and Virginia Beach, Chesapeake is located on theAtlantic Intracoastal Waterway. It has miles of waterfront industrial, commercial and residential property. In 2011, Chesapeake was named the 21st best city in the United States by BloombergBusinessweek.[5] Chesapeake is home to the international headquarters ofDollar Tree.
In 1963, the newindependent city of Chesapeake was created when the former independent city ofSouth Norfolk consolidated withNorfolk County. The consolidation was approved, and the new name selected by the voters of each community by referendum and authorized by theVirginia General Assembly.
Formed in 1691 in theVirginia Colony, Norfolk County had originally included essentially all the area which became the towns and later cities ofNorfolk,Portsmouth, and South Norfolk. Its area was reduced after 1871 as these cities added territory through annexations. Becoming an independent city was a method for the former county to stabilize borders with neighbors, as cities could not annex territory from each other.
The relatively small city of South Norfolk had become anincorporated town within Norfolk County in 1919 and became an independent city in 1922. Its residents wanted to make a change to put their jurisdiction on a more equal footing in other aspects with the much larger cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth. In addition, by the late 1950s, although immune from annexation by the bigger cities, South Norfolk was close to losing all the county land adjoining it to the city of Norfolk in another annexation suit.
The consolidation that resulted in the city of Chesapeake was part of a wave of changes in the structure of local government insoutheastern Virginia which took place between 1952 and 1975.
Until the late 1980s and early 1990s, much of Chesapeake was either suburban or rural, serving as abedroom community of the adjacent cities ofNorfolk andVirginia Beach with residents commuting to these locations. Beginning in the late 1980s and accelerating in the 1990s, however, Chesapeake saw significant growth, attracting numerous and significant industries and businesses of its own. This explosive growth quickly led to strains on the municipal infrastructure, ranging from intrusion of saltwater into the city's water supply to congested roads and schools.
Chesapeake made national headlines in 2003 when, under a court-orderedchange of venue, the community hosted the first trial of allegedBeltway sniperLee Boyd Malvo for shootings in 2002. A jury convicted him of murder but spared him a potentialdeath sentence; it chose a sentence of "life in prison without parole" for the young man, who was 17 years old at the time of the crime spree. A jury in neighboring Virginia Beach convicted his older partnerJohn Allen Muhammad and sentenced him to death for another of the attacks.
On November 22, 2022,a mass shooting occurred in aWalmart off ofBattlefield Boulevard in Chesapeake. Seven people were killed, including the gunman who committed suicide, and four others were injured.[6][7][8]
According to theUnited States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 351 square miles (910 km2), of which 341 square miles (880 km2) is land and 10 square miles (26 km2) (2.9%) is water.[9]
The northeastern part of theGreat Dismal Swamp is located in Chesapeake.
Chesapeake is one of the larger cities in Virginia and the nation in terms of land area. This poses challenges to city leaders in supporting infrastructure to serve this area. In addition, the city has many historically and geographically distinct communities. City leaders are faced with conflicts between development of residential, commercial and industrial areas and preservation of virgin forest andwetlands. Within the city limits in the southwestern section is a large portion of theGreat Dismal Swamp.
Chesapeake consists of six boroughs: South Norfolk, Butts Road, Deep Creek, Pleasant Grove, Western Branch and Washington. One of the boroughs, South Norfolk, used to be its own independent city and consolidated the surrounding portions of Norfolk County (extinct) into the City of Chesapeake.
The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to theKöppen Climate Classification system, Chesapeake has ahumid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.[10]
Chesapeake city, Virginia – Racial and ethnic composition Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.
As of thecensus[19] of 2010, there were 222,209 people, 69,900 households, and 54,172 families residing in the city. The population density was 584.6 inhabitants per square mile (225.7/km2). There were 72,672 housing units at an average density of 213.3 units per square mile (82.4 units/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 62.6%White, 29.8%Black or African American, 0.4%Native American, 2.9%Asian, 0.1%Pacific Islander, 1.2% fromother races, and 3.0% from two or more races. 4.4% of the population wereHispanics or Latinos of any race. According to 2012 estimates 59.7% of the population isnon-Hispanic white.
There were 69,900 households, out of which 41.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.7% weremarried couples living together, 14.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.5% were non-families. 18.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.79 and the average family size was 3.17.
The age distribution was: 28.8% under the age of 18, 8.2% from 18 to 24, 32.3% from 25 to 44, 21.7% from 45 to 64, and 9.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.4 males. For every 100 females aged 18 and over, there were 91.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $50,743, and the median income for a family was $56,302. Males had a median income of $39,204 versus $26,391 for females. Theper capita income for the city was $20,949. About 6.1% of families and 7.3% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 9.7% of those under age 18 and 9.0% of those age 65 or over.
Chesapeake is a competitive region. It has voted for the winner of the electoral college in every presidential election since 1972, except in 1992, 1996, and 2024.
United States presidential election results for Chesapeake, Virginia[28]
The Chesapeake Public Library System includes seven branches and one lending kiosk. After getting a library card, resources can be checked out online or in person at any of the branches. Additionally, Interlibrary Loan requests can be made in person or online if a resource you want is available at a different branch.[29]
The Chesapeake Public Library offers a variety of educational, career, and literary services to community members. A core part of the mission of the Chesapeake Public Library is to “support learners at every level to succeed in their education and career paths”.[30] This mission is accomplished in many ways, including free online classes for children and adults, access to a wide variety of digital educational resources, career help events, and creative/artistic programming.
Tolls in Chesapeake are currently limited to theChesapeake Expressway,Veterans Bridge and theJordan Bridge, but new ones may be imposed on some existing facilities to help generate revenue for transportation projects in the region.
TheDismal Swamp Canal runs through Chesapeake as well. The site of this canal was surveyed byGeorge Washington, among others, and is known as "Washington's Ditch". It is the oldest continuously used man made canal in the United States today and has been in service for over 230 years. The canal begins in theDeep Creek section of the city branching off from the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River. The canal runs through Chesapeake parallelingU.S. Highway 17 intoNorth Carolina and connects toElizabeth City, North Carolina.
Chesapeake is located on a potential line for high-speed passenger rail service between Richmond andSouth Hampton Roads which is being studied by theVirginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation. A new suburban passenger station near Bowers Hill would potentially be included to supplement a terminal in downtown Norfolk.
Chesapeake is served by U.S. Highways13,17,58, and460.Interstate 64, part of theHampton Roads Beltway, crosses through the city,Interstate 464 is a spur which connects it with downtown Norfolk and Portsmouth at theBerkley Bridge, andInterstate 664, which completes the Interstate loop from the Western Branch section of Chesapeake through the city of Newport News and into the city of Hampton.
Chesapeake is the only locality in the Hampton Roads area with a separate bridge division. The city's Department of Public Works, Bridges and Structures division has 51 full-time workers. The city maintains 90 bridges and overpasses. Included are five movable span (draw) bridges which open an estimated 30,000 times a year for water vessels.[31]
Water and sewer services are provided by the city's Department of Utilities. Chesapeake receives its electricity fromDominion Virginia Power which has local sources including the Chesapeake Energy Center (a coal-fired and gas power plant), coal-fired plants in the city andSouthampton County, and the Surry Nuclear Power Plant. Norfolk headquarteredVirginia Natural Gas, a subsidiary ofAGL Resources, distributesnatural gas to the city from storage plants inJames City County and in the city.
The Virginia tidewater area has grown faster than the local freshwater supply. Chesapeake receives the majority of its water from the Northwest River in the southeastern part of the city. To deal with intermittent high salt content, Chesapeake implemented an advancedreverse osmosis system at its Northwest River water treatment plant in the late 1990s. The river water has always been salty, and the fresh groundwater is no longer available in most areas. Currently, additional freshwater for theSouth Hampton Roads area is pumped fromLake Gaston, about 80 miles (130 km) west, which straddles the Virginia-North Carolina border along with theBlackwater andNottaway rivers. The pipeline is 76 miles (122 km) long and 60 inches (1,500 mm) in diameter. Much of its follows the formerright-of-way of an abandoned portion of theVirginian Railway.[32] It is capable of pumping 60 million US gallons (230,000 m3) of water per day. The cities of Chesapeake and Virginia Beach are partners in the project.[33]
The city provides wastewater services for residents and transports wastewater to the regional Hampton Roads Sanitation District treatment plants.[34]
In 2015, in honor of the game's 80th birthday,Hasbro held an online vote in order to determine which cities would make it into an updated version of theMonopoly Here and Now: The US Edition of the game. Chesapeake, Virginia won the wildcard round, earning it a brown spot.[40]
Core cities are metropolitan core cities of at least a million people. The other areas are urban areas of cities that have an urban area of 150,000+ or of a metropolitan area of at least 250,000+. Satellite cities are in italics.
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