But in the second half of the century, Norfolk had a vibrant retail community in its suburbs; companies like Smith & Welton, High's, Colonial Stores, Goldman's Shoes, Lerner Shops, Hofheimer's,[1] Giant Open Air, Dollar Tree and K & K Toys were regional leaders in their respective fields.

Similarly, the advent of newer suburban shopping destinations spelled demise for the fortunes of downtown's Granby Street commercial corridor, located just a few blocks inland from the waterfront.

Norfolk, as with many other cities, took full advantage of these Federal urban renewal funds and began large-scale demolitions of broad swaths of downtown.

On the inland side of Waterside Drive, the demolition of the warehouses and wharves created new parcels on which most of the highrise buildings in Norfolk's skyline now stand.

Town Point Park created a pleasant and inviting new public space at which Norfolkers gather, whether for formally planned events like Harborfest, or for more passive enjoyment of the views, breeze, and people watching.

The clearance of the obsolete warehouses and wharves from the waterfront also created real estate development that has brought hundreds of millions of dollars of investment in office buildings.

After the failure of the Granby Mall project, city leaders were intent on finding some way to bring commercial activity back to downtown in a major way.

The idea of creating an upscale regional mall on the 17 acres (69,000 m2) cleared during urban renewal just one block east of Granby Street had remained in the minds of Norfolk's economic development officials for many years; at one point, vice mayor, and later judge, Joseph Jordan proposed an enormous, enclosed shopping center to be known as Norfolk Gardens, so elaborate as to include indoor amusement park rides, presaging the development years later of Bloomington, Minnesota's Mall of America.

In late 1997, Norfolk officials made the announcement that they had finally received a commitment from Nordstrom to open a store in a new downtown shopping mall.

Norfolk officials named the mall, MacArthur Center, in honor of the five-star World War II General whose tomb is located across the street from the proposed site.

With the promise of thousands of new shoppers coming to nearby MacArthur Center, owners of properties throughout downtown reinvested in their buildings and made them ready for new retail and residential uses.

Tidewater Community College opened its Norfolk campus and central administrative offices on Granby Street, locating its library in the painstakingly renovated former Smith & Welton department store building.

Located just northwest of downtown, the Ghent district of Norfolk is one of the Hampton Roads region's premier urban residential communities.

Ghent has the highest residential densities of any other area in Hampton Roads, and is home to a diverse array of people - artists, strivers, lower income to wealthy, etc.

Many other areas of Norfolk are also being revitalized, including Fairmount Park Neighborhood, Ocean View and East Beach, the latter both on the Chesapeake Bay.