Newport News, Virginia

Lived here my whole life and rarely encountered racism. If I did it was more of a micro aggression than blatant racism and I’ve never felt unsafe here as a black woman. We get a lot of military in this area though so sometimes you may run into someone who isn’t friendly but they likely aren’t even from here. The whole 757 area is pretty much the same. There’s a few sketchy spots but what city doesn’t have them? I recommend avoiding downtown Newport News if you are just traveling to the area, that’s where most of the crime is and unfortunately it’s predominantly from black people but that’s a whole other history lesson if you know what I mean. Mid town and uptown is closer to most places that you’d be interested in but overall I’d say most of the things to do are “across the water” so we natives say. As in Norfolk, Chesapeake, and VA beach but its probably cheaper to stay in Newport News or Hampton. People also travel here for Busch gardens and historic Williamsburg/Jamestown/Yorktown which is close to uptown Newport News and you’re likely to find cheaper stays here than Williamsburg as well. IMO there’s not that many good eats in Newport News but Hampton, Norfolk, Chesapeake and VA beach have some really great spots! Newport News is more commercialized unfortunately but some small restaurants that I enjoy is Tanpopo Ramen close to Hampton/ downtown NN, Mr. Gyro in uptown NN, Annie’s pizza in midtown, 757 hotpot (Korean) in uptown NN, Catrin (Mexican) in uptown NN, Chic-a-sea in downtown NN, MP’s (Jamaican) in uptown NN.