Percentage Change in Total Population, 1990-2000 Chesapeake City, Virginia Table 6: Household Type, Chesapeake and MSA, 2000 Number of Persons in Poverty by Block Group, 2000 Chesapeake City, Vigrinia Map Homeownership Rate by Census Tract, 2000 Chesapeake City, Virginia Map Home Purchase Loan Approval Rate by Census Tract City of Chesapeake Map

The City of Chesapeake grew rapidly during the 1980s and 1990s and will continue to grow into the foreseeable future. Although the rate of increase in population and housing demand is likely to slow somewhat, we project an increase in housing demand of 13,000 units during the current decade and another 10,500 units between 2010 and 2020. This includes 10,260 owner occupied units and 2,656 renter occupied units between 2000 and 2010, followed by increases of 8,487 owner occupied units and 2,025 renter occupied units between 2010 and 2020.   
 
The housing market in Chesapeake is heavily oriented to owner-occupied, single-family detached housing.  More than three of every four households are families, but this understates the importance of families in both the owner and renter housing markets.  In addition, Chesapeake has a racially diverse population and is similar to the MSA in racial and ethnic composition. Residential segregation is at a moderate level and declining.  
 
Chesapeake not only has a high homeownership rate, it is an important location for minority homeownership. However, the homeownership rate for blacks in younger cohorts is particularly low, lagging behind whites by 15 to 20 percentage points.  In addition, black applicants for home purchase loans were the only group with an overall loan approval rate below 90%.  
 
The City is experiencing problems of uneven development, with some older areas losing population while newer areas expand rapidly. South Norfolk and adjacent areas were largely “built-out” in the 1950s and now face the challenges of redevelopment in order to remain competitive in the contemporary residential market. Public intervention is needed to maintain the competitiveness of “built out” areas as they age.