Well, that's an interesting question, because people are having a hard time agreeing on that one. Although I'm not sure where you got the number four from. The current debate actually revolves around whether Hampton Roads has 7, 8 or 9 cities, not 4. The local government officially says it's 7. Most people right now are saying 8. They are:
- Charles City.
- Chesapeake.
- Franklin.
- Hampton
- Newport News.
- Norfolk.
- Poquoson.
- Portsmouth.
If you really have to cut it to four, then the 4 most important on that list by far are Norfolk, Newport News, Portsmouth and Chesapeake. Now to be sure, the term city is being stretched here, because the town of Charles City only has 133 people. Some folks believe you have to add Virginia Beach to this list, which would make it 9, but it's only considered part of the "metropolitan area". In reality, all these towns sort of just run together.
Overall, the area is broken up into the Southside and The Peninsula. The Southside, also known as South Hampton Roads, comprises the five cities of Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk and Virginia Beach. The Peninsula is made up of the independent cities of Hampton, Newport News (these two are officially part of the seven cities of Hampton Roads as well), Williamsburg and Poquoson and the counties of York and James City. So you can see the problem. With everything all run together, it depends on who you talk to as to where the lines are drawn.
