THE NEW  COMMUNITY of Lexington is like three  neighborhoods  in  one.  ¶ When completed,  it will boast more than 400 townhomes  in three  sections: Bluegrass Park, Nichols Park and Woodland Park.

IT DOESN'T MATTER whether you call it a rebirth or renaissance: The new community of New Port at Victory is fast becoming the sign of things to come in Portsmouth. Developed by Portsmouth Venture One and built by Chesapeake Homes, the planned community occupies the site where Academy Park once stood, just west of Norfolk Naval Shipyard.

An additional 71 houses are going up in northern Suffolk’s Harbour Breeze Estates  as the community enters its second phase. Beco Homes developed the property and built 67 homes during the first phase in 2005. Lifestyle Homes is building the additional single-family dwellings.

A SMALL NEIGHBORHOOD FLOURISHES in the heart of Chesapeake's Greenbrier, where a soybean field once stood. When complete, the new Mars Brothers LLC community of Westchester Estates will feature 33 single-family homes by Ashdon Builders and Graf Construction.

  IF ONLY THE WALLS of each house in Portsmouth's Olde Towne could talk. They'd tell fantastic stories of long-gone days. The quaint city, near the Elizabeth River, has survived wars, fires, plagues and occupations by foreign troops, but it remains a charming reminder of our country's roots.

WHETHER FRED HANDS IS registering new residents or relaxing in his apartment, he feels right at home at The Alexander at Ghent. Not only is the 52-year-old the property manager of the apartment homes , he’s also a resident.

When Ian Hill talks about building his dream home in Cooper’s Creek Manor, it’s reminiscent of a Goldilocks fairy tale.

“We used to live in another part of Chesapeake, but it had a crowded feel to it. So, we moved to Currituck, but it was too rural,” said Hill, vice president of A & W Contractors.

Cobb, who lived in Birdneck Point, was a real estate broker with Cobb, Maxey and Nicholson Real Estate in the 1970s when she purchased an 8-acre parcel bordering Birdneck Point, just off Laskin Road. "I grew up in the building business, and all my life all I knew were men building things. I thought, 'Why can't a woman do something like that?' " she said.

Bill and Mary Eley felt a special kinship to the city where they grew up and knew they wanted to move back there. The couple found the ideal location at The Gateway at Sterling Point in Portsmouth. The Eleys became the carriage home condominium community's second family when they moved to it from Chesapeake in April 2007.

Some residents who live near Crystal Lake share stories of growing up there. Now, more memories are in the making with the recent construction of Crystal Lake South. ¶ “They tell us how they swam in there as children more than 30 years ago,” said Ginny Cross , marketing director with Ashdon Builders, which built the new Chesapeake community.