LOUDOUN COUNTY’S COMMUNITY-OWNED NEWS SOURCE
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LoudounNow PIPELINE PROBLEMS Soaring costs may stall road project
TECH-SAVVY SCHOOL Fourth-graders serve as beta testers
Vol. 1, No. 11
LOCO LIVING Tally Ho stages songwriter series
loudounnow.com
January 21, 2016
Energizing Loudoun’s Nighttime Economy Business leaders unveil millennial magnet strategy BY RENSS GREENE In hurried meetings in windowless rooms in the Loudoun County government center, dozens of people in unheralded committees within committees are trying to give Loudoun a nightlife. Members of the Nighttime Economy Ad Hoc Committee—of the Economic Development Advisory Commission, of the Finance/Government Operations and Economic Development Committee, of the Board of Supervisors—and its seven subcommittees have been working since June to find a way to fit the newest old development idea, urban walkable environments, into Loudoun County. “There’s a cultural phenomenon happening in the country,” said NEAC co-chairman and Loudoun Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Tony
Howard. “Folks are moving back toward the cities. In my parents’ generation, and in my generation a little bit, folks were migrating out from the cities, and that’s why Loudoun developed as well as it did since the ’80s.” Loudoun’s suburban leanings have served it well in the past, and there’s still a need for suburban homes. The county has grown explosively as people move further out from the DC area. Now, however, Loudoun businesses complain they have difficulty attracting workforce, because younger employees demand an urban walkable environment: a place where people can go about daily routines without climbing into the car. People are moving back to the cities. That urban environment has a few notable traits, among them population density and nightlife.
“In order for mixed-use to be successful, it really does take an 18-hour economy,” said NEAC’s other co-chairman, Todd Pearson. “You have to have morning, daytime, and nighttime. Right now, you’ll maybe have some lunch, and there’s some evening play, but there’s really no nighttime economy, so that was one of the areas that we thought needed some improvement.” Pearson, 35, is the perfect example of the sort of young professional Loudoun loses out on. Successful, entrepreneurial, and with a young family, he felt forced to leave Loudoun to live his demanding lifestyle. His family has lived for generations in the county, and after growing up here, coming back after college, and starting a family, he was the first in his family to NIGHTTIME ECONOMY continued on page 31
Renss Greene/Loudoun Now
Nighttime Economy Ad Hoc Committee co-chairmen Tony Howard and Todd Pearson stand at Loudoun Station. The Ashburn development is an example of what the future of Loudoun growth may look like.
After Another Life Lost to Mental Illness, Community Calls for Action BY DANIELLE NADLER
Norman K. Styer/Loudoun Now
Flowers and candles left by classmates form a memorial at the site where a 17-year-old Loudoun Valley High School student committed suicide Jan. 14.
The public suicide of a Loudoun Valley High School student has rattled the Purcellville community in the past week and reawakened a county-wide conversation about the need for mental illness education and prevention. A 17-year-old killed himself at a playground near the school Jan. 14, according to law enforcement and school
officials. Casey Kemps, a friend and former roommate of William Robinson, said he was shocked to hear of his friend’s death. He described the high school junior as goofy and funny. He liked anime and was “all about punk rock.” “He was a best friend to everyone,” Kemps said. “He always made sure evMENTAL ILLNESS SUPPORT continues on page 20
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