The Tysons Corner Issue #6

Need small solutions

ISSUE #6 July1,2012

COVER PHOTO BY TYSONS ENGINEER Streetscape Pixilate ALL PHOTOGRAPHY AND GRAPHICS WITHIN THIS PUBLICATION RIGHTS RESERVED TO THE ARTIST

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MegaProjects How About MiniProjects

Wolftrap

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Germany Utopia of Conservatism?

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Falls Church Lagging Behind Regional Neighbors

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A Shared Rail/Road Bridge Can Connect the Region

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Don’t Destroy Residential Districts with Boone Boulevard Ramp

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Tysons Development Updates

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Merrifield Parks a Good Example of Design Excellence

Retail innovation control the costs

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MegaProjects How about MiniProjects In the Washington Metro area, when it comes to transportation it seems like we only ever have one answer, let’s build it BIG. How big? Mega project big, and this term instead of being viewed as something that should be avoided for its detriment to flow patterns and residents during and after construction, is viewed in admiration as a game of one upsmanship between jurisdictions and departments.

Regardless of studies that seem to show that smaller more human scale and interconnected projects could be more effective and less costly, our jurisdictions continue to say the only way forward is MORE mega projects.

Well we disagree, the mega project era is over. If the Wilson Bridge and Mixing Bowl could do nothing to fix 495, then there is something bigger happening here. $3 billion should not go towards an “incremental” improvement. $3 billion should make a generational improvement. If polled a majority of residents might have preferred 2 or 3 additional smaller crossings be made of the Potomac rather than continuing to funnel the flood of commuters into the pinch point we currently have.

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Smaller crossings beyond being more cost effective and easy to implement, reduce the need for massive indirect land acquisition necessary to create the 14 different directions of travel similar to what we now see in the mixing bowl or Wilson Bridge.

Overpasses and ramps for separation of traffic are the number 1 cost increase to any road project. Less land acquisition means MORE efficient river crossings and less impact to wildlife and natural regions.

By providing only ONE mode of transportation with a bridge crossing

we are wasting the opportunity to provide for future infrastructure for rail improvements. Combining the structural costs does increase the price tag compared to a vehicle only design, but a new rail crossing will eventually be necessary, and combining these costs would reduce the total funding by 40% in many cases. Additionally, combining the number of piers necessary through combination reduces the impact to wildlife and creates a future sustainable option which includes a lower pollution source of passenger rail.

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We need to learn from the big dig and mixing bowl projects Expensive systems that caused massive headaches for a decade with very little regional traffic relief

Lastly, we need to stop viewing the only improvements that are acceptable as being 495 style 10 lane mega crossings. These are not appropriate in most of the potomac corridor and completely gash the existing dynamics of established areas. There are thousands of cases of 4-lane bridges in the United States and the world capable of carrying 30,000+ users per day. Is this the same as the 250,000 users the Wilson Bridge carries?

No, but that is the Wilson Bridge.

Taking 30,000 users off of the Beltway and the Wilson bridge with a more sustainable and human scale bridge will cost 10% of the Wilson Bridge project.

Benefit per cost remains the same, and more importantly better locating of these bridges can reduce the length of time en route by removing the bottle neck and detour distance that travelling around the beltway causes. These 30,000 users therefore equate to half the travel distance as well, doubling the effectiveness of properly routing them.

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The Tysons Corner is a website in its infancy, started in 2011, created BY to discuss the local issues DESCRIBING THE specific to eastern Fairfax COMPLEXITY OF including the regions of Tysons Corner, Falls OWN BACKYARDS Church, McLean, Vienna, and Merrifield. Our goal is to provide a deeper analysis of progressive topics centered around the new urbanism concepts of a 21st century E N T E R TA I N M E N T Northern Virginia. We have seen the region grow W R I T E R S from a quiet suburban community to a cultural U R B A N I S T S and economic contributor of the east coast rivaling other more established T H I N K E R S A N D cities. The area for many grew without I N N O VAT O R S years direction leaving a disconnected community A R T S C E N E of micro-developments R E P O R T E R S without any coordinated design concept. Our goal is to create a unified, or cacophonous, voice of residents and interested parties to discuss what the future vision for the

BE PART OF YOUR

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region could or should be.

We look to fill the questions that many have and provide the depth of coverage that is difficult for overall news publications to provide.

We are currently looking for interested bloggers who are looking for a forum to discuss their ideas as a writer for TTC. This could be done as an exclusive TTC format or as a cross post with other independent blogs. If you are interested in reaching a large base of readers specific to this region think about joining.

Please feel free to contact us; navid@thetysonscorner.com

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Wolftrap

Wolftrap

On Thursday night, before any of us had to worry about the ability to get air conditioning, clean water, or gas, the grounds of Wolftrap were the center of a new wind of young musicians.

The beautiful weather and music of the Lumineers, Josh Ritter, and Brandi Carlisle brought out an eclectic mix of revelers and an atypical vibe for Wolftrap, which has lacked the young feel for the past few years.

Bringing your own picnic, including a couple bottles of wine, to Wolftrap is going to be noticed by many who are weary of over priced concessions, and if the music stays this fresh, I’ll be the first in line.

Like The Constant Shopper and want more? Follow @diaryofd on Twitter or at her personal blog

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Germany Utopia of Conservatism?

The past 3 months have been tumultuous in Europe. The complete collapse of the Greek economy and the teetering state of the Spanish economy have brought into question the European Unions financial stability. More than one conservative in the US has taken this moment to bolster their position on the United State’s current debt level, noting the strength of the French and German economies which are the more right-centrist political realms of Europe and the social obligations of Greece as the main crisis culprit. Does the argument have merit? Is the Republican platform better for the economy of this country?

First we need to understand the decisions that the French and German governments made in the 2000s and recently which have helped avoid the same downfall as the rest of Europe. Angela Merkel, leader of the CDU and prime minister of Germany, was elected in 2005 under a socially conservative platform. Merkel’s initial victories were in reducing and controlling a crisis of undocumented immigrants, reducing social obligations for unemployment and healthcare, and updating an aging German infrastructure.

Part 1 and 2, I’ll give it to the GOP that we may be over extending ourselves by not taking border security and larger social obligations into consideration when addressing our budget. I have never been in support of a bloated government, but what I am in favor of is a baseline health care that remains competitive which forces private health care providers to evaluate their practices and provide sufficient pricing as well.

Follow us on twitter for daily food truck alerts forwarded from the trucks.

Energy diversity (Not Oil Only Policy)

Clearly something the GOP is supporting

If one were to investigate the German Healthcare Reform Bill they would see that the more centrist reform stays even further socialist than the often scapegoated Obamacare plan.

The German Health Care system will still retain %80+ state covered citizens. This system is regarded as one of the best in the world and has remained at a very high level of service, disproving other GOP claims that state run health care is inevitably worse than private systems.

One element that helped save a significant amount of money in the German reform was

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Keeping cities strong and controlling sprawl PAGE 8

Unfortunately for the gop you actually have to enact german policies in order to be more like germany reanalysis of the purpose of medication treatment and the rising costs of medicine itself, something that continues to be on the Democratic platform in the US, and is the real hidden cost of rising health care domestically. So claims by the GOP that the history of debt in Germany shows that fiscal conservatism is a way forward are outrageously over stated.

If anything, the German health care system gives us a pathway to appropriate social systems, and that pathway remains further left than the current policy (to be enacted in 2014).

The real dynamo behind the success of France and Germany has been their massive infrastructure improvements during the past decade and continuing into today.

The German energy grid is considered by most to be the best in the world. In 2010 alone 26 billion euros were invested directly into renewable energy production in the form of wind, photovoltaic, hydroelectric, geothermal, and biomass which have curbed the countries total oil energy use (including vehicles) to only 30%. As of this past year non-combustible renewable energy production accounted for 20% of all energy

used in Germany which has a goal of 80% non-combustible renewables by 2050. The effort in updating the energy grid for the 21st century has also created over a million sustained jobs in the past decade, converting lost manufacturing jobs to gained energy production and construction jobs. The conservative party in Germany in this way understands that sticking to old ideology, such as anti-climate change, pro-petroleum institute, and the concept that ALL spending is wasteful is not productive in creating a better German economy.

Some spending must be viewed as an investment and some reforms, although ideologically opposed, must be reviewed for their ability to create a stability in uncontrolled businesses like health care. These are the real lessons from the German economy. The failure of Spain and Greece is due to a lack of leveraging the money gained from joining the European Union into real economic drivers, instead relying on a real estate bubble and tourism which in economic downturns have shown they will collapse.

while manufacturing has moved overseas in the past decades (though trends show it is returning due to freight costs) it still remains a substantial element of what America is founded on. Losses in manufacturing have also been buoyed by gains in our high tech, bio-medical, engineering, and financial systems making the US and the dollar the most stable system of the world.

We must take our position at the top and leverage our capabilities to assure we will remain the predominant economy of the world through the 22nd century. We must take our infrastructure and social program system, intended for the conditions of the 20th century and no longer the reality in the 21st century, and create a new design capable of addressing the real dilemmas of our time. Big problems require big risks and big investments, but as history has shown those who make bold leaps are often rewarded in the end.

Those who take this same opportunity and stagnate are destined to watch it crumble away.

This is not an issue in the US. We enjoy the most diverse and powerful true economy in the world, and PAGE 9

By NovaBroker Northern Virginia’s thriving office market was paramount in my decision to enter a competitive, commissionbased profession. Fairfax County’s continued support for mixed-use, metro-centric zoning reaffirms this choice.

Zoning laws can prevent you from running your tech startup out of your parents’ basement or building an office condo in that vacant lot at the end of your street.

This type of single-use zoning contrasts with the policy changes taking place in Tysons Corner, because mixed-use development layers residential, commercial, and industrial components in higher density areas – preferably around transportation nodes – to create walkable communities ideal for living and working.

The success of the RB (Rosslyn-Ballston) Corridor, specifically Ballston, exemplifies the benefits associated with this type of development when compared to its Orange Line neighbor Falls Church.

The Orange Line and careful urban planning transformed Ballston into an acclaimed urban community.

The completion of the Metro sparked a wave of development that has reverberated through the past four decades. Since 1993 Ballston’s rentable building area (RBA) has more than doubled from 3.5 million to 7.6 million SF of office space.

Northern Virginia’s effective office rental rates typically grow on

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average 2.5 to 3% annually.

Meanwhile Ballston’s average effective rental rate has risen from $20 to $42 per SF, which equates to about 4% annual growth and a dramatic increase in property tax revenue. Ballston’s office space is now slightly more expensive than Rosslyn’s aging product despite Rosslyn’s superior proximity to DC. The genius behind Ballston’s rapid development is that commercial and residential land uses function symbiotically. People want to live in Ballston, because the town includes a range of residential possibilities and abounds with opportunity.

Businesses gravitate there, because the area is replete with a young, educated work force and contains quality office product (among a variety of demand factors).

Whether in the office or at home, you rarely have to drive to eat or shop for either.

Ballston’s small streets and large sidewalks exemplify the concept of new urbanism, which reverts to pre-automobile urban design principles that coincide with mixed-use development. Think of new urbanism as all the ingredients of a healthy, balanced meal neatly packed into a recyclable grocery bag. Fewer people have to drive to work since office buildings with first floor retail space fit in like puzzle pieces with residential high rises and exemplary public transportation.

NovaBroker began working in office brokerage this past spring. He hopes to bring clarity to complicated development issues, so passive observers can more easily understand issues effecting our community and contribute their voice to the ongoing dialogue between residents, workers, developers, and government officials.

Please reach out with any commercial real estate related needs or questions to NoVaBroker at taylor.monroe@colliers.com.

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Falls Church rejected this approach to the Metro, and intended to exploit Metro’s benefits while remaining an idyllic suburban community.

Charles Stewart in Falls Church – A History of a Village illuminates the psyche of the town stating, “…the tired city man can afford all of the enjoyment of retirement and tranquility”. Falls Church wanted to utilize its proximity to DC without corrupting the “tranquility” of its white-picketfenced houses and lush green lawns. Fairfax officials decided to construct the Falls Church Metro stops outside of its city limits along I-66. Walkways over I-66 connect the stations to large parking lots for Falls Church residents to park their cars in the morning before work. Arlington and DC metro commuters most likely need to catch a bus from these stops to get to work, if working near the Falls Church metro stations.

Over this time period, the Falls Church office market has underperformed not only the

pricey inner-beltway submarkets but also the Northern Virginia office market as a whole. The effective rental rate for office space has increased over the past nineteen years by two percent from $16 to $23.50. The RBA has only increased twenty four percent from 8.7 million to 10.8 million while covering a much larger area of land than Ballston. This fact points to the assumptions that Falls Church has reached its physical market capacity and/or developers do not see the area as a profitable investment. Either way much of the inventory is older product with nothing substantial in the pipeline.

Falls Church became an independent city in 1948 to improve its school system. In hindsight, a pattern of conservative isolationism underlies the last century of local politics which has created the disconnect from the region we see today.

shelling out three-fourths of my paycheck for a matchbox-sized apartment in New York City.

Personal preference clearly plays a role in the matter as well. Falls Church has beautiful homes just like Ballston has nice penthouse condos and apartments all within relative proximity to essential amenities.

Both types of residential units attract and repel tenants and owners for legitimate reasons. A more practical question than taste would be what type of city planning encourages the most sustainable economic growth per tax dollar spent, while simultaneously minimizing environmental impact.

The marginal growth of Falls Church’s office market is not outpacing its age. Falls Church will likely remain a great place to live for some time, but, as the commercial sector goes, residential properties will eventually follow if the status quo persists. Just because Falls Church is not the next Detroit does not mean the city has the brightest future in the DC Metro if it continues the trend of isolation.

This was the best salad I have ever eaten.

The past is an easy target for criticism, though. If effective commercial rental rates ultimately guided where I live then I would be

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A Shared Rail/Road Bridge Can Connect the Region SUSTAINABLE AND ECONOMICAL BRIDGES The urge for a new Potomac crossing hasn’t been this great in a long time.

The fervor has reached a high enough boiling point that even the Outer Beltway monster, once vanquished in the 1990s, is back to haunt us again. Instead of a truck corridor, it is now being promoted as a development corridor which could connect the growing residence and businesses of Loudoun with the growing residents and businesses of Gaithersburg. It is also being sold as a way of reducing traffic on the inner beltway and east/westbound traffic on the toll road and route 7.

We are not sure how effective this really would be, as previously discussed.

At best this new project would connect the #5 economic center of Metro Washington (Rockville) to the #8 economic center of Metro

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Washington (Eastern Loudoun/Western Fairfax).

The current project is absolutely ridiculous because of the extensive amount of highway and right of way acquisition necessary to connect Route 28 to the ICC through desolate regions of Northern Virginia and even more expansive southern Montgomery County. The real driving cost? A right of way that is double what it needs to be, with an anticipated 90′ pavement width and plans to upgrade a half dozen intersections to be limited access ramps.

Why do we have to have everything all at once? This would be a huge risk to build such a massive project on the assumption of future growth, especially in the current environment in which large scale growth is occurring closer into the

city drawing away large scale developers. Scaling back the plans isn’t acknowledging defeat, it’s compromising with existing realities.

The cost of bridges and roadways are directly related to the total number of lane miles, not just the length of the road but how many lanes are involved. Reducing the pavement width to 60′ will directly reduce cost by a third of the anticipated cost. It will also reduce anxiety over massive environmental detriment and intrusive visual effects along the Potomac. A 4-lane bridge crossing can be constructed in a far more land sensitive and economical method than the current plans and more importantly the concept of the separated highway will not be necessary with this appropriate design, removing the need for a half dozen expensive on-ramps and overpasses.

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This concept makes sense. No one denies that a resident of Herndon or Loudoun could use a better path to reach Maryland, specifically Montgomery County, but the issue has been molded into a traffic relief design. Traffic demands on this new road just don’t support the need for the massive up front investment, and more importantly would not support the tolls that would be necessary on the new bridge and ICC connection. Instead, lets make only 1 toll, for the bridge itself, priced around 2 or 3 dollars, and make the rest of the road a regular rural route through Maryland. 45 miles per hour is a heck of a lot better than 15 miles per hour like most Loudouners currently have to deal with in the west bound direction, who said it HAD to be another version of the beltway?

What does any of this mean though. The Route 28 bridge (let’s stop calling it the outer beltway) still isn’t very sustainable and by my own measures won’t make much of an impact on the regions economy. Well it brings partners to the table for an overall regional improvement. That overall regional improvement includes two new Potomac crossings for road users connecting Loudoun and Montgomery as described above, and a new river crossing that connects Tysons/McLean to Bethesda with a 495 relief bridge.

A few kickers beyond tying the #1 economic center of Fairfax to the #1 economic center of Montgomery county?

This project makes it feasible for a Purple Line extension from Bethesda, across the Potomac on a shared rail/road bridge, stopping at Langley (can you say Federal assistance plus), and connecting to the Silver Line. A new Potomac crossing at this point will allow a half/half split of Orange line trips across the potomac, reducing the stress on the existing Orange/Blue

Line Potomac tunnel. With all of the silver line removed from the tunnel, and 50% of orange line trains, direct traffic from Arlington and the Blue Line can have express routing to DC. Additionally, a large portion of riders who currently must transfer at metro center to reach Bethesda and use the outer Orange line system (Vienna/WFC) can now have direct service to Bethesda helping reduce the over capacity Orange Line trains. This can be done with a price tag of just 2 billion dollars through the use of the existing right of way.

both directions between Bethesda and Tysons Corner/Arlington. Again, this bridge would be tolled at an economical rate of 3 dollars to help pay for it’s construction.

Wait didn’t this guy just say let’s NOT have everything all at once?

Well here in is how we create a plan for the future without having to build it all at once. We create triggers in the system that indicate when elements become necessary, while saving a portion of the funds being attained today in an account that can reduce the effects of inflation.

Road users in this corridor, which is over strained from funneling on 495, would see an approximate (pending VDOT study of 267 traffic destinations) 40,000 users removed from 495 who currently travel in

• Silver Line ridership trigger • 495 crossings trigger between Tysons/Bethesda • Minimum saved via WMATA portioning PAGE 13

Let’s build the 4-lane bridge and connection for Loudoun and Western Fairfax, but with this sustainable design capable of full funding by Maryland and Virginia, let’s take the toll money raised and set aside 10% towards the future rail/road bridge, which in our previous analysis could raise around 20 million dollars over the next 10 years with a $2.50 toll price. As this project directly improves WMATA’s system, some of the funding should come from set aside assets from the Silver Line and Orange Line. A 10% set aside from all Silver/Orange/Red fares could raise $45+ million per year, providing for 25% of the project cost.

With $500 million of the project covered, we are still left with a $1.5 billion dollar deficit. Enter the federal government which would be attaining a new road and rail connection to Langley and Bethesda Naval Hospital, two major elements of the local federal presence. How much is that worth? We think it is atleast as beneficial as the Silver Line was, and therefore should receive a similar funding of $900 million. The remaining $600 million would be shared between Virginia, Maryland, Fairfax, and Montgomery County.

Our first reaction in the current political climate is to isolate those who we disagree with. This occurs usually before understanding why a disagreement exists. By compromising and collaborating on the goals of both political, ideological, and economical views we can finally start to make order out of the chaos that is this region. We think this has to happen eventually, but it doesn’t have to happen all at once. Playing it safe, saving money in advance and making a plan, is something us as individuals do when we have a big ticket item on our minds and we should demand the same from our leaders. In our final look at this Potomac crossings project we will look at some more detailed design concepts.

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CONCEPT Cable stayed bridges provide little benefit in the case of a road bridge for river crossings, beyond aesthetics, as in most cases the simpler and more economical choice is a standard pier and deck system. When a much more demanding live load from a heavy rail system is included the cable stay provides an efficient method of addressing the new structural requirements. The cost per mile is increased but compared to two individual bridges this method would remain more efficient.

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By providing a pedestrian/emergency vehicle road deck above the metro rail, the bridge width is reduced and a central corridor for emergency vehicles can be provided to address bridge incidents. This also provides a greater safety in the separation of vehicles and trains that can prevent intentional attacks on the rail tracks.

250′ above bridge deck, for a total height over water of approximately 350′. The elevation of the towers would be approximately 100′ above the side banks of the Potomac at this part of the river. Much of the towers could be screened with vegetation. Most importantly, while the towers might have a visual impact, the water body itself can remain undisturbed without midspan piers.

The bridge is designed to carry 6 vehicular lanes of 11′ each with a 3′ shoulder and 2′ curbed retaining wall. The cable stayed towers would need to be approximately PAGE 16

Controversy Over Boone Boulevard Ramp PAGE 17

Don’t Destroy Residential Districts with Boone Boulevard Ramp

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Environmentalists and parents please step out of my way, because as much as your concerns are valid, deer will lose their habitat, children will be more at risk at bus stops, it appears that no one at Fairfax is listening to the “Wont someone think of the children!” routine. So lets put this in terms of cold hard cash, terms that even the most hypocritical and trend word clutching planner can understand. This project will stunt the future growth of Tysons Corner costing hundreds of millions of dollars over the next decade and will put at risk your concept of a residential Tysons Corner.

I will now open the floor to questions.

VDOT (and FCDOT) planner “But we have a serious traffic issue, commuters from the toll road have to be given priority to get to their jobs. They live so far away and this final 5 minutes of their commute makes them oh so very sad.”

No, sit down and stop ruining our lives. Those people made the decision to get more land and house living further away. In life one can not get everything that they desire, especially when it comes unfairly at the detriment of others who have made a more sustainable choice.

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VDOT (and FCDOT) planner “This project will help reduce traffic within Tysons Corner which will make it a much more attractive location to live in” How can you say this with a straight face? I mean do you actually believe this, because if so then we need to just clean house with our transportation department and start from scratch. Poll all of the residents of this region of Tysons and I assure you that at a minimum 90% of them will say traffic is not really a large concern of theirs, in fact if anything I would guess that 90% of Tysons residents want the road widenings to STOP completely and view the far greater problem as being the massive asphalt canyons that are completely impassible in this town. I am a Tysons resident who can not walk farther than 1/2 mile before coming to an impassible barrier in which my life is at risk because of the prioritization of

commuters, 35% of which don’t even live in Fairfax County and therefore don’t even contribute to our tax base.

Seriously. Sit down for a second here VDOT (and FCDOT), stop trying to get more projects to design so that you can retain your bloated department and actually start thinking. The Dulles Toll Road corridor is the one region of Tysons Corner that will directly be impacted by the presence of the Silver Line. I know I know, you guys don’t get it, mass transit is for liberal hippies not corporate types and only 30,000 people will be using it. Hey genius, at least 50% of the demand on the silver line is going to be from people who currently use the Dulles Toll Road. While you think only 30,000 people will use it, most people who aren’t VDOT believe that closer to 50,000 riders (100,000 total trips) will utilize this corridor over the next 5 years. So what

15,000 commuters off of roads out of 150,000 is only 10%. Yes but specifically 15,000 users off of the Dulles Toll Road exit to Tysons (40,000 total) is close to 40% reduction of flow on this corridor. So in other words, you all are lying to Fairfax County and it’s residents.

Maybe I am an idiot, and shouldn’t question state and local DOTs. I mean these guys have had such amazing conceptual designs like the Mixing Bowl, which has made downtown Springfield the economic engine of the east coast based on its 676 million dollar price tag right, it was the Big Dig of Virginia wasn’t it?

I mean that project at a minimum secured more military positions being able to be located in NOVA right? A lot of high end commercial users saw that beautifully flowing interchange and said, I want to build next to that! CONCRETE!!!

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Let’s get back on topic, the Boone Boulevard on ramp.

Anyone with any bit of logic can see this is just more commuter prioritized design. Fairfax’s response when it is correctly accused of this prioritization? We have to consider the needs of all of our residents. Ok, that’s fine and all but you have been doing that for the past 25 years. That is why we have the completely out of whack priorities in the money making center of our County. You are saying, lets build a bunch of residential units in Tysons Corner and people will choose to live there because of the ease of access.

Imagine people instead of cars. Well it’s just not that simple. If you create an environment that in EVERY WAY makes it difficult to have a comfortable life then why would anyone buy into your words. Put some actions behind your trend words.

Step 1? Say NO to more road “solutions”. If people hate the traffic coming off of the toll road they will make a decision in their life to use the metro or metro buses instead, or heaven forbid choose to live in Tysons Corner. Isn’t that what your biggest goal should be, changing the ridiculously on its head ratio of 10:1 commuters to residents? If people live in Tysons Corner they won’t give a crap whether traffic on the Dulles Toll Road takes an extra 5 minutes.

A note to my fellow residents. I understand your frustration and you are all correct this project directly worsens your land value and level of comfort in your life. With the anticipated 35,000 new vehicles you will no longer be able to let your children play outside without them being tethered or otherwise chained.

Heck even if you weren’t worried about that, this plan destroys the only piece of land that would be acceptable for them to play on. However, the developers are not the ones who are doing this to you.

It is difficult to separate the players here, but look at the words of Jay Klug who on my interview with him echoed these sentiments. This project is antithetical to the desires of the mixed use developers.

They want people walking and moving around their retail and residential developments. They don’t want to continue the exodus of the commuters. Residents and developers need to come together to create proper ideas that create growth without letting VDOT and Fairfax DOT ruin those concepts with status quo requirements.

Why why why is there parallel parking being allowed on BOTH sides of the new Boone Boulevard? Seriously. We are taking a bikeable safe road, a rarity in this city, and turning it into a 82′ wide asphalt canyon. Can’t you see that you are ruining your own plans with really bad implementation? Lets fix the cross section of the road

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(as well as remove the on ramp all together). Boone Boulevard was not supposed to be another International Drive or Route 7, based on your own comprehensive plans. Remove the parallel street parking. Tysons Corner already has 8 times more surface parking than is found in ALL of the city of Arlington. Who the hell are these commuters who can’t find a parking space?

Boom the cross section is now 66′ wide. What else?

These roads are 11′ wide, for what purpose? We are trying to slow people down, there are children and families living here after all. Reduce these widths to 10′ wide. Okay, so that’s only 2′, but you’ve made this road just feel less dangerous by simply forcing people to slow down. Lastly? Separated out bike lanes are great, what is greater is avoiding dangerous through traffic flying through the city because they are late for a 9 o’clock meeting and striking a bicyclist. Avoid the through traffic by reducing the road section to (2)-vehicle lanes and (2)-calmed traffic lanes suitable for bike traffic.

Use materials like rumble strips in the right lanes and alternative striping to alert vehicle users to the preferred through lane. If you create a natural slower lane you will create a more inherent bike friendly path.

Now we have a road section that doesn’t feel cavernous, it is only 54′ wide and 12′ of that is a nice landscape median.

We need to do MORE with what we have, and we have to start designing to help our residents not hurt them.

Instead of creating a 30 million dollar road project to bloat VDOT and create a 120′ Right Of Way which wastes land valued at $6 million per acre lets create a project that costs 5% of that, with far less right of way acquisition and that directly improves the traffic flow and transportation options of local residents.

We have to stand up against these roadway planners and tell them that enough is enough and that it is time for CHANGE.

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Tysons Development Updates

Tysons West Construction of Tysons West, which includes retail and residential components is progressing along side the Metro Rail Construction. No update on the current rezoning which will bring much of the high density residential and street modifications with the rest of the project. What was an existing parking garage is being retrofitted to provide a more urban faรงade and reutilized for building components.

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When we first announced that Tysons Tower had begun construction, an exclusive story only provided on The Tysons Corner, we thought that Macerich had a lot of catching up to do in order to attain their lofty goal of construction delivery in 2014. We had no idea what kind of construction effort the first month would entail.

It appears, from this humble civil engineer, that about 50% of the earthwork necessary for the site development has been completed.

Soldier piles appear to be complete along the entire length of the existing mall access road along the

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AMC garage which will allow for the remaining 50% of the earthwork operations to continue. That means if you are a resident in Tysons Corner you should likely avoid the Westpark Bridge in the mornings for the next couple of weeks as it has become more congested with dump trucks hauling off soil stockpiles. Next door to Tysons Tower you might be seeing some new steel supports rising. We believe these are the first elements of the pedestrian bridge proposed across Route 123 from the new Tysons Metro stop.

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We have had a love hate relationship with this project from its inception. While the project does achieve a significant upgrade to the existing VDOT embankment and 1 story strip mall that was previously adjacent to the mall, it misses a huge opportunity for a private public partnership with Fairfax County. In a previous article we discussed the possibility of VDOT air rights over Route 123 being used to create decking and additional urban developments, all the while providing a vehicular tunnel through central Tysons and a truly walkable and crossable connection between Western Tysons and Eastern Tysons. The Macerich development will not necessarily make that future concept unrealistic but it will make the decking project slightly less fruitful by not matching the most efficient layout. In fact the completion of Tysons Tower likely forces the removal of an entire block from our original concept layout.

Macerich and Lerner have both argued that paying for infrastructure in Tysons is not a requirement for them, and cited the fact that they are paying for the metro through the special tax district already.

Other land owners have stated their willingness to come to an agreement if these two big members of the community would also assist on the projected billion dollar Tysons specific infrastructure (2.1 billion including overall Fairfax projects).

The County could have played as mediator if they had anything to offer such as parking or density concessions.

We also believe Fairfax County missed an opportunity to bring Macerich, and Lerner, back to the rezoning table where each party could barter for concessions that would help the greater good of the city.

For a video of the future of Tysons Tower see this IFM rendering of Cassidy & Pinkard Colliers future skyscraper.

Overall Tysons Tower is progressing quickly and will be a huge improvement to a Route 123 corridor which currently looks more like a rural freeway than an urban haven. We don’t expect this project alone to draw many people out of their cars and onto sidewalks, but we do think that it is a first step in creating a better arterial region through improved land use.

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This morning the much awaited Cityline project Arbor Row began demolishing the 2 story bank building that constitutes their southeastern property line. We don’t believe that the project has attained full approval but it is a good sign that they are preparing for construction once they attain it by preparing the site now. The project will entail 8 total buildings along Westpark Drive which includes residential, office, retail and hotel uses.

The project has been tight lipped on discussing where they are in the process but the recent agreements and consensus attained between the developers on infrastructure funding, paralleled by the planning commissions agreement on funding, will likely mean projects that have been delayed will suddenly begin moving again. Demolition, rough grading, and utility site work are all important first steps in preparing a site for building construction. We have been noticing some spot improvements to utilities along the frontage of Arbor Row for a few months, so we hope that once the cranes start being placed the construction can be expedited.

Many employees of the Greensboro Drive corridor will likely be thinking that the work being performed this morning was a fire by the looks of it, but the hoses and tarps are laid down for dust control and sediment capture in order to protect local water bodies and air quality.

The 2.5 million square foot project is important to the future of TOD along Westpark and will transform the abandoned and aged eyesore structures into a busy residential core with new high rise and mid rise towers. This development will also create a better connection between the pedestrian region along Westpark and buildings by removing all frontage parking, replaced by structural parking garages and rear parking. This will improve the walkability of one of the more pedestrian friendly neighborhoods of Tysons Corner. We will try to attain more information on when building construction is expected but at this time project approval is anticipated for this fall or early winter based on Fairfax County’s review status.

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Better Solutions Needed Seven Corners was one of the earliest success stories of Fairfax development in the 1950s and its very existence is owed to the construction of Route 50 through the central County which spurred new commercial development. The rise of Bailey’s Crossroads showed a promise of a true urban center to the growing county, but in 1973 the collapse of the partially constructed Skyline Towers added a city stigma to a region that was polarizing towards suburban planning. In the past 25 years several regions of Fairfax County have received attention towards creating sustainable and attractive settings for urban families including the planned Reston Town Center and the new Tysons Corner comprehensive plan, but the region with the most assets and longest history of urban sustainability, Baileys Cross Roads and East Falls Church, has remained largely out of

the picture.

The return of commercial viability at Seven Corners has been a grass roots story with much of the heritage attributed to a large influx of immigrants that have created a cultural diverse corridor of restaurants and shops. Anyone who has been to Eden Center on a Saturday can attest to the success of the region to attract customers and retail leasers, but the past 5 years has seen a dramatic increase in congestion traffic through the corridor which is beginning to worry shop owners and residents.

Enter the Seven Corners Visioning Workshop hosted by Fairfax County Office of Community Revitalization, where residents and business owners voiced their concerns over the lack of walkability, diverse land use, and beautification projects.

For years the priority has been how

to transfer people from Arlington and Baileys Crossroads to Route 50 west and 495. This prioritization has come at the expense of residents who could leave the car behind if a safe walk path was available to metro, grocery stores, shops, and offices. At the heart of the congestion and safety concerns is Seven Corners intersection itself, where the intricate dance of signal timing means a 3 second delay from someone not paying attention can incite a full on traffic jam. For anyone who has ever tried to walk across the web that is weaved over Route 50, it is nearly impossible to tell when it is safe to actually cross‌ frankly it might never be an appropriate time to cross. The detriment from this gash is of course the populated region is segregated from the economic region forcing more people on roads.

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One might think I would make my typical high density pitch, saying some massive project is needed to turn Route 50 into a decked tunnel… not a bad idea actually, but no in the case of Seven Corners the history of the region demands a unique solution. A condo canyon is simply not an acceptable answer to this particular areas needs. The good news is the answer is far simpler. Make the area safer to walk. This is simple because for the most part the expensive portions are done, the intersection is nearly completely decked over Route 50 where most of the traffic exists and the roads come to a near perfect radius. If this doesn’t scream roundabout, then I don’t know what ever will (this dictates the need for one far more than Gilberts Corner ever did atleast).

The traffic circle will not solve load times onto Route 50 from Route 7, those are issues that are due to the general congestion on Route 50 and outside of the solution process of Seven Corners.

However what creating a traffic circle will do is fairly distribute traffic between through users and local vehicular users and more importantly create a central pedestrian gateway between the current separation of land uses.

This creates a clear and orderly path from one side of Route 50 to the other side of Route 50 for pedestrians.

What it also does is take a wastefully spaced random assortment of road lanes

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and creates more order from them, giving more space for new developments which do not have to be massive high rises. Why don’t they have to be? Because the cost to create a round about at this intersection will be far less than in most cases. With the structural decking already in place over Route 50, the key will be finishing the gaps and including minor realignments of the entering road ways.

Therefore the developers won’t have to provide massive infrastructure contributions which would need to be mitigated with density concessions. What the developers can instead provide is a central town design by focusing on the pedestrian instead of vehicles. Parking can be situated in a central structural location thereby relieving developers of parking minimums and allowing buildings to be located adjacent to walkways. The cost of the facility would be shared by the properties which would not have retail parking, but provided on an independent proffered parcel owned by the County. Revenues attained from the parking garage would go towards beautification projects including landscaping and streetscape for the new Seven Corners, and parking prices would be determined by a newly founded Seven Corners Chamber of Commerce to ensure a price structure which is not prohibitively expensive towards customers.

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The intersection could be transformed from a mess of interweaving vehicular pathways, to a unified central point for the next steps in the history of this important region. Most importantly the mixing of land uses will remove the separation between the resident side of Seven Corner’s and the business side of the Seven Corner’s, providing easier access to residents. The developments would be sensitive to the height and architecture of the adjacent and existing region in order to retain the cultural and historical importance for long time residents but will be inviting to younger or prospective residents who want the urban amenities and central location that Seven Corner’s can provide. The proper location of a few mid-rise mixed use developments could turn the 5,000 resident region into a 10,000 resident region within a decade and more importantly provide affordable housing by addressing the demand that is tolling the relatively small supply of units without the need for subsidization.

Much of Seven Corner’s is within 1 to 2 miles of the existing East Falls Church metro which makes it an excellent candidate for improving pedestrian and bike access to the existing metro asset.

For once Fairfax can be the initiator of an urban improvement project by proposing new bike lanes TOWARDS Arlington along Wilson Boulevard to help residents reach the commercial business district of Ballston, 2 miles east of the Corner. The new Seven Corners transit center has also added to the regions ability to encourage multiple modes of transportation. All of this will begin to de-prioritize the vehicle and encourage human scale development that spurs retail growth and residential value. With 10,000 residents by 2020 this 1-mile radius will have an inherent customer base to support new and existing retail.

These smaller modifications can strengthen the community identity and economic viability of Seven Corners, create a revenue source for community projects, and be developed without new infrastructure investments from public funding.

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Let’s examine the largest argument against a pedestrian friendly revitalization project. Those who don’t live in that vicinity don’t want their commute or errands taking an extra 5 minutes and they don’t want to pay for parking. Let’s examine the point of view of people who live in Annandale and East Falls Church.

They don’t want their children or themselves run over because someone has to get to Target. They want to be able to travel 2000′ without having to cross a dangerous intersection network. They never wanted a pedestrian bridge across Route 50 in the first place, as at

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night it becomes a funnel for illegal activity and is situated in a location that causes people to walk an extra half mile out of their way. They demanded safer streets and better focus from the County on their neighborhoods and were ignored for nearly a decade, or atleast pacified with a half way solution.

Which side do you think has a better case to be made? I don’t live in East Falls Church or Annandale but I can empathize with what the people who do live there go through.

Decision after decision has been cast against them by majority rule

from the rest of the region, forcing wider roads, stagnant land use and zoning which has left scars of strip malls, and the continued funneling of public funds to locations outside of this corridor. Instead the County has been pumping funding towards the social programs that must be created in order to support a region which has been left without basic function and assurances from Fairfax, causing deflation in land values and in too many cases economic hardship. Let’s step back here for a second. What should be the goals for the future of Seven Corners?

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Housing is essentially unaffordable in the rest of the county for many of the residents of this part of the county, therefore not a single residential unit should be removed with any revitalization project. The region needs more inventory not a different inventory of units.

Just because the residents live on a tighter budget doesn’t mean they don’t enjoy a good walk, window shopping, restaurant options, and a variety of groceries. The Eden Center shows that retail locations can exist and be vibrant in an area which has to pay attention to its pocket books. The model is not to bring in outside retail corporations, but instead continue to garner local businesses with more retail space provided efficiently, ie better density.

Less parking lots more walkability.

Why is this important? Consolidating parking requirements off of retail strip malls (currently required by Fairfax County code to have MINIMUM parking numbers based on square footage) clears up nearly 50% of the land on these properties to be available for development. It reduces the impervious area and allows for beautification by plantings and green space. These are the benefits of locating parking off of individual properties and into a central facility well connected with walkways and transit.

In this exhibit we have realigned the mess of roads that encompass Seven Corners to create a focal point at a round about. Route 50 remains untouched… and still completely over congested, needing better solutions than a simple road widening, but that’s neither here nor there.

Light blue structures are low rise retail single use. These have been selected in the shown locations to reduce the urban impact on the pedestrian, to create a sense of human scale and to avoid over powering the properties that will remain.

The bright orange structure is the proposed parking garage which would be built on shared developer costs, whose revenue would go towards funding beautification and landscape projects as shown.

The light orange structures are midrise mixed uses which incorporate ground level retail with commercial and/or residential uses above.

The beige structures are mid-rise to a maximum 10 story residential single land use which will help provide new but affordable residential units.

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How will the residential units be affordable? Subsidies? Not really, they will be affordable by creating different types of units. One reason why land prices are so expensive in this region is that there really are few variations on what you can buy. By creating new options like studio apartments, 1br, 2br, and even 3br units the area receives an organic mix to help alleviate the old house/new house options that many face. Best of all, this removes absolutely NO residential units from the market, and instead only consolidates lands which are being underused for parking currently.

At the center of the plan is the traffic round about which tightens up an area that is a mess of wasted pavement. The circle can over time, or at construction, incorporate a new small urban park with walk path and a performance stage which can help continue the sense of community by allowing a venue for small outdoor events.

The circle can be enclosed in an open but secure iron fence and landscaping that creates a separation from traffic.

Walkway crossings will be controlled with the only two lights within the circle which will ensure safe passage for pedestrians to the central green. These

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two lights will continue to provide a slight priority to vehicles in the timing scheme, in order to encourage pedestrians to walk around the circle instead of through it, with the exception being for those who want to venture to the circle itself. Much of the remaining landscape will be inherently introduced by the developers themselves in order to beautify their own investments, but can be made part of the agreements in order to develop.

I have no financial interest in Seven Corners. What I have is empathy for people who just want to be able to make the sustainable choice and take a walk instead of drive, and for business owners who find it ever more difficult to get people out of cars and into their stores. I think pedestrian fatalities are tragic mistakes in our own priorities as planners and designers. While in many cases it is the pedestrians fault for not crossing at designated zones, large blocks and few passable points create a systematic issue which can cultivate these incidents.

Seven Corners doesn’t have to be like Arlington in order to be successful, but it does need to be given an opportunity to be affordable and attractive through proper land use instead of forgotten or left behind as our region continues to grow.

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Merrifield Parks a Good Example of Design Excellence In 2009 Merrifield opened Merrifield Park, its first tangible step towards creating a community from the disorder of the Gallows Road/29 corridor. At less than a quarter acre, it’s hardly a monument of accomplishment, but its very restrained style shows that planners understand the end goal of urbanization. Northern Virginia has become enthralled with one-ups-man style design, where a previous project is used as precedent to be surpassed. This is unhealthy and leads to false metrics in measuring what “improvement” really is. Should a 13,000 sqft civic plaza which is popular with residents be viewed as less successful than a 2-acre field that goes unused most of the day? Of course not.

When it comes to urban parks, if they get too big its like cramming a country house couch into a small studio apartment. The couch might be great, but it overwhelms the room. The same thing happens when we take valuable real estate in the heart of a city and proclaim bigger is better, using up functional space in a reckless fashion. In this way, smaller, but still functional parks should remain the design basis for most urban settings. Providing shade and recreational space more often to more residents that don’t necessarily want to walk all the way to one centralized behemoth park.

In this way Merrifield has got their act together.

They understand that the only important metric is the happiness of residents and economic well being of the region. The Merrifield Streetscape Design Guidelines recently published incorporates this principal in its discussion of pocket parks which should be evenly dispersed.

On the other end of the spectrum we find Tysons Corner development plans indicating a need for 20 ball fields based on the Park Authority report.

20 ball fields for 100,000 residents? This doesn’t even include the inherent fields that will be incorporated with schools and private recreational facilities for resident neighborhoods.

Recently there has also been discussion on whether the standard 2-acre model for recreational open space should be increased to 4-acres in certain locations. We need to figure out how to do more with less, that is real urbanism.

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One of the largest problems with densifying suburban edge cities and urbanization is the inherent sudden unaffordability.

This rise of retail/office/residential rates creates corporate atmospheres as these are the only entities capable of paying the “new car smell” fees.

Why do prices go up? When you just completed a $350 million dollar construction project your financing company generally wants to see their money back… or else.

Managing companies must make this back at the highest possible rate that the market will bear, which often means selling their soul to the highest bidder. Often outrage at this systematic and cyclical conflict is focused on the residential side of development, but it is the retail space which really sets the pace of what a growing city will become.

Unfortunately rates of $55 to $65 for retail spaces and above $100 per square foot per year becomes a cumbersome overhead price that all but removes the competitiveness of small businesses. Instead expansive spaces become absorbed by retail franchises which lack community

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identity and entrepreneurial possibilities. While these companies provide employment for many, their profits often are shipped off to headquarters and removed from the local circulation. It becomes a double impact to local commerce where start ups and residents are both priced out of the market and the community is rendered sterile.

When confronted with this inevitable alteration to an area residents often become obstructionist to any new development. While this method temporarily works in maintaining the local fabric, it eventually trades one form of unaffordability for another. Inventory remains stagnant causing demand to outpace supply and raising rates. Additionally outside investment is sent elsewhere which after a couple of decades of mismanagement creates the situations that many brick and mortars now face, most notably Springfield Mall.

The solution isn’t to put ourselves in a time capsule, but to find solutions to these problems through innovation. An unresponsive and

lack of willingness to evolve is what will create a corporate vegas/disneyland fake city. We must find ways of retaining local businesses and franchises in a healthy balance. The flexibility of how retail space is arrange is an important architectural design style that often falls out of priority in order to provide an aesthetic spacing for doors along a facade.

Instead of designing a building at street level to be monotone and repetitive, we should encourage a variance of retail spaces in size and manner which provides a mix of pop-up sized, small, med, and large (franchise) spaces. The space price per square foot is unaltered by this arrangement. A small business that wants a presence in high traffic pedestrian zones could accomplish this with a 400sf space and maintain a price per month of $2000 and provide a small show case supplemented by support space outside of this very expensive zone or electronic displays of merchandise.

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Small business owners are not in control of this ability often, therefore management companies guided by the plan process should consider these arrangements as in the long run it helps all parties. We can do more with less in all facets and technology is helping lead the way. Land use itself can also be a tool to encourage small business. Stringent and dated requirements that separate retail and residential uses are anti-productive. The genesis of these standards is to reduce noise and nuisance to residents who in suburban regions can be disturbed by heavy foot traffic and business operations. This isn’t necessarily an issue when residential units have high rise structural walls, sound proofed windows, etc.

Fairfax County in many ways has already conceded that both uses can co-habitate with allowances for street level retail in residential towers, but what about provided duel use units that allow a shop front to a residential rear space. One of the best ways to reduce the cost to run a business could be to merge it with the cost of living and renting an apartment. A 200-400sf front which can help a new artist or 1 person shop could include a 500sf studio residence behind the separated wall. The rates would be a mix of residential and retail, in the range of $45 per sqft, and therefore range between $2600 and $3000 per month. If this was just a retail space then it would simply be too much for many small businesses, but renting a studio in Arlington and NOVA can often run a cost of $1500 as well. Therefore the effective retail rate is reduced to $1100 to $1500 per month, a figure that is much easier to overcome.

If we continue the current policies we will convert all of our prime retail spaces into corporate yuppie zones that make money for a select few but kill the American dream.

There are entrepreneurs in this country still, but they are being pushed further and further from places that could sustain their business models, and being forced to strip malls that see less than 1% of the traffic conversion rates of walkable areas. The only impediments to returning small business to main street is our own unwillingness to adapt to the times.

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