Alexandria (City) vying to get NSF to move their headquarters to Carlyle (Leesburg: condo, home)

[robbobobbo]

Originally Posted by phrekyos

Sure, it's great to walk around, unless it's raining, or 90+ degrees out, or snowing and bitter cold like today. Add to that the fact you have to lug around whatever you've bought, and try not to get run over by all the cyclists while you're out there, too.

Originally Posted by queenswake

I lived in Old Town myself and I've never been impressed with the Carlyle area. The city likes to boast at its proximity to Old Town, but it's actually a fairly long walk to try to get over there and back for lunch. Especially if you want go down King St for any distance. And the metro isn't even that close. It's a healthy walk over there for many people.

I agree that Carlyle seems detached from, rather than integrated with, the core city, but that's the nature of available land. And it seems bland to me, but that's the nature of its newness, I suppose.

But the distance from the Alexandria PTO office to King St Metro is about .4 mile. The distance from the previous office to the Crystal City Metro was about .8 mile. And being at the southern-most edge of CC, the old office required some walking if you wanted variety in lunch choices. I worked at the northern-most edge of CC and unless I wanted to eat Quiznos every day, I was walking as much as a walk from Carlyle to upper King St when I went for Chipotle, Subway, Potbelly, McD's, Hamburger Hamlet, etc. And despite the relative variety, it got old day-in and day-out. Still, I'd take it over being at the Mark Center, where my choices are to eat in the cafeteria or walk to a shopping center with few options.

When I worked in DC around Washington Circle, I still had to walk a bit to get to favorite lunch spots, but to me, it's easier in an urban vibe than when there are stretches of emptiness and nothing but road and sidewalk.

Phyrekyos, I thought GustavoFring's reply was caustic, but you keep validating it. Parallel parking is too much a burden? As is walking in the outdoors? You seem more suited to a house-car-office-car-lunchspot-car-office-car-house routine in pod-like comfort. Dulles corridor, perhaps? Meanwhile, many people in southeast Fairfax County, Arlington County, Alexandria, PG County, etc, are probably relatively happy with the PTO location as opposed to a Reston/Herndon/Ashburn location.

As for bringing NSF to Alexandria, it stands to reason that the city would want to get another agency to move in. There is plenty of activity in the city these days, and an influx of people moving into new condos and new houses. The city seems to be in growth mode.

But though I read the article in OP's link, I didn't find out why NSF is considering relocating, other than the Ballston lease ending in December 2013.

[brooklynborndad]

1. I wish the jurisdictions could somehow manage to cooperate, rather than fight each other. OTOH at least in this case the beneficiary of any bidding war will be a federal agency. "they say I'm a dreamer ..."

2. I really, really, like Carlyle from what I've seen of it. Transit access excellent, aesthetics, great, and between whats there now (and whats coming? Still some vacant retail spots, and some new buildings) and whats in the closer part of Old Town, theres a lot. And you could easily bike around there - I've biked there, its very bikeable. And yeah, southern FFX has lots of relatively affordable options.

3. It would make a lot of sense for them to move to Crystal City though. Take advantage of all that vacant space rather than building more new office space (or at least build new on the site of a torn down older building, which seems to be the strategy Voranado and Arlco are pursuing in CC) OTOH it might make more sense to stay in Ballston and try to build a concentration of science focused employers there.

[Fallout Zone]

Originally Posted by robbobobbo

But though I read the article in OP's link, I didn't find out why NSF is considering relocating, other than the Ballston lease ending in December 2013.

The lease ends and the rent per sq foot in Ballston is higher than the cap set by Congress. I think there are ways around that, but I don't know anything about the govt leasing process. As far as I know, NSF doesn't want to move, but they don't get to make the decision, GSA does.

[FindingZen]

Someone made a point about the lack of a Wegmans. The problem with that is that store takes up an inordinate amount of space which is rare and expensive in an urban area like Alexandria. FWIW, the arrival of the second (or third, if you count Crystal City/Potomac Yards) Harris Teeter is imminent in Old Town, joining the one in on Duke Street in the West End. It's debatable whether HT is "better" than Wegmans but I believe they target similar clientele.

Back closer to the topic, while it's great that Alexandria may be bringing in more employees that might spend their lunch dollars (and maybe even housing dollars) in Alexandria, it would be nice to attract more employers that are not more or less exempt from paying certain taxes due to their federal status.

[phrekyos]

Egad, Harris Teeter? They're "okay" but they're not even in the same galaxy as Wegmans. I don't know what you mean by imminent, though. Isn't it supposed to go in Hoffman Center? They haven't even started construction, as far as I can tell.

[phrekyos]

Originally Posted by robbobobbo

Phyrekyos, I thought GustavoFring's reply was caustic, but you keep validating it. Parallel parking is too much a burden? As is walking in the outdoors? You seem more suited to a house-car-office-car-lunchspot-car-office-car-house routine in pod-like comfort. Dulles corridor, perhaps? Meanwhile, many people in southeast Fairfax County, Arlington County, Alexandria, PG County, etc, are probably relatively happy with the PTO location as opposed to a Reston/Herndon/Ashburn location.

I don't know anybody that works here that likes the fact we're in Carlyle. Everybody wants to get promoted and start working from home full-time so they don't have to live or commute here.

I have no problem with walking around outdoors, but the weather here doesn't make it a viable option most of the time. I walked from the USPTO past the King St metro station into Old Town today and nearly froze my off.

[brooklynborndad]

Originally Posted by phrekyos

I have no problem with walking around outdoors, but the weather here doesn't make it a viable option most of the time. I walked from the USPTO past the King St metro station into Old Town today and nearly froze my off.

I am looking forward to my lunchtime walk today. You need to be prepared for the weather - bundle up when its cold, carry an umbrella when its raining.

[phrekyos]

Originally Posted by brooklynborndad

I am looking forward to my lunchtime walk today. You need to be prepared for the weather - bundle up when its cold, carry an umbrella when its raining.

There's a limit to what you can wear for walking long distances in the cold versus what's appropriate or comfortable in an office.

[brooklynborndad]

Originally Posted by phrekyos

There's a limit to what you can wear for walking long distances in the cold versus what's appropriate or comfortable in an office.

I meant stuff like coats, sweaters, scarves, which can be removed easily, not thermal undies. Its not like its 10 degrees fahrenheit today.

[phrekyos]

Originally Posted by brooklynborndad

I meant stuff like coats, sweaters, scarves, which can be removed easily, not thermal undies. Its not like its 10 degrees fahrenheit today.

Long underpants is what I needed, my legs were just freezing. I think I'm going to change into some before I head back to work.