Fairfax County opens Boston office to lure New England companies. (Winchester: credit, high school)

[GustavoFring]

Originally Posted by BMOCCC

We're desperately going to need the jobs after sequestration and government cuts in general. If we don't grow our economy beyond government and contractors, we're going to be in big trouble. I remember when we were a pretty big IT destination with AOL here, etc. That seems to have diminished. I agree about the balance. I just want more jobs and a more moderate influx of people.

AOL diminished, Verizon & Amazon Data Centers flourished. A large portion of US based websites are still hosted in Northern Virginia. AOL had an obsolete business model, so that can't really be blamed on the area.

[IndiaLimaDelta]

Originally Posted by BMOCCC

Ok, I'll spoon feed it.

More llike you need sentence structure that is comprehensible. Due to poor sentence construction, I could not tell whether you were applauding a "high union state" or not. I assume not, but wanted to be clear.

Fairfax County residents. What is so hard about that to understand? The people who live and vote, and pay taxes to the Farifax County government that runs the county EDA.

I hate to break it to you, but how do you propose we determine who is and is not a Fairfax County resident for the purpose of this mythical local job preference program? As I understand, you don't want outsiders to take local jobs. Are you going to erect walls to prevent others from moving here and becoming Fairfax County residents?

Why is having your government promote your interests such an alien concept?

As a conservative, I usually want the government to get out of the way of the market place rather than pick winners and losers based on the whims of whoever is in power. Let's just say that this conservative is a lot more leery of government "promoting" anything than you are.

As I said before, a lot of fake conservatives engage in "cafeteria" conservatism -- "government preferences for me but not for thee."

Conservatives like me, unlike you, don't like a lot of change. We know that we can't stop it but we do what we can to slow it down.

I suggest you read Burke again. Burke did not oppose change, because change in human affairs is inevitable. Burke was not a reactionary. He was what used to be called "classically liberal," (don't forget he was a Whig, not a Tory). He thought that the inevitable changes in human affairs were best managed in context of tradition and community. He supported neither the obstinate obduracy of reactionary monarchists nor the radical proposals of the revolutionaries. Even though exceedingly unpopular, he supported both the free trade with Ireland and the emancipation of Catholics.

What makes Great Falls so nice where you live is that zoning has stopped all but occasional housing development. If they changed the 2 acre lot requirement and allowed multi-family housing, it would be quite a different place. You bought an area that you liked, why would you want to change it in ways that you have little control over? Should we move the next 20,000 residents into Great Falls? Bet you wouldn't like driving down Old Georgetown Pike.

Gee, I don't know since I DO NOT live in Great Falls.

Originally Posted by BMOCCC

I agree about the balance. I just want more jobs and a more moderate influx of people.

Of course we ALL want balance in this region. The problem is it's rarely if ever possible to have a cake and eat it too. If you have jobs, people come (unless the area is highly undesirable -- see below). It's just very difficult to have a situation where there are plenty of jobs and only "moderate" influx of people. All too frequently, if you try to enact policies that limit growth (so we only have a "moderate" influx), you end up killing the economy. The end result? Fewer jobs. Something you might learn if you read a book on economics is that businesses and people are highly sensitive to marginal signals.

There is a place in this country today where jobs are plentiful yet does not have enough educated workers -- North Dakota. Due to the recent energy boom there, there is a large unmet demand for trained and educated workforce there. But because of the dearth of finer things in life that such people seek today, many jobs go unfilled there.

NoVA is not North Dakota, is it?

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by GustavoFring

AOL had an obsolete business model

What do you mean? My dial-up's working great.

[GustavoFring]

Originally Posted by CAVA1990

What do you mean? My dial-up's working great.

It only took 23 minutes to read and post that, right?

[IndiaLimaDelta]

Now that I have been spoiled by the stability, speed and low cost of FIOS in NoVA, I don't think I can live anywhere without it!

[pcity]

Originally Posted by brooklynborndad

I think in the context of a thread about such efforts, being skeptical of their value is not quite the same as wanting to shut the door on any people or firms who want to locate here.

I think this is a good point. To me, it's not a question of growth. This county will grow, no matter what, and I want it to grow. The goals the county is pursuing here are positive. We should try to lure New England businesses here, as well as any other business that wants to come here.

However, I do wonder about the value of establishing offices in different locales to try and lure businesses. If I'm a business owner in Boston and Fairfax courts me, while some other county with a similar profile offers me a tax break, I'm taking the tax break every time.

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by pcity

IHowever, I do wonder about the value of establishing offices in different locales to try and lure businesses. If I'm a business owner in Boston and Fairfax courts me, while some other county with a similar profile offers me a tax break, I'm taking the tax break every time.

But what's a "similar profile"? Seems to me you'd want to sell them on why you're different and better so you don't have to give tax breaks: for example that they can tap to the best and brightest talent pool in the country as well as that we have a superior system of secondary and higher education.

[Fern435]

Originally Posted by CAVA1990

But what's a "similar profile"? Seems to me you'd want to sell them on why you're different and better so you don't have to give tax breaks: for example that they can tap to the best and brightest talent pool in the country as well as that we have a superior system of secondary and higher education.

Fairfax County does not have a monopoly on "the best and brightest" in the country. High schools and colleges in other parts of the country are not automatically inferior to FCPS's enormous assembly line system.

The smile indicates that I am not bitter, angry, nor a crybaby as one person mistakenly claimed. It is amusing to see Fairfax County persist in believing their own hype--like Lance Armstrong.

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by Fern435

Fairfax County does not have a monopoly on "the best and brightest" in the country. High schools and colleges in other parts of the country are not automatically inferior to FCPS's enormous assembly line system.

The smile indicates that I am not bitter, angry, nor a crybaby as one person mistakenly claimed. It is amusing to see Fairfax County persist in believing their own hype--like Lance Armstrong.

I'd say on average this area does offer a superior labor force as well as better schools.

[pcity]

Not a monopoly, but you'd be hard pressed to find somewhere other than Silicon Valley that has a more educated, better qualified labor force than we do here.