Does anyone miss the Northern VA of the past? (Richmond: apartment, renting)

[bluecountry]

I see...so you think it's fine the way NOVA has been developed?
The way how forest after forest and farm after farm are cleared out entirely replaced by more chain stores and cookie cutters?

No...there's a way to accomodate both the need for life's essentials AND the scenic rural beauty.

YOU are the one who is coming off humerous.
What..do you work for the toll brothers?
You think RT 50 in Chantilyy is how NOVA should be developed...and what Fauquier should become?
Miles of concrete, pavemnet, traffic lights, neon lights?

God forbid we manage and control growth in a way to accomodate both old and new residents.

[car54]

Hey blue, take heart. The credit crunch and looming recession/depression is hitting the developers HARD. Many will go belly-up.

[NOVAmtneer82]

Originally Posted by bluecountry

I see...so you think it's fine the way NOVA has been developed?
The way how forest after forest and farm after farm are cleared out entirely replaced by more chain stores and cookie cutters?

No...there's a way to accomodate both the need for life's essentials AND the scenic rural beauty.

YOU are the one who is coming off humerous.
What..do you work for the toll brothers?
You think RT 50 in Chantilyy is how NOVA should be developed...and what Fauquier should become?
Miles of concrete, pavemnet, traffic lights, neon lights?

God forbid we manage and control growth in a way to accomodate both old and new residents.

If you were directing that comment towards me I would rather work for Toll Brothers than the radical environmental organization that employs you. You honestly sound like you work for the Earth Liberation Front, the group of I'll just say unique individuals that prowl around and light hummers and new housing communities on fire as a message to "save the earth."

You never provide answers/examples to back up your plans for saving the area from sprawl. HOW exactly is growth managed in a way to accomodate everyone? Since you never do, I'll provide some examples. Western Loudoun is off limits to conventional subdivisions to "preserve open space." Zoning is limited to one home per every three to twenty acres. This leaves nothing to be built except large mansions costing in most cases $1,000,000+. The same is true for similar "rural zones" in Pr. William, Fauquier, Fairfax, Montgomery, etc..The vast majority of metro area residents cannot afford houses like this. Where are they going to live? The NIMBY's like yourself in these areas always try to reject new commercial development so the end result is a retail center(s) down the road in someone elses neighborhood. They have to DRIVE there.

Small scale zoning increments are great in a SMALL TOWN but this area is projected to add at least 1.5-2 million residents by 2025 or 2030. Simply telling the government to move growth to other areas is certainly a unique and socialistic way of doing things..aka it's not reasonable nor going to happen.

It is simply not conducive to some people (namely families) to live in a dense mixed use urban center. Living in Centreville, you obviously don't! I love my Arlington neighborhood because it is so walkable and convenient to everything but i certainly WOULD NOT chose to live here once I had a family. I would go into a family friendly neighborhood further out in the burbs. Why is that such a bad thing?

The last thing I'm going to say to you is if you think sprawl is bad here you might want to get out and travel some. Ever been to Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Charlotte (I like these cities btw) etc. If not you might want to take a little field trip sometime and drive around, I think you will find that it isn't quite as bad here in the DC area.

[bluecountry]

I don't work for 'radically save-earth' program.

I just am one of the residents who thinks the ugliness of RT 50 in Chantilly really would be worse if it spreads into the MTS of west Loudon...or the fertleness of Fauquier.
Don't you think the residents of those areas have a right to maintain their rural quality of life....the scenery...lack of light and other pollution....or do you support Fairfaxizing the rest of NOVA?

Strict zoning done by a coalition of local governments...along with setting aside smart growth in concentrated areas convenient to roads/business is the way to do it...not a hodgepodge of subdivisions here and there.

[hj2500]

Northern Virginia communities such as Reston and the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor have won all kinds of smart growth/development awards. Places like Fauquier are too remote do be developed since the commute is bad enough within primary Northern Virginia counties, places like Tysons Corner will have to be Manhattanized to accomodate more people or tearing down those subdivisions to build more densly, which will bring even more traffic and light, heat, and noise pollution. Smart growth!

The only way to accommodate preserving rural "culture" and increasing population is to build underground, which is even more expensive than Manhattanizing and undesireable living for most Americans. They are considering it in Tokyo.

Northern Virginia is only a tiny portion of the state geographically even if it is a third of the population. If you feel entitled to the rural lifestyle then leave Fairfax County already, there's an entire state (and nation/planet) to explore.

Do Northern Virginians really think bad development is unique to their area? Its not even that bad. This is why whiny Northern Virginia threads like these on this board and others are so funny.

[bluecountry]

Originally Posted by car54

Hey blue, take heart. The credit crunch and looming recession/depression is hitting the developers HARD. Many will go belly-up.

I know....the silver lining in this housing flame.

[bluecountry]

Originally Posted by hj2500

Northern Virginia communities such as Reston and the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor have won all kinds of smart growth/development awards. Places like Fauquier are too remote do be developed since the commute is bad enough within primary Northern Virginia counties, places like Tysons Corner will have to be Manhattanized to accomodate more people or tearing down those subdivisions to build more densly, which will bring even more traffic and light, heat, and noise pollution. Smart growth!

The only way to accommodate preserving rural "culture" and increasing population is to build underground, which is even more expensive than Manhattanizing and undesireable living for most Americans. They are considering it in Tokyo.

Northern Virginia is only a tiny portion of the state geographically even if it is a third of the population. If you feel entitled to the rural lifestyle then leave Fairfax County already, there's an entire state (and nation/planet) to explore.

Do Northern Virginians really think bad development is unique to their area? Its not even that bad. This is why whiny Northern Virginia threads like these on this board and others are so funny.

First...I didn't choose to move here...and as somebody who might in the future be moving after finishing grad school...I would not come back to Fairfax County.
I'd like to if I live in this area be able to enjoy Fauquier County and not see it along with whatever is left by the vultures in Loudon/PW and Frederick/Culpepper/Stafford/Spotsy County.

Growing up in this area is one a big reason why I have pursued my study in sprawl...so future generations can enjoy the night sky and rural beauty as opposed to having anything withing 100 miles of a big city be Fairfaxized.

Smart growth...if taken seriously by a coalition of governments can work to satisfy newcomers while preserving the scenic rural quality.

I believe in not only concentrating growth in selected areas and places which are able to handle it...but also urban/suburban re-developement.

I think it's wasteful how developers will destroy scenic Fauquier while letting Annandale and older Fairfax erode.
Why not re-develope RT 1 and other areas that already have been built up...wouldn't it make sense to use what infrastructure is there instead of moving more people further?

Also...look at what Fauquier and Rappahanock County have accomplished.
Rappahanock is as far out as Culpepper and Spotsy yet has not grown...because of strict zoning regulations....if Stafford/Spotsy/Loudon/Culpepper follow no reason why there would be leapfrogging.

We know this area will grow...but it doesn't have to become a cookie cutter and chain restaurant neon light wasteland as Fairfax City is...we can preserve Fauquier if choose areas for new developement and control the need for new housing and roads by fixing and paying attention to those eroding.

[bbyfae07]

I have lived here (in loudoun) my whole life. I was born in a small memorial hospital that has now been replaced with a much less efficient corporate hospital. I used to ride horses where people now sleep. It used to be a 20 minute drive to get to a mall (without traffic). My kindergarten class was made up of 15 kids and 2 teachers. Everyone went grocery shopping on Sunday's and it was a social event. My friends parents went to school with my parents. Their was only one place to get breakfast, besides McDonalds.

I could go on and on about how things used to be. I miss the slower pace of life and the happiness that brought to many. The hustle and bustle and stress that this area brings is driving the "locals" to seek a better way of life. We know it is possible because we have lived it. I now have an 18mo son and i want for him what my husband and i had growing up (yes, i have known my husband since elementary school). We have the best group of friends, we have all known each other our whole lives and we are better friends than anyone we met in college.

I will always love this area, and to people moving here i am sure it is great, but for me, it will never and could never be the same.

[halibutt]

BIMBY=Build in My Back Yard

[JDM6763]

Originally Posted by halibutt

NOVA vs ROVA

I hope Manassas isn't in ROVA.. LOL