Photo Tour: Fair Lakes (Fairfax, Merrifield: condos, home, landscaping)

[Caladium]

I had a meeting in Fair Lakes today, so took a few moments to drive around and do a photo tour. I didn't get to see everything. I hope some of the people on this forum who live there will add photos to this tour of the parks and the other places I missed. I'd especially love to see photos from the many festivals they have there. (Oh, and add a few shots of things like the waste station too. Forgot about that!)

But for now, this is a good start for a photo tour.

[Caladium]

Landscaping:

The thing that really strikes me about Fair Lakes is how beautifully landscaped the area is. The bad news was I couldn't get shots of everything I wanted. Some of the most photogenic areas because were along the main roads and I didn't want to pull over just to take a photo. But this will give you an idea.










Note the people walking on the sidewalks. I was trying to keep people out of my shots, but it turned out to be impossible. I saw people walking all over the place. Is everyone playing hookey from work today? And why didn't somebody tell me? I would have stayed home and gone for a walk, too!

[Caladium]

More landscaping:








I like this set of statues. It makes me smile every time I drive by it.


In a few weeks the leaves will fill in and you won't be able to see this office building at all.




This is the landscaping in front of a strip mall. Can you believe it? Even the strip malls are pretty. I almost took a photo of the Taco Bell just because I had never seen such a landscaped Taco Bell.

[Caladium]

Government Center:
There are several buildings in the Government Center. I don't know them well enough to identify them, but I was impressed with the meeting facilities there.




This is the building my meeting was in.

I really wanted to capture the magnificent magnolias in front of the Health and Human Services Building but, again, it was along the main road and it would have been too dangerous to pull over just for a photo.

[Caladium]

Where People Live:


The back roads have plenty of older split levels. Note the lack of sidewalk and streetlights on these older roads. (On the plus side, these roads don't seem to have much traffic, either.)


As you can see, there's so little traffic on the side roads I can stand in the middle of the road at 11 a.m. on a Thursday and take this photo.

This is wildly different from the roads in the "condo" parts of Fair Lakes. There are many major roads, as well as Rt. 50, Rt. 66, and Fairfax County Parkway. Don't try standing in the middle of the road in any of those streets!




There are also plenty of McMansions

[Caladium]

What most people notice in Fair Lakes is all the condos. I think a lot of young singles live here. Some of the condos are nicely landscaped and have all sorts of amenities. Here are a sample of the condos I drove by:



These condos show how close everything is if you live here. Condos, office buildings, shopping centers and recreation are all mixed together. There are good sidewalks and street lighting in this part of Fair Lakes, so it's walkable. The recreation is still sparse (mostly restaurants) but you'll find every store imagineable within walking distance.




I like the horse statue in front of this place.




Condos along Monument Drive in the background. I wish I had done this photo tour at lunch time so I could have shown people eating outside, too. Unfortunately, my meeting today was early in the morning, before anything was open. I'll have to go back another day to get some shots with people in them.


The areas with the condos have excellent sidewalks and lighting. Some of the back roads, where the SFHs are, don't have sidewalks at all. I saw many people out walking and cycling today.


Condos near Rt. 50. A lot of the condos are nicely landscaped (almost parklike in some places). But as you can see, you can also find plenty of bare bones condos right by the main road.

[703]

No photos of the Waste Station? Blah...

[Caladium]

Speaking about Rt. 50, this is another shot of the road. Most people hurtle through this area, and never look at the sides of the road. Maybe just as well. Better to pay attention to your driving!


Merrifield Garden Center, a well known local business that we talk about a lot on this forum.

I did not get a chance to take shots of other local businesses. I wish I had gotten a chance to stop by Betty's Azalea Ranch, and also Fairfax Corner. That's a shopping area with an interactive fountain, REI, and restaurants like P.F. Chang's. In other words, great places to people watch or take photos (especially people eating out on the deck). Sometimes they have concerts and other events there. Maybe next time.

I think I'd also like to get a few shots of the construction. There's a lot being built down in Fair Lakes. I hope that means more entertainment venues. Right now they have plenty of shopping and condos, but still need more things for young people to do.

[VRE332]

Originally Posted by 703

No photos of the Waste Station? Blah...

I wanna see the day-labor camps

[Caladium]

Originally Posted by 703

No photos of the Waste Station? Blah...

Wish I had thought of that, that would have been a good thing to include. By all means, please add a few shots. There were a lot of things in Fair Lakes I didn't get photos of.