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To reply to your other post:
With the new board there certainly won't be SFH building limits east of 15 and quite possibly a relaxation of limits west of 15.
The concern with the last board (2004-08) was a number of sweetheart deals made that enriched the board members and close associates.
I sure hope not. The LAST thing I, and my others out here want is our part of Loudoun ending up looking like the east side of Leesburg, or ugly Ashburn, or Brambleton, or Belmont Ridge... or.... ANY place over there.
Thanks for the compliments on the photos btw. I always love sharing the local beauty of where I live with others.
I sure hope not. The LAST thing I, and my others out here want is our part of Loudoun ending up looking like the east side of Leesburg, or ugly Ashburn, or Brambleton, or Belmont Ridge... or.... ANY place over there.
You know, I almost bought a 20+ acre property in central Loudoun recently. I do like the looks of the area as well as its low population density (and the fact that I could shoot on my own land).
BUT, saying that places like Ashburn, Brambleton or Belmont Ridge where many people make their home is "ugly" seems pretentious to me. These are affluent, clean, safe and nice areas in which to raise young children. There are reasons why the areas are popular. The most you could say about these areas for yourself is that YOU don't like the looks of them and don't want western Loudoun to look like they do.
Personally, I like the geographic diversity of Loudoun.
I lived in many cities in the United States and elsewhere and, believe me, there are places that truly deserve the adjective "ugly."
I sure hope not. The LAST thing I, and my others out here want is our part of Loudoun ending up looking like the east side of Leesburg, or ugly Ashburn, or Brambleton, or Belmont Ridge... or.... ANY place over there.
Thanks for the compliments on the photos btw. I always love sharing the local beauty of where I live with others.
Agree, I really hope that is not the case. People live out in western Loudoun because it is low density, and frankly that needs to be preserved. If this new group of supervisors wants to turn it into the next Ashburn, I can guarantee they will be out on their arses as soon as their terms are up.
That is one of the things I like about Leesburg, you have a mix of 19th century historic areas, 1950s-1970s development (housing and strip malls) around that, and brand spanking-new subdivisions and big box heavens on the outer fringes.
I don't think we'll be seeing townhomes going up in rural Unison, but maybe in Purcellville/Lovettsville near stuff that's already there.
Maybe things like a new paintball park getting approved more readily, and developers possibly not being held to give as many proffers. I think the perception of corruption with the last board (especially paying Myers 2x market value for her land) is what led them out on their ears ... western Loudoun may rebel against Higgins and Clarke but that's just 2 seats of 10. Then again, York did win on a "slow growth down" platform, whether he has succeeded or not is another matter.
You know, I almost bought a 20+ acre property in central Loudoun recently. I do like the looks of the area as well as its low population density (and the fact that I could shoot on my own land).
BUT, saying that places like Ashburn, Brambleton or Belmont Ridge where many people make their home is "ugly" seems pretentious to me. These are affluent, clean, safe and nice areas in which to raise young children. There are reasons why the areas are popular. The most you could say about these areas for yourself is that YOU don't like the looks of them and don't want western Loudoun to look like they do.
Personally, I like the geographic diversity of Loudoun.
I lived in many cities in the United States and elsewhere and, believe me, there are places that truly deserve the adjective "ugly."
Oh Ive traveled extensively all over the U.S. and Canada and I have seen TONS, and seen some very nasty places. I think probably you have not read much of what I have previously said about the places I mentioned.
Yes, I personally find the faceless, soulless, charmless suburban sprawl that make up places like Ashburn and surrounds, to be, well, ugly. I did not say they are terrible places, nor anything of the sort. Before you decide to take someone to task here you might want to stop and think about what this is. Its an internet message board community, made up of many different people, and we each have our own likes / dislikes and opinions. MY opinion is that I do not particularly care for places like Ashburn and surrounds. I never said that they are BAD places, or unsafe, or anything of the sort. I simply don't like the looks of most of it in terms of the types of homes which usually all look almost exactly alike. Row after row, street after street, mile after mile of things that all look basically the same. Same style of building, and often even almost identical homes right next to each other. If you want to believe that because my opinion that I find ashburn ugly makes me "pretentious" well more power to you, but its probably very judgmental and short sited of you. I have friends in Ashburn and Brambleton who are very happy there and love it, and I am very happy for them. that does not mean I have to like everything about their area. Its "nice" sure but thats about all there is to it. "nice". Hope you can grasp what I am saying here.
I also think that many of the people that live in those areas are far more pretentious than those of us who live in small towns.
While I do like the diversity that Loudoun offers as a whole, I absolutely want to KEEP the diversity, which would be lost if companies like the Toll brothers were allowed to run rampant and develop the whole county. It would all end up looking like Ashburn and surrounds and that would be a terrible loss for Loudoun and Virginia as a whole.
I do like Leesburg, most of it anyway. I find much of the development on the south and east side of it to strongly resemble the Ashburn area. I was even looking in Leesburg but only in the down town historic area.
MY opinion is that I do not particularly care for places like Ashburn and surrounds.
Unfortunately, this is not what you wrote earlier. I would not have objected to your view thusly stated. This is different from calling an area "ugly" outright.
Once you get some experience with a downtrodden, economically depressed rustbelt town with raging drug and crime problems and an utter and complete lack of good employment, Ashburn will suddenly seem not so ugly. In fact, quite beautiful and almost heavenly.
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I also think that many of the people that live in those areas are far more pretentious than those of us who live in small towns.
And let's throw in a not-so-subtle digs once more while at it, eh?
I've lived in small towns in Iowa, in NYC, OC in CA, quaint New England towns, "the center of the universe" (Seattle), foreign mega-cities, you name it.
One thing I learned everywhere is that snobbery doesn't require money or high density of population -- only the sense that one is "above it all"... like looking down on a place like Ashburn for its supposed ugliness.
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While I do like the diversity that Loudoun offers as a whole, I absolutely want to KEEP the diversity, which would be lost if companies like the Toll brothers were allowed to run rampant and develop the whole county. It would all end up looking like Ashburn and surrounds and that would be a terrible loss for Loudoun and Virginia as a whole.
Oh, I agree that we should keep that diversity. The only problem with your statement is the sense of certainty that western Loudoun is going to become Ashburn if only "companies like the Toll brothers were allowed to run rampant and develop the whole county." Is Raytheon moving to Bluemont soon?
The fact of the matter is, it is unlikely (though, of course, not impossible) that much of western Loudoun would ever become exactly like Ashburn no matter what the regulatory environment is. The latter is 30 miles from DC and a big part of the Dulles Tech Corridor. This is not something you can simply replicate 50-100 miles inland just because you let developers "run amok."
At some point the infrastructure, distance and chance and many other variables interact in such a way that it becomes unprofitable to build high density housing deeper into the interior.
I don't think it's necessary to call places like Ashburn ugly and look down on it to preserve western Loudoun as is. You'd certainly gain more support from the likes of Ashburnites if you didn't insult them so.
This reminds me of a political party meeting I attended a few years ago. This nice old lady from western Loudoun came to the meeting and proceeded to ask the rest of the participants (about 90% of who were from eastern Loudoun) would the party please help her area not become like the "eyesore" and "trash" that is eastern Loudoun?
I couldn't tell whether she really came to achieve her stated goal or simply to let the "trash" know exactly where they stood from her exalted geographic perch.
I don't think it's necessary to call places like Ashburn ugly and look down on it to preserve western Loudoun as is. You'd certainly gain more support from the likes of Ashburnites if you didn't insult them so.
Good point. I've seen plenty of fools do similar things in meetings like that all over the country. You're absolutely right that they don't gain support for their cause that way, but IMO they don't really want support--it's really just an excuse to beat up on another area so they can momentarily "feel superior". Usually the "ugly" community is the part of town where people are well off.
Yes, I personally find the faceless, soulless, charmless suburban sprawl that make up places like Ashburn and surrounds, to be, well, ugly. I did not say they are terrible places, nor anything of the sort. . . .
MY opinion is that I do not particularly care for places like Ashburn and surrounds.
Yep.
While I prefer not to debate about the argument of "beauty" versus "ugly" (I would not call Ashburn ugly), I do agree that these areas are homogenous and sterile. To me, stripped land with new malls, townhouses, etc. and planted itty bitty trees (that may or may not be native to the county) cannot compare to the rolling hills, mountains, forests, and rivers of the county. What do I compare that to? Winchester, where I live right now (after living in Loudoun Co for 20 yrs).
Although I do not know what the quibbling is about . . . we've gone through this on this forum over and over and over, and although we all don't agree, we do agree that Loudoun County has quite a range of areas to choose from -- historic cities, suburbia, rural/farmland, etc. and that people choose where they live for their own reasons.
Although I, too dread seeing the sprawl move further west. Traffic already gets coagulated outside/west of Leesburg . I am hoping that the mountains will halt some of this and not/or have little affect on those of us "on the other side of the mountain".
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. . .I never said that they are BAD places, or unsafe, or anything of the sort. I simply don't like the looks of most of it in terms of the types of homes which usually all look almost exactly alike. Row after row, street after street, mile after mile of things that all look basically the same. Same style of building, and often even almost identical homes right next to each other.
Yeah, to me a diversified place to live includes diversified architecture.
Yeah, different strokes for different folks. Even so, you won't convince me that a poster who claims not to be at all pretentious and then goes out of his or her way repeatedly to put down an area where hard-working families go about their business as "ugly," "soulless" and "charmless" doesn't have more than a few passive-aggressive leanings. If you can't find anything at all to like in an area like Ashburn that is well-tended and filled with a diverse group of people who are responsible citizens, you probably aren't trying very hard. And it only takes a sentence or two to express a preference for an area with a greater range of architectural styles.
Yeah, different strokes for different folks. Even so, you won't convince me that a poster who claims not to be at all pretentious and then goes out of his or her way repeatedly to put down an area where hard-working families go about their business as "ugly," "soulless" and "charmless" doesn't have more than a few passive-aggressive leanings. If you can't find anything at all to like in an area like Ashburn that is well-tended and filled with a diverse group of people who are responsible citizens, you probably aren't trying very hard. And it only takes a sentence or two to express a preference for an area with a greater range of architectural styles.
Agree 100%. I personally would not live in Ashburn but it's not because it's ugly. I've lived in a sfh in a pvt area where all the homes are different. I have an acre to spread out. Living in cookie cutter neighborhoods just doesn't appeal to the wife and me. That said. There are some nice looking homes in Ashburn and other areas of Loudoun.
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