Do you wish Fairfax was less urban and more suburban? (Annandale: apartments, condo)

[Laid Off]

Sometime in the 1980s or 90s the leaders of Fairfax County decided that we would become an urban county. Up to then, the county was mostly forests, fields and suburban homes on larger lots. It was so pretty and green! Then the rezoned lots of the county from larger lot zoning to townhomes and apartments and commercial.

As a long term resident of the area I can't understand how it has benefited anyone other than large property owners. Miles and miles of townhomes, millions of trees clear-cut in Western Fairfax and one strip center after another.

Yes, I know there was an increase in demand but there had to be another way. Maybe more townhomes and highrises in already developed parcels or urban renewal in areas like Bailey Crossroads and Annandale instead of tearing down what was left of the urban forest in western Fairfax.

What is your thoughts about how Fairfax has developed in the last 30 years?

[TheWatchmen]

Originally Posted by Laid Off

Maybe more townhomes and highrises in already developed parcels or urban renewal in areas like Bailey Crossroads and Annandale instead of tearing down what was left of the urban forest in western Fairfax.

Uhm, no. I'm very happy to let you know as a resident of the Annandale/Bailey's Crossroads area, that I actively work against turning our entire area into a mess of poorly laid out condo canyons so that you exurban dwellers can enjoy bucolic pastures. You are more than happy to take every inch of our green space so that you can enjoy open fields. Well, there are a lot of very dedicated NIMBYists here, who are more than happy to show up to community meetings, public hearings, and other venues to voice concerns.

I'm all for smart, thoughtful development in this area, that includes holistic considerations of current residents, transportation, schools, etc. but I am tired of out-of-town exurbanites telling us that we need to just raze everything and turn into a combination of a mini-manhattan with 20-lane freeways running through, all for their benefit.

[NOVA_guy]

Not really. I like it the way it is now. If people want to live in a super rural area there's always places like Kentucky or Georgia where there's lots of rural areas and undeveloped land.

If only we could do something about the traffic in FFX...

[stateofnature]

The benefit for way way more people than just "property owners" is completely obvious: it gives all the hundreds of thousands of people who have moved to Fairfax Co. for opportunities PLACES TO LIVE. If the county had stuck to nothing but detached single family homes, there literally wouldn't be anywhere to live for a substantial portion of the population.

If you really "can't understand" this, then you really haven't thought very hard. You may not LIKE the fact that the population has grown, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to UNDERSTAND that when more and more people are moving to a place for job opportunities, they are going to need places to live, and if the population is increasing at a rapid rate, the existing housing stock won't provide enough space.

If you don't like a place where people are free to move for new jobs and have somewhere to live, try living in a country like Cuba where people can't take the jobs in the location they want.

[gomason]

Went from rural to suburban. Fairfax has like 5% of land that I would call urban.

[PK12]

Good lord, no.

While I dont support densifying allf of Fairfax County in the way that Tysons is being densified/urbanized, I would hate for Fairfax to be something like western Loudoun county.

I do support the future plans for Tysons, hoping it all shapes out nicely.

Otherwise, Fairfax is just fine as it is. Keep the small-town countryish feel restricted to the DC exurbs.

[LuvVA]

I like the way it is now... Though they have cut down lot of trees back in those days, whenever and wherever a new community is developed, they plant lot of new trees. So, in 15-20 years they should have become matured trees. And in all newer communities, there are lot of trees and will be matured in the next 10-15 years.

More people, more money for the county.Of course more traffic. But this is a normal growth.

[lovnova]

Originally Posted by Laid Off

Sometime in the 1980s or 90s the leaders of Fairfax County decided that we would become an urban county. Up to then, the county was mostly forests, fields and suburban homes on larger lots. It was so pretty and green! Then the rezoned lots of the county from larger lot zoning to townhomes and apartments and commercial.

As a long term resident of the area I can't understand how it has benefited anyone other than large property owners. Miles and miles of townhomes, millions of trees clear-cut in Western Fairfax and one strip center after another.

Yes, I know there was an increase in demand but there had to be another way. Maybe more townhomes and highrises in already developed parcels or urban renewal in areas like Bailey Crossroads and Annandale instead of tearing down what was left of the urban forest in western Fairfax.

What is your thoughts about how Fairfax has developed in the last 30 years?

They just care what it is now, for them.

[PK12]

Originally Posted by LuvVA

I like the way it is now... Though they have cut down lot of trees back in those days, whenever and wherever a new community is developed, they plant lot of new trees. So, in 15-20 years they should have become matured trees. And in all newer communities, there are lot of trees and will be matured in the next 10-15 years.

More people, more money for the county.Of course more traffic. But this is a normal growth.

Exactly. You can't have a backwards rural farmland type place anchored by a major metropolitan city

[car54]

Originally Posted by PK12

Exactly. You can't have a backwards rural farmland type place anchored by a major metropolitan city

If I'm alive when this society melts down, I'm bugging out to a backwards rural farm type place where I have friends. I hope they'll give me something to eat. (they probably will seeing as they like my banjo pickin'....LOL)

You'll be eating your iPhone.