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Old 01-02-2010, 03:56 PM
 
Location: Arlington, VA
2,021 posts, read 4,611,712 times
Reputation: 1668

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Stephen 81 View Post
Not unless Loudoun changes its zoning laws. In an effort to preserve the "rural" character of western Loudoun, the county passed these insane zoning ordinances that encourage sprawl and McMansions while still gobbling up farmland.

I keep waiting for Loudoun to realize its mistake, but I'm not holding my breath.
Yeah exactly. I think such land use regulations are ridiculous. They haven't stopped sprawl at all, merely pushed it out to the Winchester area and West Virginia. I don't see how you are maintaining a "rural" character by replacing farmland with McMansions on 3, 5 and 10+ acre lots. I personally think such laws infringe on property owners rights in terms of land development but then again I am no legal expert.

As to the original question as to whether areas are exurbs or suburbs...not even sure. I don't even get why some nerd felt a suburb needed further elaboration. I tend to just think of everything on the east side of Route 15 as suburban in nature because you still have fairly high density residential development even out towards Leesburg and Manassas. Yes I know there are still rural pockets in this zone in Loudoun and PW but you also have similar pockets in parts of western and SW Fairfax County.

Last edited by NOVAmtneer82; 01-02-2010 at 04:09 PM..
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Old 01-02-2010, 04:01 PM
 
Location: Land of the Free
6,707 posts, read 6,711,443 times
Reputation: 7550
Exurb/Suburb is a manufactured distinction used mostly by wormy academics, not real people. Someone moving from DC to Oakton might say they're moving from the city to the suburbs. But no one moving from McLean to Ashburn says they're moving to the exurbs.
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Old 01-02-2010, 04:03 PM
 
Location: Home is where the heart is
15,402 posts, read 28,934,961 times
Reputation: 19090
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheseGoTo11 View Post
But no one moving from McLean to Ashburn says they're moving to the exurbs.
LOL, I totally agree. I don't like using the word exurb myself. It sounds snooty, like you're trying to put on airs. Like you'd drive up to a limo and say "Pahdon me do you have any grey poupon? I live in the exurbs..."
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Old 01-03-2010, 01:52 AM
 
3,164 posts, read 6,948,567 times
Reputation: 1279
Quote:
Originally Posted by ScranBarre View Post
I consider Leesburg an exurb of Washington, DC and a suburb of Fairfax County, which in and of itself is a dominant force with well over a million residents and many of the region's major employment, shopping, and recretational centers. As Leesburg continues to grow in the coming years and eventually attracts more major employers of its own then I can guarantee Hamilton, Purcellville, Round Hill, and Lovettsville will all look like Ashburn, for better or for worse.
Can't happen without a change in laws. Current zoning is one house per 20 acres for western Loudoun. That just happened a few years back, 3 or 4 years. There would be a HUGE fight if there were proposals to change that. In 2007, voters threw out of office 4 supervisors who had not supported this low density zoning. A 5th one won by 200 votes. They got the message. Western Loudoun can't look like Sterling because the law forbids it. Folks will just have to continue to cram into Sterling and Ashburn.
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Old 01-03-2010, 01:58 AM
 
3,164 posts, read 6,948,567 times
Reputation: 1279
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stephen 81 View Post
Not unless Loudoun changes its zoning laws. In an effort to preserve the "rural" character of western Loudoun, the county passed these insane zoning ordinances that encourage sprawl and McMansions while still gobbling up farmland.

I keep waiting for Loudoun to realize its mistake, but I'm not holding my breath.
People in western Loudoun don't think a mistake was made. That's why 4 supervisors lost their jobs in 2007, they didn't support the new zoning. No politician is going to support changing the zoning law in western Loudoun.

Where are big houses being built in western Loudoun under the new zoning, with one house per 20 acres? There are no more houses being built in western Loudoun. No builder can stay in business building one house per 20 acres.
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Old 01-03-2010, 08:07 AM
 
Location: Northern Virginia
1,418 posts, read 3,454,424 times
Reputation: 436
Quote:
Originally Posted by Denton56 View Post
People in western Loudoun don't think a mistake was made. That's why 4 supervisors lost their jobs in 2007, they didn't support the new zoning. No politician is going to support changing the zoning law in western Loudoun.

Where are big houses being built in western Loudoun under the new zoning, with one house per 20 acres? There are no more houses being built in western Loudoun. No builder can stay in business building one house per 20 acres.
Where is that, is it county-wide or Lovettsville or what? I'm in Round Hill and an really hoping no more big high density developments can be built in our town and the surrounding areas. I'd love to learn more about the zoning in the area....so if anyone can provide more info, that'd be great.
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Old 01-03-2010, 08:56 AM
 
Location: Falls Church, VA
722 posts, read 1,980,757 times
Reputation: 316
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheseGoTo11 View Post
Exurb/Suburb is a manufactured distinction used mostly by wormy academics, not real people. Someone moving from DC to Oakton might say they're moving from the city to the suburbs. But no one moving from McLean to Ashburn says they're moving to the exurbs.
They don't? When my husband and I were briefly flirting with the idea of buying a place last year outside of Fairfax County, we talked about if we were willing to move out to the exurbs. And we used that word.

But then again my husband is a "wormy academic" and not a "real" person, so it's no wonder.

Edit: I should add that if we wanted to talk about moving to Ashburn, we'd say, "moving to Ashburn." Of course. But we found "exurb" to be a convenient shorthand way to say, essentially, "places with lower housing prices and really long commutes."

Last edited by athousandlogins; 01-03-2010 at 09:34 AM..
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Old 01-03-2010, 09:17 AM
 
Location: Virginia
18,717 posts, read 31,070,580 times
Reputation: 42988
I'm surprised to see the Bureau of Labor and Statistics has Warren and Clark counties as exurbs for Washington DC. C'mon, how many people really commute from those counties to DC? I think most of the people who live out there work in the general area.
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Old 01-03-2010, 09:22 AM
 
Location: Everywhere and Nowhere
14,129 posts, read 31,238,974 times
Reputation: 6920
Quote:
Originally Posted by normie View Post
LOL, I totally agree. I don't like using the word exurb myself. It sounds snooty, like you're trying to put on airs. Like you'd drive up to a limo and say "Pahdon me do you have any grey poupon? I live in the exurbs..."
Funny I have exactly the opposite view of exurbs. I think of them as places where people don't really want to live but have to because they can't yet afford a SFH in the suburbs.
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Old 01-03-2010, 10:01 AM
 
Location: Northern Virginia
1,418 posts, read 3,454,424 times
Reputation: 436
Quote:
Originally Posted by CAVA1990 View Post
Funny I have exactly the opposite view of exurbs. I think of them as places where people don't really want to live but have to because they can't yet afford a SFH in the suburbs.
I think she was just talking about the term...being something more academic than something you hear in day to day life. I suppose i have lived in an exburb of NYC for most of my life and I have never heard that term until I move to the exburbs of DC and frankly I live here because I don't have to commute to the "city" and I like living in a more rural area. I have no desire to move any closer in to DC, why would want a smaller house and more traffic/people, I if I don't have to go to DC more than 1-2x per year?
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