23rd
Beltway Outpost to Be Reborn a Green City?
Pedestrian-friendly, multi-modal, transit-oriented urban planning may be spreading beyond the Beltway, according to reporting by The Washington Post on new plans to transform the sprawling (and rush-hour congested) commercial expanse of Tysons Corner into, well, a new city:
The vision for Tysons seeks to harness a growing public urgency over the environment, and its supporters also believe they can make history by transforming a suburb into a city and providing a model for the rest of the nation to follow.
Greater Greater Washington posted details on the plans. Wikipedia describes Tysons Corner as the de facto downtown of Fairfax County. Can a new Metro line and smart development turn a hyper-concentration of office and retail into something more akin to an actual downtown?
I’ve been at Tysons when the clock strikes five to witness the streets go from nearly vacant to bumper-to-bumper in seconds. I’m also a native of exurban prototype Fairfax County and have hated that triangle of I-495 and routes 7 and 123. Remind me to check back in ten years.
