Don't Tysons Dulles

Many of the folks who live in Loudoun County moved here from Fairfax County. Roughly half of new residents who moved into Loudoun after Dulles Airport opened in November, 1962, came from Fairfax County. Most were "young marrieds" with small children. They wanted a house they could afford, and a lifestyle similar to the hometowns they grew up in.
Loudouon has been fortunate to be able also to attract a significant number of businesses, including AOL, Orbital and others that contribute to our tax base and enable some residents to work near their homes.
But since Loudoun's rapid growth began, the cry "Don't Fairfax Loudoun" has been applied to first one and then another of many proposals for growth that residents don't want. Loudoun was the nation's fastest-growing county for a number of successive years -- until the county grew too large to maintain high growth percentages, even though substantial growth continued each year.
Now we have outgrown the "Don't Fairfax Loudoun" cry -- and its successor is "Don't Tysons Dulles."
Tysons Corner, at Route 7 and the I-495 Beltway, is a highrise congested city with extensive offices and numorous retailers.
I know people who say that the very best, high-end stores are there, among an extensive array of virtually all kinds of retailers from clothing to auto dealerships.
But I hear more of my friends saying, "I never go to Tyson's. It takes forever to drive through there and when you do want to shop there, you can't find a place to park."
Our Board of Supervisors is considering substantial additions to and around Dulles Town Center. In addition, there are plans for the "Kincora" development on the other side of Rt. 28 at Rt 7 extending toward Loudoun County Parkway, while the One Loudoun project has already been approved for the property west of the that parkway. There is even talk of building a minor league baseball stadium in or near the Kincora development.
Though passersby still don't see much of the One Loudoun development, it will offer office space, homes, apartments and retail shopping opportunities when it is complete. There has been talk of locating a World Trade Center there as well.
So it looks to me that our supervisors will soon be confronting a series of key decisions that will significantly impact the daily lives of folks like me who live in and around CountrySide, Cascades and Sterling Park -- an area so populous already that three of our nine supervisors represent these specific residents.
My cry is "Don't Tysons Dulles!"
I want to continue living here and I don't want to commit an hour to go from Loudoun County Parkway or Route 28 to the Fairfax County line down Rt. 7.
Maybe the first step our supervisors should take now -- before we start approving the Dulles Center and Kincora developments -- is to first expand the traffic capacities of Rt. 7.
And above all: Don't Tysons Dulles!
--martin casey