The Great Debate Continues

What I term as 'the great debate' continues in Fairfax County, Virginia today with the likely approval by the Board of Supervisors of close to $3.5 million to study and propose plans of how to improve commuter life in the Tysons Corner area. Having lived in the Tysons area for going on six years now I have seen how the landscape has been changing over the past few years and while I understand the desire to change the landscape to be more friendly to commuters as part of a lure intended to increase the status of Tysons Corner and continue the development from a fringe neighborhood to something to rival the urban live/work/play communities of other cities. Unfortunately it seems that the timing couldn't be more off.

With the current state of the economy it isn't surprising that many businesses are looking to downsize or lose employees in an effort to cut down on costs. While this would seem to make sense, it also makes sense to cut down on office space if you know you can consolidate your remaining employees at existing sites and cut costs until the market improves. That being said, it's no wonder there are a dearth of slowly emptying office spaces in the Tysons Corner area. Perhaps many people aren't noticing the 'For Lease' signs located all over the place but for those of us who live and work in the area, they are kind of hard to miss.

Now I know that some would argue that part of the reason for the amount of businesses leaving Tysons Corner at present is because of the construction related to the Tysons Metro project and the Beltway HOT-lanes making driving in Tysons Corner (an already messy proposition) even messier by tearing up roads and medians. Sure the loss is likely to be temporary and some of the exodus is likely more for that reason than any economic downturn but isn't it time to think about how changes can be made to improve things now rather than later?

The purpose of the study is to seek and determin alternatives to cars commuting around Tysons. The hope is that by building on the forthcoming expansion of the Washington Metro by adding local commuter rail that will potentially encircle the area and encourage additional people to take public transportation. The other hope is that by making Tysons a hub for public transportation will mean homeowners (current and future) will be encouraged to live in the area as opposed to commuting to the area. Some estimates have shown that approximately 17,000 people live in the Tysons area on a permanent basis and that during the work week, approximately 117,000 people can be found there. That being said is it any wonder that the roads are congested.

I'm sure the study will find wonderful ways in which to create a light rail system and commuter buses that will circle the area or how the addition of sidewalks will make pedestrians feel a little more comfortable walking around the are considering that right now there are absolutely no (well maybe a few) sidewalks to be found in the area. However, I'm sure they haven't taken into account the way that many of the companies in the Tysons area work. Most companies that can be found in Tysons may be headquartered there but most of the employees are located on site and are required to come to the headquarters on an occasional basis (if at all). The rest of the employees come in and work there but that is the support arm of the company so perhaps that would be the segment that would make full use of the public transportation network being envisioned.

However, I think it's safe to say that most working indvididuals would continue to drive on their own if their work made it easier to do so. I also drive from site to site on multiple occasions and so while I wouldn't mind taking public transportation it isn't practical. I would continue to commute as I'm sure many others would do too. There would undoubtedly be a significant portion of people who would use the transportation being proposed but even the hope that many planners have at increasing shoppers through Metro and public transport seem not to realize that most of the people who shop at higher end stores in Tysons would not 'stoop' to riding the subway. Perhaps that's a snooty assumption but next time you're in the area, check out the zsa-zsa cars that you see and tell me what you think? It's a good plan but I think if we spend more on improving the infrastructure in and around the area (expanding Route 123 to three lanes all the way from Tysons to the GW Parkway and to Route 66 would be a major step in the right direction) then perhaps that will help to ease traffic too.