fairfax co. gov't center is out near Fair Lakes, fairfax co. parkway and Route 66.
Posted on 07/07/2008 5:34:04 AM PDT by 3AngelaD
Think there's no such thing as too much parking? Take a look at Tysons Corner, where there's more parking than jobs, more parking than office space, more parking than in downtown Washington. That must change, said advocates and politicians seeking to transform Virginia's largest business hub from suburb to city. Reducing parking, charging for parking and finding new uses for the acres of parking that separate Tysons' buildings and the people inside is at the heart of plans to remake the area....
"Who wants parking spaces to be the hallmark of a development?" said Clark Tyler, chairman of a Fairfax County-appointed task force preparing a Tysons redevelopment plan for later this year... Taking a new approach to parking, by building less and charging more, is a central tenet of the new urbanism that has gripped planners...The planners said that parking, especially free parking, encourages people to drive....parking lots coat the ground with impervious asphalt that sends dirty runoff into rivers and streams...parking is often ugly and creates spaces that discourage walking or the use of a transit system.... Reducing the supply of parking is one way to change people's habits and patterns of development...Other crucial pieces include a grid of streets...and transit, which is why Tysons boosters have been pushing so hard for a Metrorail extension...
Tysons' dependence on the automobile, and a place to park it, is dramatic when compared with other areas. With about 120,000 jobs, Tysons features nearly half again as many parking spots...That's more parking, 40 million square feet, than office space, 28 million square feet. Tysons boasts more spaces, 167,000, than downtown Washington, 50,000, which has more than twice as many jobs....
Ultimately, Schwartz and other advocates said... drivers should pay a price for choosing to drive or be denied the privilege...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
You would think these idiots would learn that no one is going to go out of their way to take transit into the city to go shopping.
What a BS article! My firm is headquartered in Tysons and the only good thing about that area is that you can park - if you can survive the traffic jams during rush hour out that way. Plus, they act if there are hardly any jobs out there? There are TONS of jobs out there.
Sounds like the chairman of the local People's Council has his panties in a wad.
Indeed. In fact, most zoning rules mandate a certain ratio of parking spots to square feet of office space.
I imagine that a careful examination would show that our lords and masters in the Fairfax Taj Mahal (a/k/a the Government Center Building) required the number of parking spots found at Tyson’s Corner.
Jack
I am for a metro link to Tysons and IAD, but it should be below ground into Tysons.
"Sounds like the chairman of the local People's Council has his panties in a wad."
I think you hit it on the head. This is about control. Schwartz sounds like a neighborhood nazi writ large. Isn't it funny how liberals always seem to be for more and more controls and limitations on the peoples' lives?
I go to Tyson’s to shop just because the parking is such a pleasure: plentiful, free, safe, clean. Even if the traffic on Route 7 leaves something to be desired (I usually approach from 123, which isn’t all that bad), it is worth it. It would never occur to me to go to downtown DC to shop. I would prefer to have pointy sticks poked in my eyes. Sounds to me like our Overlords at the Taj Mahal want us all to be as miserable as district residents. They, of course, will continue to tool around in their county-provided Navigators and Escalades, with their parking provided free at taxpayer expense, while we schlep around on buses and Metro. Question: do they pay to park at the Taj? Or do they have spaces reserved with their names on them? Three guesses.
People don’t WANT “cities.” They want suburbs. Except for a very few main functions (sports complexes, central government and some banking), EVERYTHING can be “off loaded” to suburbs. I never go to downtown Dayton anymore, and don’t want to.
Mark
Other than the businesses, the employees, the customers, and anyone using the #1 form of transportation in the United States, I can't think of anyone.
There is an asphalt product that allows water to pass through. It's just not used much.
This goes well with the article from Sunday that said DC is looking to make people’s commutes so bad that they have to take Metro. They are taking away switchable lanes, removing parking, and talking about shutting down some major arteries (like the 395 tunnel).
They want people to live in DC, not drive there.
I say, let’s move the jobs into the suburbs. That way people are going both directions in the morning and afternoon, some driving in to jobs, some driving out. Doubles the road capacity for commuting, without switchable lanes.
Also, with $4 gas, it allows people to live 10 miles from work instead of 40.
fairfax co. gov't center is out near Fair Lakes, fairfax co. parkway and Route 66.
I believe the poster is referring to the Fairfax County government center in Fairfax City, not Tysons. The government center's main building is very grand and imposing with may acres of free parking around it.
An impressive place...perfect for worshiping the nanny state!
i am figuring the fairfax co bd of supervisors have thrones in their various offices in keeping with the decor....
I must be blind. I used to work for Nortel a couple of years ago and went out that way all the time.
it’s not really visible from 66 i don’t think. We used to have to go out there to pay personal property tax on cars before they got rid of that.
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