Joe Brown tried to explain what he thought was the right way to develop density in Tysons Corner. "Density is not about maximizing development," Brown said. "Non-argumentative density is what I’m talking about."
Brown, the CEO of EDAW, a San Francisco-based design and architecture firm, was the keynote speaker at an April 22 gathering of about 200 local business leaders, developers, land-use attorneys and politicians sponsored by the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce.
The meeting, "Issues Fairfax - Tysons 2030," was designed to allow these people to brainstorm how they envisioned Tysons Corner 25 years from now. "What should it look like? How should it feel? What can be achieved and how would we go about getting there?" asked Maureen McAvey of the Urban Land Institute.
Stephen Fuller, a professor of public policy at George Mason, told the audience of projections for growth that the university’s Center for Regional Analysis had developed.
By 2030, the county’s population will increase by over 41 percent to more than 1.5 million residents. At the same time, the number of jobs in the county will increase by more than 65 percent to over 1.4 million, said Fuller.
This, Fuller said, will create a need for 92.6 million additional square feet of office space, three times what is currently in Tysons Corner. "Where do these go?" Fuller asked of the audience. "How can they best be located so they will be an asset to this region, not a burden?"
Tysons Corner, several speakers argued, is a prime spot. The area is already a business center, and the main new ingredient is the proposed Metrorail line that could add four stops in Tysons Corner by 2009.
According to Brown, the way to best accommodate this density is by putting much of it near these Metro stops. He stressed, however, that people cannot be left out of the planning equation. Residences would also need to be clustered around the stops. "Never leave out the streets, the public amenities, the open spaces," Brown said. "Nobody wants development as it was done before. Nobody wants density for density’s sake."
Brown advised that Fairfax County would need to drop its setback requirements and create structured parking lots. In this way, Tysons could have a streetscape instead of a tall building surrounded by a parking lot.
Brown explained that in order for Tysons Corner to be successful, it would need to have a "there." Tysons would need to develop its own identity and a reason for people to go there. This could be achieved, partly through adding a residential component to Tysons, creating a critical mass of people.
He also advocated removing the numerous strip malls that dot the area. These centers, he said, have outlived their usefulness. "You’ve got some high-value properties locked up. It doesn’t do any good to anyone."
SEVERAL SPEAKERS also stressed the need for an inclusive process in any redevelopment of the area. "You really need major, massive citizen involvement," said U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-10). "Citizens need to be a part of the process."
In an interview after the summit, Supervisor Linda Smyth (D-Providence) and Planning Commissioner Ken Lawrence (Providence) echoed this call for participation. "I think today reinforced the need to make this planning effort a really public process," Lawrence said.
Smyth called for a "massive public outreach." Currently, about 20 different proposals have been put forward to amend the county’s Comprehensive Plan regarding separate pieces of land in Tysons Corner, most of which sits in the Providence District. Tysons, Smyth said, should be dealt with in a special study and noted there is currently a consultant doing a transportation and urban design study.
Lawrence sits on a commission designed specifically to gather public comment and present it to consultants engaged in an urban design study of the Tysons corner area.
THE MEETING broke up into smaller discussion groups that analyzed what participants thought were the most important things Tysons Corner would need going forward. The discussion covered a variety of different topics, including ideas in one group to create several distinct neighborhoods, but to create them in a harmonious way in which they integrate with each other. Generally, the idea was to create a sense of place, instead of the current Tysons, which some participants characterized as a sort of anonymous loneliness.
Among all the groups together, connectivity topped the list of necessities. Tysons Corner is notorious for its poor traffic flow, and that situation would need to be improved, said participants. Coupled with that would be the proposed Metrorail line and an effective network of sidewalks that would allow pedestrians to get from place to place.
Other goals for redeveloping Tysons would be to make it a world class urban center with sustainable quality, and a business center Others advocated for a very public planning process, among other things.
After a break for lunch, the groups divided again and ranked their priorities within various categories. The groups reached a broad consensus on some items. For example, participants cited the need for transportation as a top priority, but doubted that the money and political will existed to make it a reality.
Creating public spaces was a priority. Adding housing to Tysons Corner, which is a general goal of county planners, was noted as important. Although many people talked about the need for affordable and work-force housing, creating affordable housing did not make the cut of top priorities.
In his closing remarks, Board of Supervisors Chair Gerry Connolly (D-At-large) also cited the lack of housing in Tysons Corner as a major problem. With the area made up almost completely of commercial development, workers have no choice but to drive to and from the area. "That imbalance has a lot to do with the dysfunctionality of its transit network," Connolly said. He added that new development in Tysons would need to be done in a way that makes people want to live there.