beltwayboy08

haha. yeh it would. I know they were planning towers to be built in maybe 2 years and the images of the completed TC looked like they would match the ones across. but Im not sure if that was preliminary or actual. it seems like when the picture was made in 2005, that it would be too hard to know for sure what they would look like. I hope they re-think them after the housing slump and make them nice glass covered structures. the TC could use some buildings like that to contrast the stucco and brick dominated cityscape.

very nice!! I had taken some pix of them about half way through their construction, when they were putting the prefabricated brick exterior on the west building. (julyish). they are a nice addition to the TC. What I want to know is what will be going up across from the mid town towers in the vacant lot there. I know across the street behind the bus depot, they will put up a 15 storier within a few months or so.

1 million sq feet isnt too hard to build on the space they have available now. I predict that even if they have multi floor buildings, they wont be more than 5 stories.

Personally, i like tall buildings. I'd love to see the area get some real buildings. In that sense, yes, i do worship height. also, i agree with you about trying to design more unique TCs. in a few years, the town center will be just as bland as the suburbia we are complaining about now given what i see in all the TCs that are being built around nova (except reston). asside from liking tall buildings, I think they will help make an area more dense, and will give it a much more "typical uban" feel. ....................................plus they will look neat.

yeah.. but do you think 1,000,000 sq feet can fit in those parking lots? I dont know, i hope not, so they have to build up.

if you look between both new towers, the one in the background is the completed turnberry tower.

I always thought ffx corner was kinda bland and shopping center like. with that new addition, it will feel more dense and city like hopefully. I also can see how ffx corner would be better though. especially with metro, which i hope comes out this way soon too!! I did drive by the sight of "1L" (one loudoun as they nickname it), and its huge. driving by on the loudoun pkwy for about a min and a half at 45 mph, i thought the property had ended untill i saw another 1L "office space for lease" bill board, and a bunch of equiptment about another quarter mile after that. its gonna be pretty big. I also drove down to rosslyn yesterday (yeah I have a life and a job).... to check out the sight lines of the rosslyn central place towers. I went into tom sarris' orleans house, the 50 year old restaurnat that is being forced to move out, and asked the owner when they are closing. she said they are closing in december and she said they have to give the county the key by march, when the block will undergo demolition. I was worried about the height of the roof line on central place being 387.6 feet when the neighboring rosslyn twin towers are 381 ft, so i talked to the developer and he said they go by median sight elevation. so even though the intersection of north lynn st. and wilson blvd, where the two sets of towers will be opposite of eachother, is flat, the old twin tower's eastern edge, near the river is significantly lower. this ensures that even though the old twin towers are only 6.5 feet shorter in building height, the new towers will still dwarf them on the skyline. while in rosslyn, I drove by turnberry tower to check on its progress. they are almost finished with the first underground parking storie. no dirt left really. and btw, applying the median sight elevation tool, it looks asthough turnberry could rival the old rosslyn twin towers for head room on the skyline too.

sorry... my pos computer is acting up. any way, ffx corner is going to double its density. there is no land around for low density expansion so from what i gather, they will build up. ffx corner is directly across 66 freeway and only about a 3 min. drive from the also expanding fair oaks mall. and tb, the convension center is getting a hotel. did you hear about that on the news?

No, I dont think it will connect with metro. it seems to be just north of the silver line. the hotels will be nice, but I'm excited by the WTC! btw, on the silver line in reston, the county is looking for a development group that can design a mini towncenter for the wiehle ave station. now there is a kiss and ride lot, but the county hopes to have a good number of condo units with retail mixed in. also, ffx corner TC is looking to expand its 1.1 million sq feet with another million square feet!

ok. I know we are kinda weak here in recent days, but I'd like to see if this stirs up some interest. I just found out today that a HUGE 350 acre plot of land touching rt. 7 and the Loudoun county pkwy is being developed (and has alredy broken ground) on a massive smart growth town center called One Loudon. I is going to have 900 homes, 700000 sq feet of retail and !3,000,000! sq. feet of office space including.........ready..........a................ WORLD TRADE CENTER! one of only 230 in the world. It stands as an example of nova's enormous wealth. it also will include in its downtown some luxury hotels, and will have its own elementary school. there are several of these projects going in around VA and MD, but this one will be much more upscale and will be anchored by the world trade center. the trade center will also help attract even more companies to Northern Virginia. I consider myself to be pretty up to date with new development in the area, but I managed to miss this one untill today. what do yo guys think? http://www.oneloudoun.com/siteplan.htm

ok thanks bro. I'm gonna try it out.

lowerdeck, I will have to agree with you that some of those far out towns do have a good number of commuters to the DC region, and I know that is what the definition of a "subburb". however, like you said, they are their own micor centers and are set apart from the rest of the conurbation mass. it very well may be subjective. one who lives in DC or arlington would argue that warrenton is not the DC area, but one who lives in culpepper may beg to differ. then again, there may be a specific rule to apply to this topic that draws a line on a conurbation. As for West Virginia; I dont think they contribute to history or the present day country nearly as much as VA. I'm glad that they are their own state so they can bask in their own nothingness alone and let the rest of Virginia continue to be progressive and prosperous and excell into the future as one of the nations most important and affluent states. West Virginia would have been a leech if we still had to carry it's dead wait. There is nothing in wva that va dosn't have. Virginia imo is much more like NC and MD, both of which are much more respectable and progressive states. btw, i think i may have asked you before and i didnt follow through, LD, how did you get those flag icons on your postings? I like them.

Most of the people on forums that I have talked to who are from West Virginia are very resentful towards Virginia argueing that West Virginia is superior to Virginia. I am big into history and in no way do I respect what W. Va. is or how it became. I consider the state to be traitorus and in absolutely NO popsition to judge Virginia given thier own position as a nothing, washed up, poor and oversized forest with NOTHING to offer a northern Virginian, nor do I consider them to be part of the Washington area. It gives them too much credit. I'm not a southern sympathiser or anything, but I'm very concious of my being a Virginian, and our superior and paramount national history and current day importance, somthing in which West Virginia chose not be included. Other wise, I think highly of Leesburg, Manassas (old town), and Fairfax City too. Other than Annapolis, which you had mensioned, I can't name any other's in the DC region on the MD side, but these towns have been centers of trade and government for longer even than Washington itself. All these places have civil war history, and go back even further with importantce to local history. Ffx co. as a whole is big on the national historic stage as home to George Washington, General Robert Lee, George Mason, etc. with many other not so famous, but also historic natives and sights to supplement. As you said, Alexandria is NoVa's oldest and best example of a pre-Washington center. Before washington, that and Georgetown, MD were the predominent towns in the region. Being a DC dweller, I was wondering tb, which town was bigger? Alex or georgetown? IMO, it seems asthough Alexandria had a better hold as the port of the region.

yes tb, I would agree with you about VA, DC and MD as one conurbation, but there are always competitions between state lines. even though I like MD alot, and see them as VA's little brother, there is competition. I would also agree that VA is equal to MD as far as smart growth goes, only VA has many more of these projects proposed and approved in its future. about the fringe towns; for some reason, living in ffx co, I dont seem to consider West Virginia to be part of the DC area. there may be people who commute, but when one looks at a map, or a satalite image, they can see quite clearly that the 'skirts end in loudoun and prince william counties. however, I can understand how these towns could be seen as subburbs given their increasing prosperity due to DC'sjob market. personally, I think if there are miles of farm land and emptieness between towns, then they are their own uran centers. IMO, lincoln was out best president for allowing "W. Va." to become its own state. Where would VA's economy be with W. Va. holding it down?

tb, what do you think about what i said before my hard times post? do you agree? I think ole Virginia is doing just as well as Md when it comes to smart growth.