Our previous article received a lot of ire from those who live outside of Annandale and East Falls Church for attempting to complicate the intersection of Seven Corners and to introduce mixed use in an area which is currently experiencing lower levels of affluence than other regions of Fairfax County, considering the idea a pipe dream. With that same article I received a lot of support from those who live in Annandale and East Falls Church saying that they have been in this area a long time and want to see solutions to problems that have existed for decades in many cases.
Let’s examine the largest argument against a pedestrian friendly revitalization project. Those who don’t live in that vicinity don’t want their commute or errands taking an extra 5 minutes and they don’t want to pay for parking. Let’s examine the point of view of people who live in Annandale and East Falls Church. They don’t want their children or themselves run over because someone has to get to Target. They want to be able to travel 2000′ without having to cross a dangerous intersection network. They never wanted a pedestrian bridge across Route 50 in the first place, as at night it becomes a funnel for illegal activity and is situated in a location that causes people to walk an extra half mile out of their way. They demanded safer streets and better focus from the County on their neighborhoods and were ignored for nearly a decade, or atleast pacified with a half way solution.
Which side do you think has a better case to be made? I don’t live in East Falls Church or Annandale but I can empathize with what the people who do live there go through. Decision after decision has been cast against them by majority rule from the rest of the region, forcing wider roads, stagnant land use and zoning which has left scars of strip malls, and the continued funneling of public funds to locations outside of this corridor. Instead the County has been pumping funding towards the social programs that must be created in order to support a region which has been left without basic function and assurances from Fairfax, causing deflation in land values and in too many cases economic hardship. Let’s step back here for a second. What should be the goals for the future of Seven Corners?
- Housing is essentially unaffordable in the rest of the county for many of the residents of this part of the county, therefore not a single residential unit should be removed with any revitalization project. The region needs more inventory not a different inventory of units.
- Just because the residents live on a tighter budget doesn’t mean they don’t enjoy a good walk, window shopping, restaurant options, and a variety of groceries. The Eden Center shows that retail locations can exist and be vibrant in an area which has to pay attention to its pocket books. The model is not to bring in outside retail corporations, but instead continue to garner local businesses with more retail space provided efficiently, ie better density.
- Less parking lots more walkability. Why is this important? Consolidating parking requirements off of retail strip malls (currently required by Fairfax County code to have MINIMUM parking numbers based on square footage) clears up nearly 50% of the land on these properties to be available for development. It reduces the impervious area and allows for beautification by plantings and green space. These are the benefits of locating parking off of individual properties and into a central facility well connected with walkways and transit.
In this exhibit we have realigned the mess of roads that encompass Seven Corners to create a focal point at a round about. Route 50 remains untouched… and still completely over congested, needing better solutions than a simple road widening, but that’s neither here nor there.
- Light blue structures are low rise retail single use. These have been selected in the shown locations to reduce the urban impact on the pedestrian, to create a sense of human scale and to avoid over powering the properties that will remain.
- The bright orange structure is the proposed parking garage which would be built on shared developer costs, whose revenue would go towards funding beautification and landscape projects as shown.
- The light orange structures are mid-rise mixed uses which incorporate ground level retail with commercial and/or residential uses above.
- The beige structures are mid-rise to a maximum 10 story residential single land use which will help provide new but affordable residential units.
How will the residential units be affordable? Subsidies? Not really, they will be affordable by creating different types of units. One reason why land prices are so expensive in this region is that there really are few variations on what you can buy. By creating new options like studio apartments, 1br, 2br, and even 3br units the area receives an organic mix to help alleviate the old house/new house options that many face. Best of all, this removes absolutely NO residential units from the market, and instead only consolidates lands which are being underused for parking currently.
At the center of the plan is the traffic round about which tightens up an area that is a mess of wasted pavement. The circle can over time, or at construction, incorporate a new small urban park with walk path and a performance stage which can help continue the sense of community by allowing a venue for small outdoor events.
The circle can be enclosed in an open but secure iron fence and landscaping that creates a separation from traffic. Walkway crossings will be controlled with the only two lights within the circle which will ensure safe passage for pedestrians to the central green. These two lights will continue to provide a slight priority to vehicles in the timing scheme, in order to encourage pedestrians to walk around the circle instead of through it, with the exception being for those who want to venture to the circle itself. Much of the remaining landscape will be inherently introduced by the developers themselves in order to beautify their own investments, but can be made part of the agreements in order to develop.
I have no financial interest in Seven Corners. What I have is empathy for people who just want to be able to make the sustainable choice and take a walk instead of drive, and for business owners who find it ever more difficult to get people out of cars and into their stores. I think pedestrian fatalities are tragic mistakes in our own priorities as planners and designers. While in many cases it is the pedestrians fault for not crossing at designated zones, large blocks and few passable points create a systematic issue which can cultivate these incidents. Seven Corners doesn’t have to be like Arlington in order to be successful, but it does need to be given an opportunity to be affordable and attractive through proper land use instead of forgotten or left behind as our region continues to grow.