1. TYSONS THE AUDACITY OF CHANGE

3. Assumption #1 – Metro will come
Assumption #2 – Significant growth will occur
Assumption #3 – Tysons’ transformation – possible/desirable
WHY DO I BELIEVE THIS?

4. THE TYSONS TASK FORCE MISSION POSSIBLE
Manage growth – T.O.D. experiences
Involve the public and all stakeholders
Recognize the constraints
Plan for walkability, livability, and likability
Guiding principle: do what’s always been done and you get what’s always been gotten

5. THE COMPETING INTERESTS:
Adjoining communities
Local businesses
Residents
State agencies
Utilities
Emergency services
Commuters through
Transit operators
Pedistrians & Bicyclists
Construction requirements
Landowners
Large employers
Employees
County agencies
Environmental interests
Commuters to
Developers
MWAA
Freight carriers
Financial interests

6. THE TASK FORCE: 3 reps of landowners 11 reps of citizens associations
8 residents of ring communities
3 elected officials
12 from involved districts
6-8 MCA members
7 employees
3 Tysons residents
9 reps of businesses
3 ex-off. PC members
5 other county districts
6 reps of special interests (arts, housing, environment, bicyclists, accessibility)

7. WHAT HAVE WE BEEN DOING FOR THREE YEARS?
Consultants
Outreach
Seminars & focus groups
Education
Coordination
A “preferred alternative”

8. WHAT HAVE OTHER T.O.D. EXPERIENCES SHOWN? (PART I)
Provide mobility choices
Increase public safety
Increase transit ridership
Reduce rates of Vehicle Miles Traveled
Increase household’s disposable income

9. WHAT HAVE OTHER T.O.D. EXPERIENCES SHOWN? (PART II)
Reduce air pollution/energy consumption rates
Conserve land & open space
Play a role in economic development
Contribute to more affordable housing
Decrease local infrastructure costs

10. AUTO TRIP REDUCTION FACTORS (PART I)
Better balance between housing and jobs
Parking management
Pedestrian and bicyclist access
Circulator system
Community shuttles
Increased transit usage

11. AUTO TRIP REDUCTION FACTORS (PART II)
Telecommuting
Convenience retail
Grid of streets
Other TDM strategies
Price of gas

12. WHAT EXACTLY IS TYSONS TODAY? (PART I)
46 million sq. ft. of development
Additional 30 million sq. ft. by current
plan & zoning
40 million sq. ft. of parking!
The economic engine – idling?
To, thru, and within, congestion

13. WHAT EXACTLY IS TYSONS TODAY? (PART II)
Many, many landowners
A piecemeal process
12 “that’s nice” objectives in the 1994 Plan
Nearly $300 million/year from 3 tax
sources (property, sales and business license)

14. TYSONS – THE ECONOMIC ENGINE (PART I)
Virginia’s largest office market & business center; 15th largest in the U.S. – w/ 28 million sq. ft. of office space
The malls of Tysons Corner creates the 2nd or 3rd largest shopping area in the nation.
Surrounding communities of McLean, Vienna & Great Falls add another 7 million sq. ft. of office and over 2 million sq. ft. of retail
Average home price in the Greater Tysons area is over $600,000 (much higher in McLean and Great Falls)

15. TYSONS – THE ECONOMIC ENGINE (PART II)
128,000 jobs and nearly 6,000 businesses (only 17,000 residents)
Greatest concentration of hotels in the county: 14 (3,880 rooms)
The question is: will Tysons continue to get its share of the 2 million residents and 1.6 million jobs projected for the region over the next 25 years?

16. WHAT DO THEY SAY ABOUT TYSONS? (PART I)
“The blob that ate Northern Virginia”
“Too balkanized, too big, too spread out, too auto-oriented”
“A hodge-podge, placeless pattern of structures and parking… visually incoherent, inimical to pedestrians and horribly congested by traffic stuck on a woefully inadequate road network”

17. WHAT DO THEY SAY ABOUT TYSONS? (PART II)
“Current development = lack of cohesiveness and identity”
“Development that forces people to use cars to go short distances”
“A walk across Tysons is more dangerous than a walk from the Baghdad airport to the Green Zone”

18. WHAT IS NEEDED? (PART I) More housing (work force) A grid of streets
Circulation system
Sidewalks & bike lanes
Parks & open spaces
Green buildings
Urban vs. suburban standards
Mixed use – convenience retail

19. WHAT IS NEEDED? (PART II)
Streetscapes
Public facilities
Civic uses
Recreation facilities
Phased infrastructure expansion
Significant transportation improvements
IMPLEMENTATION

20. HOW DO WE GET ALL OF THIS? Leveraged density Incentives
Coalitions of landowners
Realistic planning
Three decades
Political will
Creative financing
Consensus
Intercessory prayer
All of the above

21. SO WHAT’S THE PLAN? Metrorail with 4 Tysons stations
2040 planning horizon
Urban standards
Key elements added before development
Phasing
Defined borders
Robust implementation

22. IMPLEMENTATION IS THE KEY!
Why? – transition from suburban
to urban standards
A new authority as a governance
framework for the Tysons vision
Design review and expedited, consistent processing
Power to raise, receive and expend funds for prioritized improvements
Create and use improvement districts, tax increment financing, public/private partnerships

23. Thank You