Lost in Space (& Out of Touch)

The Classic TV Series Exists Here in Vienna

Here is a recent comment in the Town newsletter from Vienna's wealthiest Council Member Maud F. Robinson on Tysons Corner growth:

What will be the impact on Vienna from the proposed massive Tysons Corner expansion, a project that appears to be on the fast track regardless of Metro construction decisions and citizen concern? One hears this question with increasing frequency now that the MetroWest project is off the front page and town residents focus on a more proximate and visible challenge. I came away from a recent luncheon meeting, which featured a graphic presentation of the Tysons project, feeling very pessimistic about the impact on Vienna. Then I began to assess the strength of Vienna and its proven durability as a healthy, vibrant municipal entity with a Town Council and citizens committed to retaining its authentic and desirable small-town character. Resolved: Vienna, unlike the legendary isle of Atlantis, will not suddenly disappear or become an undefinable community area within the 400 square miles of Fairfax County. Voted by Money Magazine last year as the 4th best place in the nation in which to live, Vienna is not just a pass-through spot on Route 123 between Tysons Corner and Fairfax City. Not only is it a highly desirable residential community, it has an increasingly attractive and viable commercial core and, most important, a high level of citizen involvement at all levels of community life, in organizations, churches, schools, sports, local government and civic associations. It is this bedrock of citizen involvement that has made the Vienna of today and will preserve it in the face of developmental pressures, whether from without or within the town. What better way to assess Vienna's right to adequate representation on the Tysons Task Force, instead of the one member currently permitted under the guidelines established by the County, than the facts in the Town's Comprehensive Plan, adopted pursuant to state statute in April 2006? Numbers can be boring, but in this instance they describe a community on the border of Tysons Corner which has a sustained environment as a safe, family-oriented town with a sound fiscal posture. Our incorporated town, with a population of approximately 15,000, encompasses 2,821.90 acres (about 4 square miles). 76% of this acreage is residential (single-family dwellings, townhouses, apartments, duplexes and condominiums). 9.2% is commercial/industrial, and the remaining 14.8% includes parks and recreational use (334 acres) and governmental/institutional use. There exists a substantial variety of residential, particularly so for a town this size. What can all of us, Town Council members and citizens, do to impress on County officials Vienna's legitimate concerns and right to adequate representation in the ongoing Tysons Task Force study? Tysons is an economic engine for the entire county, but surely Vienna's input merits as much or more attention as that afforded Reston, Springfield and all other county areas. Mayor Seeman has tried repeatedly to obtain another seat at the table for Vienna, as have others. Even if we cannot mitigate the scope of the Tysons project, we can at least focus attention on its traffic impact on Vienna and rezoning pressures at our borders. I urge everyone to contact the Board of Supervisors - Vienna needs more places at the table, not a peek from the kitchen.

Vienna proper did not take home the #4 ranking. That ranking included 60,000 people, not only Vienna's 15,000 people, and encompassed much of the Tysons Corner you denigrate. Enough spin! Where is this wonderful commercial corridor you speak of in Vienna? Do you assume that every citizen in Vienna is plain dumb and knows no better?

Mrs. Robinson, like most machine politicians, has an agenda. Her agenda is to just say 'no'. She has no alternative, no vision and no plan - other than to say 'no'. Well, that doesn't work and frankly seems silly in 2006. Attempting to stop Metro development did what? What was the reason for your opposition? We bet you were against the very train itself too, right? Now you want to stop something in Tysons Corner. What is it you seek to stop Maud? Time?

Vienna has little political respect in the County due to your obstructionist political ideals. With no real answers of your own, politicians across both isles in Fairfax County fully understand you are not a serious leader. They are not dumb. They all know you just want to sit in that Council chair and exert power. Fortunately for all of us, politicians who feed only on power eventually go by the wayside.