A Penny For Your Thoughts

It is not a surprise that Fairfax County is changing in many ways, but a demographic report recently published by the Fairfax County Department of Systems Management for Human Services zeroes in on some specific changes. The “Fairfax County Demographic Reports 2003: A Report of the Urban Development Information System” includes numerous data tables by magisterial district and census tracts, and includes information about the age of housing and distribution of housing by unit type for the first time. The report can be downloaded free as a PDF document at www.fairfaxcounty.gov/comm/demogrph/demreptspdf.htm.

Fairfax County publishes demographic information annually, including details about the county’s population, land characteristics, housing inventory, nonresidential gross floor area (office, commercial, and industrial buildings), and residential development activity. What does this year’s report reveal about Fairfax County? The county’s oldest housing stock (number of homes built before 1960) is here in Mason District, and the newest housing stock (homes built since 1999) is in the Hunter Mill District (Reston and Vienna areas). Mason District also is the county’s most densely populated area, with 5,875 people per square mile.

Those numbers are not unusual, since Mason District was the first suburb people moved to after World War II. Many of our Mason District neighborhoods were developed 50 years ago, when modern Fairfax County began. According to the report, Mason District has 39,125 housing units, including 16,772 single family homes, 5,146 townhouses, 9,740 garden apartments, 1,056 mid-rise apartments, and 5,752 high-rise apartments. Mason District ranks second-lowest of the magisterial districts in the number of townhouses (Sully District has more than 13,000), and second-highest in the number of apartments (Providence District has more than 20,000). Mason District is forecast to grow little in population during the next 20 years; a little more than 12,000 additional residents are anticipated by 2025.

The “Fairfax County Demographic Reports 2003” also may be purchased for $20 from the Fairfax County Publications Center at 703/324-2974. The printed version includes a large wall map of the magisterial, census, and sub-census tracts. The on-line version does not include the map, but most data tables are available in both Adobe Acrobat and spreadsheet formats.

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School is back in session for some of our Mason District schools. Please be especially careful when driving near schools and observe the law regarding school zone speed limits and when to stop for a school bus that is picking up or discharging students.