The Future Is Us

We are delighted by the news, reported on our front page two weeks ago, that Rep. Jim Moran was successful at embedding $2 million in the House's comprehensive transportation authorization bill for a multi-modal transit center in the heart of the City of Falls Church's downtown. The bill is not yet law, having to pass the Senate and under the President's signature, and after that, the authorized funds have to be actually appropriated. But Rep. Moran is optimistic, and it gives the City something to hang its downtown redevelopment hat on.

The beauty of the concept, laid out to Moran when he visited with the City Council and staff last year, is that it both meets the criterion of the bill to fund regional transportation improvement and gives downtown Falls Church, at the intersection of Routes 7 and 29, the kind of traffic-related infrastructure key to its prospects for a serious increase in commercial and residential density. That is, a vital component will be a multi-level parking garage that will make it easy for customers and residents alike to utilize the area as a destination. In addition, it will provide a variety of "multi-modal" features, such as bike rack and biker refreshment amenities, bus transfer points and shuttles to the Metro.

While City Hall concedes this was not a well-publicized development concept and while much of what is or is not going on towards the City's commitment to downtown redevelopment is yet public, there is a certain inertia of inevitability at work, defined by regional economic and demographic trends more than anything unique to the City. In short, there is going to be a jobs and population explosion in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area and in Northern Virginia, in particular, driven by the opportunities created by the federal commitment to national defense and homeland security. There is a projected huge housing shortage, for example. That means that real estate values in and around Falls Church can be expected to continue their double-digit annual growth rates.

Officially, the City of Falls Church, while about to announce a 15% average real estate assessment hike for this year, is projecting assessment growth will slow to 8% next year. However, the same projection has been made in the past, only to surprise officials by winding up half or less of the actual rate.

Therefore, the pressure for added density in the areas of Falls Church nearest the Metro stations and on the main access roads to those stations (such as Routes 7 and 29) will only increase and not either remain stagnant or decrease. The issue for Falls Church, therefore, is to make the added density as user-friendly, from the community's point of view, as possible. It must focus on pedestrian access, aesthetically-pleasing architecture and landscaping, a 24-7 living environment and allowances for a variety of lifestyles and income levels. We won't control the density level. We will control what it consists of.