Delivering her “State of the County” address to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors tonight, Board Chair Sharon Bulova said, “A year and a half ago, I said that ‘the darkest hour is just before dawn.’ It is not yet dawn, but we are beginning to see some signs of recovery.”

She said that “While we continue to be challenged with falling property values, unemployment and foreclosures, Fairfax County is faring and recovering comparatively well during this Great Recession. It is important that the maintain our vigilance. We will land on our collective feet. We have begun to do so already.” She added, “We will come through these difficult times without sacrificing the quality of life that we value and, in fact, by adopting improvements, efficiencies and innovations that will put us in a better place than before.” She focused on the adoption of the Comprehensive Plan for the Transformation of Tysons, passed June 22, noting it will eventually turn Tysons into the region’s “second downtown,” with up to 100,000 new residents and 200,000 new jobs. Four new Silver Line Metro stations in Tysons will open in 2013, she noted, and the new Beltway HOT Lanes under construction will also be done in 2013. She hailed the county’s diversity, calling it one of its “greatest assets.”