Around Town: Buyer's Remorse

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CITY PLANNERS DEBATE over whether public or private interests should be the interest that regulates a city's development. It's not quite so simple as a liberal versus conversative dynamic, since the city's always going to have some say in monitoring its own growth as an organism — and since the city is made up of private interests. In Loudoun County, a problematic public-private partnership highlights the fact that public and private interests can sometimes diverge and yet still lead to undesirable outcomes.

It was a unique partnership: the first of its kind, an agreement by private interests to pay extra taxes in order to fund the expansion of Route 28, a highway that sees 100,000 drivers every day. But private interests along the highway, who had hoped to see an expansion in their business, claim that the developers have arbitrarily closed road access to their areas. They also say that the interchanges make it difficult for drivers to find their way to the business strips.

What's the clamor about Loudoun County? It's the nation's second fastest-growing county, and soon to be home to Janelia Farm Research Campus, a neuroscience and microscopy center. The area must nevertheless maintain appearances in order to draw residents — consider the subdivision developers who have chosen to replace golf courses with equestrian centers to attract buyers. Disorganization and miscommunication along the area's central transportation artery won't help that cause.

» "Loudoun Businesses Say Tax Deal Didn't Work" [WaPo]
» "Route 28 Corridor Improvements" [28 Freeway]
» "Horses Draw Buyers to Luxury Subdivisions" [WaPo via UPI]
» "Architect of the Future: Refocusing on Basic Research" [R&D Magazine]

» CAPITOL HILL: Smokers and Republicans won't be surprised that those nanny-state Democrats hope to ban smoking in the Speaker's Lobby. The incoming House Government Reform Committee chairman, Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., at left, wants to clear the Capitol of smoke, and now that the Dems have the majority, he may get his way. [Long Beach Press-Telegram]

» ALEXANDRIA: It's a little more difficult for gentrifiers to displace light industry than urban blight, as gentrifiers in Alexandria's West End are finding out. The Post's Annie Gowen reports on the brewing battle between an asphalt company and its residential neighbors. [WaPo]

» SILVER SPRING: The Silver Spring Scene blog notes that Centex Homes has abandoned plans to build a 14-story high-rise at 1200 East-West Highway. [Silver Spring Scene]