Merits of a Downtown Suburb Questioned

Much has been written about Tyson's Corner, Virginia, the nation's largest office park situated northwest of Washington just outside of the Captial Beltway. Eighteen years ago, architect and writer, Roger K. Lewis, described the area as, "a collection of scattered, randomly oriented, visually competitive office buildings of every conceivable size, style and geometry, along with a gigantic shopping center, acres of parking lots and miles of unsystematic, meandering streets and drives." With plans to extend the regional subway, Metro, to Tysons in the next decade, planners have set their sights on transforming the "edge city" into a true urban downtown using high densities and urban street grids. Lewis argues that, "downtowns, traditional or otherwise, do not succeed simply by virtue of higher density or improved street networks. Higher densities, rational street-block patterns and enhanced mobility are necessary but not sufficient." The most desirable factors in his opinion are the correct mix of uses and quality streetscape design.