Virginia

Intercity rail service has begun operations in Virginia, connecting Lynchburg and Washington D.C.

Lynchburg, VA approved a new regulation to control big box development in their city earlier this week, despite protests that it would hurt the economy of the area.

A proposed Wal-Mart retail center near a Civil War battlefield in Virginia has preservationists up in arms.

A $276 million mixed-use remake of a 1973-era mall is opening on Interstate 64 in southeastern Virginia. While the retail is trickling in, the housing element is filling up quickly.

Plans to build a Wal-Mart and parking lot near a historic Civil War battlefield has spurred a bi-partisan protest from Virginia's top officials.

Fairfax County, Virginia is contemplating making the switch. Officials say the goal is to have control over local funding decisions, particularly in regards to road maintenance.

Though they are still striving for social tolerance, mobile homes have managed to achieve a certain legal acceptance.

The Stafford Board of Supervisors opposed an ordinance which would require a minimum buildable lot area for agriculturally zoned parcels.

Reporter Ben Adler travels to Leesburg, VA without a car and reports on the difficulties he experiences getting around. In comparison, Ben walks with ease around Kentlands, a New Urbanist development in Maryland.

Virginia recently announced new rules governing the connectivity and width of streets. Some new urbanists bemoan that they may have muffed an opportunity to make the new standards even better.

The second phase of a rail line extending to Dulles International Airport is slated for completion in December 2016--later than expected--thanks to delays in getting Congressional funding for the first half of the project.

The Virginia Department of Transportation is painting zig-zag lines in the middle of traffic lanes in an effort to get motorists to slow down as they near a bike trail and pedestrian path.

Through streets in new neighborhoods will reduce traffic on and the cost of maintaining overburdened arterials, but builders and residents say it'll make their communities less safe and attractive.

As the trend towards urban living grows, churches are rethinking how to approach the urban and religious. This article from a Baptist newspaper suggests that the faithful have been reading and absorbing Richard Florida.

In Virginia Beach, VA, homeowner Herbert Harris was told that the wheelchair ramp and extra bedroom he was building for his wife and ill daughter needed building permits. Thus began a trip down the rabbit hole of the Board of Zoning Appeals.