Plan Approved to Un-Sprawl Tysons Corner

"Supervisors unanimously approved a blueprint that was more than three years in the making. It hinges on giving landowners broad new permission to build city-style high-rises with urban-scale streets, sidewalks, restaurants and shops. It depends on the expected construction of four Metrorail stations in Tysons and is expected to take several decades before it is fully implemented."

"The Tysons Land Use Task Force recommended creating eight distinct neighborhoods within Virginia's largest jobs center, which is now a sprawling ocean of parking lots, office parks and shopping malls. The model acknowledges that the four huge highways that traverse Tysons -- routes 7 and 123, the Capital Beltway and the Dulles Toll Road -- are not going to change. But it opens up the possibility of creating smaller-scale urban districts in Tysons with the look and feel of true cities, supporters of the plan said."

"The task force also recommended allowing developers to build the highest, densest offices and condos within one-eighth of a mile of the four planned Metro stations. That density is likely to be one of the most controversial aspects of the recommendations because many residents fear even more traffic at Tysons and the surrounding neighborhoods."