Transition Area Alliance

In 1857, planners for New York City envisioned Central Park and set aside this acreage for parkland. Despite an ongoing need for development land to accommodate the city’s growth over the years, the value of this space is recognized by all and nobody seriously ever proposes building on it.

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We are not suggesting that Loudoun needs Central Park. But this is the time for our Central Park Moment. We are dismayed that the Envision Loudoun plan – comprehensive though it is – does not contain bold visions for our county that will shape the future in some other direction than it is already going.

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Participating in the early Envision Loudoun public workshops, we heard representatives from wildlife and environmental organizations; proponents of trails and parkland; ad-hoc alliances pleading for open space protection; conservation groups proposing contiguous green spaces for nature and people to connect. But instead we see a mosaic of designs that squanders the opportunity for an integrated vision for how the county will look. The plan acknowledges the need in its goals and principles, but fails to deliver, despite the enormous amount of work put in by the authors. We have not gone for an enduring legacy of parkland; but instead focused on finding the best places to put more development.

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There is still abundant open space in Loudoun, especially to the west and south of the current Suburban Policy Area. The opportunity exists to create a “contiguous network of green spaces” that will last forever; but the plan proposes nothing specific to make this happen. The phrase “contiguous network of green spaces” is in fact a commendable quote from the plan. But it is in the context of guidelines for developers of individual parcels. There is no overarching design.

We can’t judge the plan by the person-hours spent by well-intentioned people; or by the quantity of graphics and materials produced to publicize it. We must judge it by the quality of the vision for the county. We see in the plan a collection of good design principles, applied here and there to available acreage, as malleable guidelines to developers rather than an overarching vision. The plan may nudge the current process in a somewhat more positive direction, depending on one’s viewpoint; but the development train remains on the same track it has been on for years. It is an opportunity lost.