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... and it's in many ways been an unmitigated disaster. I'm pro-housing but this is a poor comparison. The difference is that apart from a few large employers

... and it's in many ways been an unmitigated disaster. I'm pro-housing but this is a poor comparison. The difference is that apart from a few large employers most people in Loudoun, VA commute to the larger employment centers of Fairfax and DC.

raldi 11y ago
Why do you say it was a disaster? I used to live there, and I've been back a few times since, and the place has always seemed to be thriving to me. Yes, people there drive too much, but that's true across 99% of the United States. Edited to add some Wikipedia quotes: Since 2008 the county has been ranked first in the United States in median household income among jurisdictions with a population of 65,000 or more ... Having undergone heavy suburbanization since 1990, Loudoun has a full-fledged service economy. It is home to world headquarters for several Internet-related and high tech companies, including Verizon Business, Telos Corporation, Orbital Sciences Corporation, and Paxfire. Like Fairfax County's Dulles Corridor, Loudoun County has economically benefited from the existence of Washington Dulles International Airport, the majority of which is located in the county along its border with Fairfax ... [MCI] announced that it would move its headquarters to Ashburn in 2003.
- md_exile 11y ago
  It was done with little effort towards proper planning and infrastructure. The entire region from Dulles and east now seamlessly melds into the horrific gridlock of Northern Virginia. Simply voting to allow housing can be as short sighted as what planners had evidently previously planned for in Mountain View. At any rate, I stand by my assertion that it's a really poor comparison between MV and Loudoun. Amended to reflect the wikipedia post: MCI (now Verizon assume) and Aol are really the only large headquartered technology companies that I've seen in Ashburn. There are smaller firms, but there hasn't been a windfall of companies willing to move further away from DC to setup headquarters here. Loudoun remains largely housing sprawl. Also amended with this helpful link of the county's largest employers: http://www.biz.loudoun.gov/index.aspx?NID=103 http://www.biz.loudoun.gov/index.aspx?NID=103
  - thedufer 11y ago
    > [...] Aol are really the only large headquartered technology companies that I've seen in Ashburn The AOL buildings are mostly rented out at this point; I believe a Raytheon office resides in the majority of them. So looking for headquarters doesn't seem particularly meaningful. What about large offices of global companies? AWS US-East runs out of Ashburn, for example (not sure why Amazon doesn't appear on the list at the link you gave).
    - md_exile 11y ago
      Probably because data centers don't necessarily mean a lot of jobs. The 2014 financial report doesn't mention Amazon in their top 10 either: http://www.loudoun.gov/DocumentCenter/View/110442 http://www.loudoun.gov/DocumentCenter/View/110442 Looking for headquarters is meaningful if we're trying to make a comparison between Mountain View and Loudoun County. Google is headquartered in Mountain View. Loudoun has no real equivalent for HQs or even large offices for global companies. The startup scene is pretty dry too. Apart from voting a board that wants to increase housing there's almost no comparison. If you want to use Dulles and Loudoun as an example you should use it to illustrate that you can't slap in a bunch of housing units without thinking about infrastructure.

raldi 11y ago

Why do you say it was a disaster? I used to live there, and I've been back a few times since, and the place has always seemed to be thriving to me. Yes, people there drive too much, but that's true across 99% of the United States. Edited to add some Wikipedia quotes: Since 2008 the county has been ranked first in the United States in median household income among jurisdictions with a population of 65,000 or more ... Having undergone heavy suburbanization since 1990, Loudoun has a full-fledged service economy. It is home to world headquarters for several Internet-related and high tech companies, including Verizon Business, Telos Corporation, Orbital Sciences Corporation, and Paxfire. Like Fairfax County's Dulles Corridor, Loudoun County has economically benefited from the existence of Washington Dulles International Airport, the majority of which is located in the county along its border with Fairfax ... [MCI] announced that it would move its headquarters to Ashburn in 2003.

md_exile 11y ago
It was done with little effort towards proper planning and infrastructure. The entire region from Dulles and east now seamlessly melds into the horrific gridlock of Northern Virginia. Simply voting to allow housing can be as short sighted as what planners had evidently previously planned for in Mountain View. At any rate, I stand by my assertion that it's a really poor comparison between MV and Loudoun. Amended to reflect the wikipedia post: MCI (now Verizon assume) and Aol are really the only large headquartered technology companies that I've seen in Ashburn. There are smaller firms, but there hasn't been a windfall of companies willing to move further away from DC to setup headquarters here. Loudoun remains largely housing sprawl. Also amended with this helpful link of the county's largest employers: http://www.biz.loudoun.gov/index.aspx?NID=103 http://www.biz.loudoun.gov/index.aspx?NID=103
- thedufer 11y ago
  > [...] Aol are really the only large headquartered technology companies that I've seen in Ashburn The AOL buildings are mostly rented out at this point; I believe a Raytheon office resides in the majority of them. So looking for headquarters doesn't seem particularly meaningful. What about large offices of global companies? AWS US-East runs out of Ashburn, for example (not sure why Amazon doesn't appear on the list at the link you gave).
  - md_exile 11y ago
    Probably because data centers don't necessarily mean a lot of jobs. The 2014 financial report doesn't mention Amazon in their top 10 either: http://www.loudoun.gov/DocumentCenter/View/110442 http://www.loudoun.gov/DocumentCenter/View/110442 Looking for headquarters is meaningful if we're trying to make a comparison between Mountain View and Loudoun County. Google is headquartered in Mountain View. Loudoun has no real equivalent for HQs or even large offices for global companies. The startup scene is pretty dry too. Apart from voting a board that wants to increase housing there's almost no comparison. If you want to use Dulles and Loudoun as an example you should use it to illustrate that you can't slap in a bunch of housing units without thinking about infrastructure.