Fighting sprawl in Northern Virginia's exurban towns

A Virginia Main Street sign welcomes Winchester motorists on Fairmont Avenue. (Photo by Scott Mason, Winchester Star.)

The Winchester Star (registration required, article online for another day or two) has an interesting article, "Main Street Communities Band Together" about how:

"Main Street communities in the Northern Virginia and Piedmont areas hope they can protect their historic downtowns from being lost in the sprawl of Washington, D.C. The Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development has released the results of a March summit from six Main Street communities trying to protect their unique downtown character in the face of increasing development and box retail stores.

Leaders from Winchester, Berryville, Manassas, Culpeper, Orange, and Warrenton met to share ideas on how to protect their communities. The summary of their discussions was released statewide this month."

It's worth reading that report, which is entitled "Proceedings from the Regional Summit of Northern Virginia and Virginia." Piedmont Main Street Communities."

Speed Bump by Dave Coverley, 12/30/05.


Index Keywords: sprawl; Main-Street-Promotion