The plan to transform Tysons into a walkable urban center has a size problem.

In pursuit of a dense, walkable street grid, Fairfax County encourages large, consolidated development projects of more than 10 acres in Tysons (zoning ordinance article 6-506) — 20 acres in some areas. The idea is that these projects are large enough to contribute to a new grid of smaller streets giving pedestrians an alternative to Tysons’ wide, car-centric roads.

But sometimes property owners don’t want to consolidate. And as Emily Hamilton wrote for GGWash in June, large developments “tend not to provide the diverse and fine-grained built environments pedestrians tend to love.” In other words, the pursuit of a pedestrian grid simultaneously makes it harder for Tysons to develop places walkers want to walk.

To read the entire article about this project, click here.