Join thousands of area commuters on Friday, May 18th for “Bike to Work Day” and have some fun! Riding your bike to work is a green, healthy and economical way to get to work.

In this regional event, there will be 58 Bike- to-Work-Day pit stops throughDC, Maryland and Virginia who will be welcoming bicyclists with refreshments. The first 11,000 registered attendees who attend will be given free t-shirts at their pit stop, and will be eligible for great raffle prizes.

Tysons Corner participants should register at their pit-stop location which is at the LL Bean (flat lot) between Nordstrom’s and Bloomingdales at Tysons Corner Center. The pit stop time is scheduled for between 6:30am and 10am on Friday morning. Meet fellow riders at any pit stop along your route.

Biking to work has become very popular over the last few years. In 2006 a comprehensive program was developed by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors to make the area bicycle friendly.

To ride safely in Tysons Corner–in addition to wearing a helmet and high-visibility clothing–bikes need to be properly equipped with red reflectors and headlamps, something your local bike shop can help with. The law also requires all cyclists to observe the same regulations as cars regarding traffic.

The county has made great progress in creating a more bicycle-friendly community. A countywide bicycle route map was created and the Fairfax Connector bus fleet was equipped with front-mounted bike racks, each capable of carrying two bicycles. Bicycle standards are also being developed that will address issues such as bicycle parking requirements, rack and locker specifications and bicycle sharing. Workers who choose to bike to work will find bicycle racks and lockers available at most park-and-ride lots. With the new Bike Benefit Match Program, Fairfax County will even provide employers with financial assistance to implement an employee bike program. So let the fun begin!

Learn more about the benefits of living in Tysons Corner!

I am Jeff Wu and I can assist you with all of your real estate needs. Whether you are relocating to the futuristic city and growing business district of Tysons Corner, or if you already live here and are selling your house or purchasing your new dream home in Tysons Corner, McLean, or Vienna, please contact me at Agent Knows Homes.

Located between the George Washington Parkway and the town of Vienna, McLean is known for its many upscale homes, as well as for its proximity to the high-end shopping, in nearby Tysons Corner.

As summer approaches, everyone’s thoughts turn from shopping to outdoor fun. What better than outdoor fairs and festivals?

On Saturday, May 19th, area residents and tourists alike will all come together at Lewinsville Park for one of the most anticipated festivals in the area of McLean, Vienna and Tysons Corner–McLean Day 2012! This is the celebration everyone waits months for! Admission is free and shuttle buses run all day long for your convenience.

Carnival rides and live entertainment are only part of the fun. There is always delicious food for every taste. Booth space is sold out for crafters and artisans to sell wonderful hand-made items. Many local non-profit organizations and area businesses will gather to meet the community and share their passions.

Live entertainment this year will be provided by The Alden starting at 11 a.m. The kids will love the games, free pony rides, face painting, and model airplane show.

Everyone should bring their appetite to dig into the seafood, pitas, Chinese cuisine, pizza, apple dumplings, funnel cakes, kettle corn and candy apples, not to mention the cotton candy, ice cream, snow cones and pretzels. If that is not enough of a selection, the McLean Rotary Club is scheduled to provide the chili, hotdogs and hamburgers. Plan to spend the day, and make some memories. McLean Day 2012 happens on Saturday, May 19, 2012 in Lewinsville Park; don’t miss the fun!

You can also learn more here about the benefits of living in Tysons Corner.

I am Jeff Wu and I can assist you with all of your real estate needs. Whether you are relocating to the futuristic city and growing business district of Tysons Corner, or if you already live here and are selling your house or purchasing your new dream home in Tysons Corner, McLean, or Vienna, please contact me online.

In Fairfax County, next to Tysons Corner, is the wonderful town of Vienna, where a new and special event took place on Saturday April 28th, 2012.  At 400 Center Street, the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department (VVFD) hosted the 1st annual Taste of Vienna to showcase the many excellent restaurants and eateries the area has to offer.

 
Crowds of diners were drawn to this exciting festival to feast on the food and beverages of thirty local vendors who acted as sponsors.  Admission was free at this outdoor event, and guests were able to sample a wonderful assortment of cuisines from many cultures, as well as their favorite pizza, all in one place.
Proceeds from the event were to benefit the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department, whose members have been serving the community of Vienna for over 100 years.

This was a win-win event for everyone, both customers and sponsors, as well as members of the VVFD.  Sponsors were given advertising exposure to the large and vibrant community of Vienna, McLean, and Tysons Corner through multi-media campaigns and promotional efforts around the event, drawing new customers while making a substantial difference to the community by helping to raise money for such a good cause. Each sponsor sported a large tent with a beverage bar, skirted tables, and chairs in a prominent location to show their best dishes and drinks for customers to try.

In addition to the good food and drinks, there was an impressive list of performers scheduled throughout the day.  Included in the line-up of live entertainment were Tom Lohrmann, Overland (Formerly – Ray Bennett & Band), Natalie York, Terry Lee Ryan School of Rock, and Shenandoah Run.  Summers are exciting in and around Vienna, McLean, and Tysons Corner!

To learn more about the benefits of living in Tysons Corner, visit http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/tysons/.
I am Jeff Wu, and I can assist you with all of your real estate needs.  Whether you are relocating to the futuristic city and growing business district of Tysons Corner, or if you already live here and are selling your house or purchasing your new dream home in Tysons Corner, McLean, or Vienna, please contact me at Agent Knows Homes.

Ready to sell your current property so you can move to Tysons Corner? Start with a good plan. First, de-clutter every room removing all the extra pieces of furniture, and store them in the attic or basement. Look at each room with a critical eye, and remove all the do-dads, knick-knacks, and most of the personal items. You’re moving anyway so these items would have to be packed.

Now walk through your home as if you were seeing it for the first time, look at it through a designer’s eye, through a stranger’s eyes. Is there still too much furniture? Is there enough space to walk comfortably through the room without any obstructions? How about the color, would everyone like the color of the walls? You may be wild about a color, but even though the new owners can re-paint the walls, people often can’t see the potential to make a space their own.

See what other comparable properties look like in Tysons Corner, and make sure your home is up to speed. Your goal is to make every room as attractive as possible and as appealing as possible to most people so neutral colors are best. List every problem you can think of that could be an issue, repair everything you can, and replace anything that needs updating in order to present the property in the best light. A small investment of time and money now can make a big difference later. Next, clean every space and don’t forget to temporarily remove children’s toys and any evidence of the furry or feathered members of the family.

Stage your property as if your home will be photographed for a prestigious design magazine so that the photos posted to sell your home will be eye-catching and inviting. Gather all of the information you have on the property, and take accurate room measurements if you can. Stage the outside too – sweep the steps, make repairs and plant some pretty flowers. Make certain that all walkways are well lit for any property hunters who will view your home at night and anyone who drives by and might call for a showing. If you are unsure of the value of a repair or update, or if you need a professional – Tysons Corner is my specialty and I can help you with that.

To learn more about the benefits of living in Tysons Corner, visit fairfaxcounty.gov/tysons. I am Jeff Wu, and I can assist you with all of your real estate needs. Whether you are relocating to the futuristic city and growing business district of Tysons Corner, or if you already live here and are selling your house or purchasing your new dream home in Tysons Corner, McLean, or Vienna, please contact me at Agent Knows Homes.

Fairfax County is estimated to have 1.04 million people, making it the 37th largest county in the US with the second highest median household income in the nation. Seven Fairfax County Public High Schools were named top schools in the United States by US News, and the average SAT score in Fairfax County Public Schools was 1664 which is considerably higher then the US average of 1509.

The largest urban area is Tysons Corner, with major office and shopping areas in Vienna and McLean.  The Smithsonian Museums, the Capitol, White House, the Kennedy Center, the Capitals, Redskins, Nationals, and Georgetown are just across the Potomac.

Tysons Corner in Fairfax County is part of the thriving Washington Metropolitan Area between the community of McLean and the town of Vienna along the Capital Beltway and only a 30 minute drive from Washington, D.C. with all it has to offer. Recognized as the “downtown” of Fairfax County, the once rural neighborhood is now an extremely attractive place to live, work, and play. It is the 12th largest employment center in the United States and home to Tysons Corner Center – the largest shopping mall in the State as well as two upscale shopping centers, Tysons Galleria and Fairfax Square making the area a shopping Mecca.

With 46 million square feet of office and retail space, Tysons Corner is an important business district in its own right. Tysons Corner is currently the home to a thriving technology industry and a number of businesses, including telecommunications firms, real estate concerns, and the regional offices of many national and international companies. Only about 30 miles from Maryland, Tysons Corner also has convenient access to both Dulles and Reagan airports.

With conveniences, resources, and excellent educational system, cultural pursuits and promising employment and business opportunities, Tysons Corner is a booming, upscale and exciting metropolis in which to live and prosper. Residents of Tysons Corner enjoy endless recreational activities including more than 300 parks in proximity to our nation’s capital, a wide selection of historic sites, local restaurants a superior public transportation system, and a prospering local economy. The median household income in Tysons Corner is slightly under one hundred thousand dollars. Approximately 52% of residents are married, 19% with children. Approximately half the population of Tysons Corner has a 23 minute commute to work, most holding white collar jobs. The median price of a home in Tysons Corner was $397,750 in 2011 with the median home age being 19 years.

The diverse real estate market includes historic properties, colonial estates, and contemporary developments along with condominiums and multi-level town houses– something for everyone. Properties often have a classic Virginia charm along with all the amenities of modern living. In spite of the many changes that have occurred over the past decades, they have worked hard to grow while retaining their historic charm and small town feel so who wouldn’t want to live there?

To learn more about the benefits of living in Tysons Corner, visit www.fairfaxcounty.gov/tysons.

I am Jeff Wu and I can assist you with all of your real estate needs. Whether you are relocating to the futuristic city and growing business district of Tysons Corner, or if you already live here and are selling your house or purchasing your new dream home in Tysons Corner, McLean, or Vienna, please contact me at Agent Knows Homes.

Tysons Corner came from pretty humble beginnings. Known originally as Peach Grove, the area received the designation Tysons Crossroads after the Civil War. William Tyson from Cecil County, Maryland, purchased a tract of land from A. Lawrence Foster. Tyson was postmaster of the now discontinued Peach Grove Post Office from 1854 to1866. The Peach Grove Post office was established Tuesday, April 22, 1851.

Joel Garreau, an American journalist, scholar and author the 1991 book Edge City: Life on the New Frontier, put our town in the glare of public scrutiny when he held us up as a prime example of an “edge city”.

“Edge city” is a term used to describe a concentration of business, shopping, and entertainment outside a traditional urban area in what had until then been called a residential suburb or semi-rural community. The term was popularized and established its current meaning when Garreau argued that the edge city has become the standard form of urban growth worldwide, representing a 20th-century urban form unlike that of the 19th-century central downtown. Other terms for these areas include suburban activity centers, mega centers, and suburban business districts.

Tysons Corner, in many ways already the second city of the Washington metropolis and poised to become much bigger, serves as a “downtown” of Fairfax County, with one quarter of all office space and one eighth of all retail in the county. The corporate headquarters of Booz Allen Hamilton, Capital One, Freddie Mac, Gannett Company, Hilton Worldwide, MicroStrategy, SAIC, Space Adventures, Spacenet, Sunrise Senior Living, and USA Today are located in Tysons Corner. Firms with offices in Tysons Corner include BAE Systems, Compuware, Ernst & Young, NorthropGrumman, PricewaterhouseCoopers. Xerox,and Vie de France.

Our community is at the cutting edge of urban redefinition and revitalization. Not a bad position to be in, is it?!

Tysons Corner Skyline

Tysons Corner is built for people, not cars. Prime proof of this is the Comprehensive Plan for Tysons Corner .  In the decades to come, Tysons will become a livable and vibrant urban center where people live, work, play, shop, worship, and even retire.  Tysons is transforming itself from a textbook case of suburban sprawl into a true 21st century urban center that addresses the challenges of sustainable growth, energy conservation, environmental protection, affordable housing, and safe communities.  If adhered to and implemented as planned, the transportation portion of the Comprehensive Plan will become the backbone of that plan. On June 22, 2010, the Board of Supervisors adopted a Comprehensive Plan for Tysons Corner that will turn the area into the county’s “downtown”.   The plan focuses future growth within an easy walking distance of transit.  In fact, 75 percent of future growth will be within a half mile of the four Metro stations.  Many offices and homes will be a three to six minute walk from these stations, allowing people to get around on foot, bicycle, bus, or subway.

In 2005 the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors appointed the Tysons Land Use Task Force to make recommendations to update the 1994 Tysons Corner Comprehensive Plan.  Two of the new Plan objectives were: 1) “Preserve and enhance Tysons Corner as a vital economic center”, and 2) “Develop multi-modal integrated transportation systems that complement each other and mitigate traffic impacts in Tysons Corner and in adjacent residential neighborhoods and also to maximize the use of Metrorail and other forms of mass transit and develop cohesive pedestrian and bicycle circulation systems to facilitate walking, cycling and transit use and to reduce reliance on automobiles.”

The area is home to Tysons Corner Center, the largest shopping mall in the state and in the Baltimore-Washington area, as well as two upscale shopping centers, Tysons Galleria and Fairfax Square, which neighbor it to the north and south.  Every weekday, Tysons Corner draws 55,000 shoppers from around the region.  With these kinds of statistics, it may seem almost impossible to avoid traffic and vehicular congestion.

Tysons Corner has 46 million square feet (4.3 million m²) of office and retail space, making it an important business district in its own right and the classic example of an edge city.

Tysons Corner was one of the inspirations for, and figures prominently in, Joel Garreau‘s pioneering study of the edge city phenomenon.  Among the reasons for calling Tysons Corner an edge city is that, in contrast to typical “bedroom” suburbs, people commute into it in the morning and away from it at night, with a daytime population greater than 100,000 and a nighttime population of less than 20,000.^[9]  That has created a lot of traffic congestion, which local urban planners hope to mitigate by enticing more people to live there, and thus not have to get in their automobiles to get to work if they also can work there.  The planned extension of the Washington Metro via the new Silver Line into Tysons Corner will ease access for residents as well.  Planners envision up to 200,000 jobs and 100,000 residents in coming decades.

For more information on the vision of the Tysons of the future, visit http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/tysons/.