Youthful techies and pastoral charms

One of the fastest-growing counties in the nation, Loudoun County’s reputation includes a mix of contradictory impressions.

While many view the area as a hotbed of high technology filled with wealthy young professionals fueling rapid growth of housing, retail centers and office parks, others visit Loudoun County to enjoy winding roads leading to vineyards, horse farms and peaceful mountain vistas.

Growth in the county has developed along two major routes, including the Virginia Route 7 corridor between the western edge of Fairfax County traveling west into Purcellville and beyond. The second major area of development extends along the U.S. Route 50 corridor from Fairfax County into Middleburg. In between these two areas is the Dulles Greenway, which provides an additional spur to development.

One Loudoun, a proposed new development by Miller and Smith LLC and the Meridian Group, which still requires additional government approval, will add a town-center-based mixed-use community to the intersection near Route 7 and the Loudoun County Parkway.

Set on 360 acres, the development, as planned, already has been praised by the Smart Growth Alliance. If approved, One Loudoun will include about 3 million square feet of office space, 600,000 square feet of retail space and 1,800 residences, with a park and town center.

Development along Route 7 today continues the pattern established in the Colonial days in Loudoun County, when Leesburg Pike became a transportation route linking the tobacco farms near Leesburg with the port of Alexandria. The Loudoun County Web site (www.Loudoun.gov) reports that settlement of this area of Northern Virginia began between 1725 and 1730, when the land was owned by Lord Fairfax and settlers began establishing tobacco plantations.

The town of Leesburg, the county seat since 1757, remains the political center for Loudoun County.

Agriculture was the primary occupation in Loudoun County until the construction of Washington Dulles International Airport in the early 1960s, which attracted businesses, workers and families to the area.

Job growth has been dramatic in Loudoun County, increasing by 141 percent over the past decade, according to figures provided by the Loudoun County Department of Economic Development.

Most of the commercial and retail development in Loudoun County has occurred in Dulles, Sterling and Leesburg near Virginia Routes 28 and 7. Major employers in Loudoun County include the Airline Pilots Association, United Airlines, Benchmark Conference Resorts (Lansdowne Resort), MCI LLC, America Online Inc., the Transportation Security Administration, the U.S. Postal Service, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, Southland Concrete Corp., Toll Bros. Inc., Inova Loudoun Hospital and Loudoun Hospital Center.

High-tech companies in Loudoun County include Allen Telecom Inc., Club Demonstration Services Inc., Computer Sciences Corp., Dynamic Details Inc., FGM Inc., G&D America Inc., Mastec Services Co. Inc., NLX LLC, Orbital Sciences Corp., SAIC Inc., Telos Corp., and Vastera Inc..

Northern Virginia Community College has a campus in Loudoun County, and other educational institutions in the county include satellite campuses for Cordoba University, George Washington University, Marymount University, Old Dominion University, Patrick Henry College, Shenandoah University and Strayer University.

Retail development, primarily located along Route 7 between Sterling and Leesburg, includes the Dulles Town Center shopping mall, Potomac Run Shopping Center, Fort Evans Shopping Center, Leesburg Corner Premium Outlets, Cascades Marketplace, Battlefield Shopping Center, Leesburg Plaza, Sugarland Plaza, Town Center at Sterling and Sterling Plaza Shopping Center.

The rapid increase in retail outlets has followed the rising population in the county, which was 57,427 in 1980, according to U.S. Census figures. By 2000, Loudoun County included 169,599 residents, according to the U.S. Census.

County officials estimate that in 2005 the county had 247,293 residents, with growth up to 318,132 anticipated by 2010.

County officials estimate that 39 percent of the population in 2005 was between the ages of 25 and 44, with the next largest group, at 21 percent, between 5 and 18. Just 5 percent of the population is estimated to be over 65 in Loudoun County, contributing to the region’s reputation as an area popular with young families.

The average household income in 2005, as reported on the Loudoun County government Web site, was $106,919.

Homes are available in a variety of planned communities around the county.

Ashburn Farm, Ashburn Village, Beacon Hill and Cascades are all established developments that are complete or nearly complete, while building continues at Avonlea, Belmont Country Club, Brambleton, Broadlands, Lansdowne on the Potomac, Loudoun Valley Villages, South Riding, South Village and Stone Ridge.

Edgemoore Homes is developing Avonlea off Route 50, billed as a European-style village with plans for a clock tower and plaza, a village center, swimming pools, tennis courts, a community center, walking trails and a central lake with an island, stone bridge and stone wall. Avonlea also will have a putting green, small parks, town homes and single-family homes.

More than 2,100 homesites are being developed by Toll Bros. Inc. at Belmont Country Club, a private gated community centered on an 18-hole Arnold Palmer Signature Golf Course near Ashburn. Belmont Country Club includes the Belmont Clubhouse, the renovated Manor House, and a recreation center with swimming, tennis, basketball and fitness facilities. Town homes, condominiums and single-family homes are available.

Brambleton, also near Ashburn, provides high-tech communication for its businesses, homes and schools. Recreational amenities such as swimming pools, tennis courts and walking trails are available for residents, along with the convenience of a village retail center.

Legacy Park, a 15-acre park with sports fields and meadows, is part of the community, which is adjacent to the Brambleton Regional Golf Course. Town homes, condominiums and single-family homes are part of the housing mix at Brambleton.

Broadlands, a Van Metre Cos. community in Ashburn, has more than 1,500 acres with a community center, swimming pools, tennis courts, trails, schools and the Stream Valley Park running throughout the development.

A nature center provides a focal point for the community, which has myriad planned activities for residents. The Broadlands Village Center includes restaurants and shops. Town homes and single-family homes are available.

Lansdowne on the Potomac, eventually to include 2,155 attached and detached homes, borders on Goose Creek and the Potomac River adjacent to the Lansdowne Resort. Homes are being built by Centex Homes, Beazer Homes Corp., Brookfield Homes Corp., NVHomes, Basheer & Edgemoore Homes LLC and Van Metre.

Recreation includes swimming, golf, tennis and fitness centers in the Potomac Club, the National Conference Center and Lansdowne Resort. Later this year, construction will begin on Lansdowne Town Center.

Toll Bros. is developing Loudoun Valley Villages, a planned community placed adjacent to the Broad Run stream valley, with hiking and biking trails, wilderness preserve areas, parks and swimming pools and a community center. Eventually, 1,500 single-family homes and carriage homes will be built in the 1,500-acre development near the Dulles Greenway.

Toll Bros. also is completing development at South Riding off Route 50, a planned community set on 2,000 acres that is already home to more than 4,400 families and will eventually have more than 6,000 homes.

The community includes a golf course, swimming pools, tennis courts, trails, lakes, ponds and a town center with shops and services. Town homes and single-family homes are available. Winchester Homes Inc. is building town homes and single-family homes in South Riding’s South Village.

Stone Ridge features an online community network, a clubhouse, swimming pool, fitness center, event lawn, amphitheater and cyber cafe for residents, and a village center with shops and restaurants. Van Metre is selling town homes and single-family homes at this development off Route 50.