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Tysons has been panned for years as being too large and sterile—Time magazine recently described it as “a fortress of unfriendly buildings surrounded by oceans of parking lots … pedestrians are personae non grata here.” There is truth to that, though Tysons also boasts two spots where any successful or aspiring individuals would be lucky to spend time—the luxurious Ritz-Carlton hotel and, adjacent to it, the high-gloss Tysons Galleria—with boutiques such as Chanel, Cartier, Neiman Marcus. Both are a slice of Nirvana for the well-heeled consumer. The problem is that while some 120,000 people work in Tysons, very few people actually live there—an issue that, writ large, explains why Fairfax has some of the worst rush-hour congestion in America.

After much study by the Tysons Land Use Task Force, the county has adopted a grand plan to urbanize Tysons Corner by building eight mixed-use neighborhoods anchored by four planned Metro stations linked to D.C. and other new stations on the drawing board for Dulles Airport, Reston and Springfield. The idea, according to a February 2009 planning report, is to make Tysons a “livable and walkable place” through the construction of high-rise housing and the increased use of public transportation. The plan envisions “a sustainable urban center” with 200,000 jobs and 100,000 residents who will enjoy “restored streams, new parks and green buildings.” And there is more: Within five years, the eight-lane Beltway will get four new tolled “hot lanes” between Springfield and Tysons Corner—with variable rates based on the congestion in other lanes. If you are single-occupancy and want to go fast, you can—but you will pay for the privilege. Putting drivers in a hurry into the hot lanes should mitigate the mayhem in the other eight lanes.

Will hot lanes and the Tysons makeover relieve the area’s traffic problems? Nobody knows, but as Stephen Fuller, the GMU professor, explains, the genie is out of the bottle. The politicians can’t stop or even slow the county’s growth; all that can be done is to try and manage it to enhance the standard of living. By 2030, Fuller says, the county is projecting 350,000 more jobs—100,000 for Tysons Corner alone. Imagine, he adds, Tysons residents walking out of their homes and hopping onto a bus, train or jitney to get to their offices. “That’s what’s happening in Arlington,” says Fuller. “It’s a model that works, and Fairfax is beginning to move toward that. Where there are Metro stations there will be high-density housing, which generates more revenue. It’s a fiscal benefit, and the county understands that.”