It’s cold out and the snow is still piling up in the streets, but that hasn’t kept some stores from opening. Tysons currently has around three inches of snow on the ground.

Tysons Corner Center said in a tweet this morning that it would be open, though individual retailers within the store might be closed.

Hello snow angels! Tysons Corner Center is Open today. Individual Retailer hours may vary. Please contact stores directly for their operating hours. pic.twitter.com/jAgGGNd1Cq

— Tysons Corner Center (@ShopTysons) February 20, 2019

The security office at Tysons Galleria said that the mall is closed today as a result of the snow.

The Tower Club Tysons will be open with a limited menu until 2 p.m., with an anticipated opening and normal hours at 7 a.m. on Thursday.

While the emergency departments remain open, Inova’s physical therapy location in Tysons is closed today, as are several other Inova programs across the county. Ninotch massage and sports therapy also announced its Tysons location is closed today.

The lunch special event at TenPenh near Tysons Galleria is also postponed, though the restaurant remains open.

Vienna government facilities and community centers are closed today. Maple Avenue Restaurant in Vienna announced that it would also be closed today.

All library branches are closed today as is the Fairfax Animal Shelter, which advised locals to stay cuddled up at home with their pets.

The animal shelter is CLOSED today due to the snow. Consider this your official invitation to stay home and lounge on the couch with your pets all day!!! If you don't have a pet (yet), browse our website and come visit when we're open again: https://t.co/hxPmrlSLYI

— Fairfax Animals (@fairfaxanimals) February 20, 2019

Tysons is quickly becoming one of the largest contributors to, and one of the largest demands on, the Fairfax County budget.

The FY 2020 Fairfax County Advertised Budget, presented at a Board of Supervisors meeting today (Tuesday), was met with praise from supervisors for keeping the county steady without raising the tax rate.

The budget will maintain the real estate tax rate of $1.15 per $100 of assessed value. The average Fairfax resident will see their tax bill increase by approximately $149.

But the county still experienced $162.83 million in revenue growth at the current 3.04 percent tax rate, much of which was driven by growth in Tysons.

The budget noted that prime real estate markets in Fairfax are spaces near the Silver Line, which has helped position Tysons as a financial powerhouse of the county. The completion of the 975,000-square-foot Capital One headquarters building was the majority of the County’s 1,191,000 square foot increase over 2017’s office space inventory. According to the budget documents:

Lease rates for new space are adjusting to market conditions as many tenants are taking advantage of favorable rates, and others are looking to capitalize on market conditions by consolidating operations in newer space near Metro stations. Submarkets along and near the Silver Line – Tysons Corner, Reston and the Herndon area – are especially well-positioned to take advantage of this trend. More than 54 million square feet of new office space is in the development pipeline countywide.

But the budget documents also show some of the demands Tysons is putting on the budget.

The Fairfax County Police Department is facing internal budget struggles, particularly as it works to adapt to urbanizing areas like Tysons. According to the report:

Keeping pace with urbanization to include Tysons, the Metro Silver Line extension, Springfield Town Center, South County development, and other micro-urban development countywide, will continue to challenge the Department for decades to come. Providing basic police service in urbanized areas requires different policing modes and resources than traditional methods in the suburban model the Department has been using for many decades

The report said that the department’s five-year staffing plan will include meeting the urbanization demands in Tysons with expanded police services. The budget has 16 additional uniformed positions planned for FY 2021 in the county’s long-term staffing plan.

One area of disappointment from supervisors was the lack of funding for body-worn cameras. A pilot program was implemented through 2018 and a report on the findings is expected in the first quarter of FY 2019, but officials expressed concerns that the program was not in the police budget for FY 2020.

The increasing population and density in Tysons are also putting a strain on the local parks. According to the budget:

Collectively, the major rezoning applications approved in Tysons since 2010 generate a need for eight new athletic fields under the maximum approved development levels. The equivalent of two athletic fields have been built and currently serve Tysons area users.

The budget does note, however, that new athletic fields have been proffered — funded by developers as a condition of approval — including a baseball diamond near Westgate Elementary School and a 2.3-acre park near the Tysons Galleria.

While the growth in Tysons is likely to put some strain on Fairfax County Public Schools, plans to address that overcrowding are currently not funded.

Each supervisor said they will be holding budget meetings in their communities over the next few weeks. Supervisor John Foust from the Dranesville District said the McLean discussion will be held on Feb. 28 at the McLean Community Center at 7 p.m.

The budget is scheduled to be adopted on May 7.

The bar side of Andy’s Pizza, a by-the-slice eatery on the Tysons Galleria’s third floor, is now open as a bar.

In a space next to the window where Andy Brown sells fresh pizza, his cousin, Emily Brown, is leading the bar.

For Emily, beer is a passion, and for every patron that visited the bar in its opening couple days, Emily helped walked them through the selection to see what beer was best for their palette.

While there is National Bohemian in stock, a regional go-to drink, Emily says the focus of the bar is on its variety of specialty beers. The bar is planned to have a seasonally rotating menu, with new inventory being brought in as they are announced.

So far, Emily said the most popular drink so far has been “old fashioneds,” a whiskey cocktail with a twist of citrus rind.

Andy’s Pizza is one of the new restaurants that’s transformed the upper floor of the Tysons Galleria and it isn’t the only one getting a new alcohol selection.

Pending ABC approvals, Donburi and Stomping Ground are both planning on adding drinks to a new late night menu to help give the Tysons area a new nightlife option.

Tech company Cvent announced an expansion in Tysons last year, and now that expansion is bringing a host of new jobs in the Tysons area.

Cvent creates software for businesses to organize meetings and events. The company signed a 72,000-square-foot expansion that will see the company occupy three floors of Boro Station at 1765 Greensboro Station Place.

The company is advertising a total of 67 jobs. Among those, the company is looking to hire:

• Graphic Design Lead
• Sales Executive
• Lead Corporate Recruiter
• Product Designer
• Training Coordinator
• Solution Specialist
• Manager, AV and Communications
• Service Associate
• Implementation Consultant
• Instructional Designer
• Principal Project Designer

There’s a handful of internships with the company available as well:

• Pricing Internship
• Accounts Payable Internship
• Sales Training Internship
• Sales Operations Intern
• Event and Marketing Intern

Photo via Facebook

Update on 2/16/19 — In a Facebook post, Great American Restaurants announced that the new location will be a “coupling” of Patsy’s American and Randy’s Prime Seafood and Steaks. According to the post:

We are excited to announce, Patsy’s American and Randy’s Prime Seafood & Steaks will be “coupled together” on Leesburg Pike in Tysons Corner – with Best Buns Bakery & Cafe opening next door. Named by children Jill, Jon and Timmy Norton – and Great American Restaurants – in honor of founder Randy Norton and his wife Patsy Norton’s 50 years of marriage and nearly five successful decades dedicated to the hospitality industry. 

The new Great American Restaurants eatery reported a few weeks ago was unnamed at the time, but could be the American Seafood Steaks Bakery & Café, which filed permits last week for the same address.

It’s a mouthful, but it accurately describes a planned restaurant said to have bakery, American food and sports bar components.

The new restaurant is being built at 8051 Leesburg Pike, formerly the site of a Chili’s and On the Border Mexican Grill & Cantina, before both were torn down.

The new location is under construction, with a manager at a nearby location from the same company saying the new restaurant was planning to open in June or July.

According to a legal notice in the Washington Post, the restaurant is currently seeking approval to sell alcohol at the site as well. The license is being filed under the name “Fred’s Food Group LLC,” whose only online reference is in connection with this restaurant.

Women’s and safety organizations around McLean are coming together for a panel discussion on combatting local teen trafficking.

In 2017, Virginia ranked sixth in the number of human trafficking cases on federal court dockets. There were 33 active human trafficking cases, most of them in the Eastern District of Virginia, which includes Northern Virginia.

The panel presentation will be led by the Just Ask Prevention Project, a nonprofit based out of Tysons dedicated to combatting sex trafficking helmed by former Detective Bill Woolf. Woolf first became involved with the fight against sex trafficking after he discovered a young victim who was being trafficked by a gang.

The event is scheduled for next Tuesday (Feb. 19) at 7 p.m. at the McLean Presbyterian Church (1020 Balls Hill Road). The discussion is free and open to the public, though the website includes an option to donate to Just Ask Prevention.

The event is being co-hosted by the Women’s Club of McLean, the Safe Community Coalition and the New Dominion Women’s Club.

According to the event description:

“Trafficking and exploitation of teens is appallingly prevalent and underreported in Fairfax County. Help us eradicate this horrendous scourge by learning what makes children vulnerable, how to identify the signs of a possible victim, and what to do if you suspect a teen is being exploited.”

Photo via Facebook

More and more sidewalks are coming to Tysons, but not all of them are created equal.

Sidewalks have been getting a lot of attention lately, They’re credited with the power to revitalize the economy and save lives, but sidewalks, like all infrastructure, need planning, engineering and investment — and some are implemented better than others.

Modern designers understand the subtleties of how to make a sidewalk safe and comfortable, while exciting new materials offer new technological possibilities and economists are coming to better understand the investment potential of sidewalks.

The best tools in any arsenal are multitaskers, and sidewalks aren’t just for moving. Just like we use streets for both driving and parking, we use sidewalks both for walking to a destination and also for standing still once we arrive.

In dense residential areas, like The Boro or The Mile, sidewalks can provide an outdoor common space, like a shared living room, for those living in small apartments. Sidewalks are also a good investment — they contribute thousands of dollars to property values. Good sidewalk design can even make a street safer for drivers.

Anatomy of a Sidewalk

The National Association of City Transportation Officials has a lot to say about how to engineer sidewalk space. In its design guide, it carves sidewalks up into three parallel zones – and while all three are for people, only one is actually about walking.

The frontage zone meets the facades of buildings and functions as an extension of them. It is usually home to cafe seating, benches, signs, staircases and entry ramps, and in residential areas individuals’ front gardens.

It can provide small nooks where you can stand under an awning and fire off a text message, or a place for eager customers to wait in line at the hip new cupcake shop. The frontage zone, while public, feels most closely associated with the building it touches.

The through zone is where pedestrians actually travel. It’s a clear lane for foot traffic, extending straight across multiple blocks, free of obstructions and wide enough for wheelchair users or groups of walkers to pass one another. It is often distinguished from the other two zones by a slightly different paving material. In order for pedestrians to move quickly, comfortably and efficiently, the through zone must be wide (at least five feet and up to 12) and unobstructed.

The furniture zone, also called the curb zone, is both the access to and the barrier from the street.

Traditionally, it is home to trees, light posts, traffic signs, utility boxes, newspaper stands and bus stops. In the 21st century, it gives us access to our wealth of new mobility options: car rental kiosks, Capital Bikeshare stations, pick-up zones for Uber or Lyft. This is where shared scooters ought to be parked.

Like the frontage zone, it can have benches or picnic tables, but this space feels entirely public, whereas benches in the frontage zone seem to belong to the adjacent building. The objects, furniture, and especially trees in this zone protect pedestrians from car traffic but the bus stops, taxi stands and bikeshare stations let them enter it on their terms. Like the wall of your house with its doors and windows, it protects you from the elements while also forming a point of access.

All sidewalks have these three zones, although they might blur together or be very narrow. Designing a good sidewalk, though, means understanding the role of each. Many sidewalks in Tysons, for lack in investment, don’t have the essential elements that fully flesh out the frontage and furniture zones. These sidewalks, simple concrete paths through grass, are incomplete.

Sidewalk Engineering

Concrete is classic, but new materials offer exciting possibilities for the sidewalks of the future. New kinds of sidewalks could double as automatic storm drains, use recycled materials, or generate electricity — and the D.C. area is on the cutting edge.

Engineers in many cities around the world have started experimenting with using recycled rubber as a paving material for the last two decades. Results have been mixed, with maintenance costs higher than expected in some places, but the rubber has a threefold advantage. DC has been a national leader with this technology, meaning Tysons has a lot of local expertise to reference.

First, by reusing waste rubber, the material is ecologically friendly.

Second, this rubber paving is usually slightly porous — meaning it absorbs some water during a heavy rainfall, helping deal with the thorny problem of stormwater management and preventing puddles from accumulating.

Third, as trees on sidewalks grow, their roots can push up and out, dislodging cement blocks and making the through zone inaccessible to those in wheelchairs. Rubber paving, because of its flexibility, can actually accommodate shifts in root structures without cracking.

Another new type of sidewalk has only made its way out of the laboratory a few years ago. In 2013, the George Washington University campus in next-door Loudoun County unveiled the world’s first walkable solar-powered pavement. This “Solar Walk,” part of the public campus sidewalk, uses solar panels embedded beneath a reinforced material to generate electricity that can not only light the sidewalk up at night but also send some power back to nearby Innovation Hall.

However, these flashy technologies have their critics, and it may be that traditional bricks offer greater value and some of the same benefits as the rubber material.

Three men were arrested in a Tysons Corner Center parking deck after allegedly passing counterfeit bills at the Lord and Taylor store.

Store employees called police to report the crime around 8 p.m. Wednesday. Officers stopped the men in their car and recovered additional counterfeit currency, narcotics and brass knuckles, according to police.

More from FCPD:

Andres Moreno, 34, Warren Missouri, 26 and Michael Allen 42, of Baltimore, Md. were arrested for possession of schedule I or II narcotics, carrying a concealed weapon, forging bank notes, obtaining money by false pretenses, possession of marijuana and obtaining identifying information to avoid arrest.

Also Wednesday, the McLean Islamic Center, which recently won approval increase parking, was burglarized by a man entering the building through the window.

The man was described as 6′ tall, wearing a dark jacket and jeans, and driving a four-door beige car, according to FCPD.

Photo courtesy FCPD

It’s Valentine’s Day and there’s plenty of options around the area for romantic gestures, from a singing quartet to a wide array of restaurant specials.

But if you’re looking for something a little more low-key, Stomping Ground in Tysons Galleria’s Taste of Urbanspace has a few special treats for today only.

In addition to the usual biscuits, the location will be offering strawberry scones with a pink strawberry glaze for $3. The scones — of course — have been cut into heart shapes.

In keeping with the pink theme, Stomping Ground will also have fresh strawberry milk with whipped cream for $4.

The last special is something of an inexplicable Valentine’s Day specialty: Mexican Hot Chocolate. The drink has cocoa powder, cayenne, cinnamon, grapefruit and black pepper marshmallows in a house hot chocolate for $5.25.

For all its faults, it’s hard to say Tycon Courthouse doesn’t stand out.

More locally known as the “Toilet Bowl” or “Stargate” building, Tycon Courthouse on Route 123 just west of Leesburg Pike is most notable for it’s over seven-story tall ring in the front of the building.

But there was a time where the building, labeled the ugliest in Virginia in Business Insider’s 2018 list of ugliest buildings in every state, was once the height of local architecture. It was, at one point, the largest office building in Tysons and the first structure to include massive structure parking, able to accommodate a then-record 900 cars.

It was built in 1983 in the middle of a “screaming architecture” fad — a Washington Post article at the time said the buildings were designed to be their own advertisements. They were reflective of peak Reagan-era style, where notability was more important than pleasing aesthetics. Architects Volker Zinser and Barry Dunn were credited with the project.

There are several urban rumors about the project, like that it was designed to look like an “O” for the Olivetti Company, or the lenses of a Nikon camera, but an interview with Zinser at the time said he was inspired by a book about 19th-century French architects who designed projects that explored geometric volumes.

In keeping with the style, Zinser said the fact that the building was being talked about was more important than what people were calling it.

The screaming architecture fad was centered around Fairfax County. Experts at the time called it medieval, noting that businesses were grabbing spaces and turning them into private fortresses.

The Blade Runner-esque Tysons Office Center on Route 7 and Gallows Road, sometimes called the “Flash Cube” building, and Tycon Towers, the 17-story “shopping bag,” were other local examples of this design.

Tycon Courthouse in the 1980s photo via Bonstra Haresign Architects