Sunday, March 26, 2006
On Edge of Va. Sprawl, Labels Crumble, New Lives Thrive
On Edge of Va. Sprawl, Labels Crumble, New Lives Thrive
By Stephanie McCrummen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, March 27, 2006; A01
In one sense, it is easy to explain where Gail and Brent Heppner live. Their new house is off Exit 110 of Interstate 95, a solid 70 miles south of the District, beyond so many subdivisions and fast-food clusters, past the giant, circular sign heralding Potomac Mills mall, then farms with billboards for $9.99 truck-stop rib-eyes, and then an additional 30 minutes past gray-green blurs of second-growth pine. They live all the way down in Caroline County, recently named one of the fastest-growing counties in the country.
In another sense, though, the Heppners' place in the geography of suburbia, of exurbia, of the Washington region -- and really, of the nation -- is more difficult to pinpoint.
They and their neighbors mainly commute to jobs north but often shop in Richmond to the south. They are surrounded by rough
ruralness yet live in a relatively cutting-edge, wired new community called the Village at Ladysmith, where roads, a library and a main street are still mostly lines on paper.
Smart Growth is apparently not on the agenda for people moving from the closer-in suburbs of D.C. to places like Caroline and King George Counties, Va. See below for the map that accompanies the story from the Washington Post.
By Stephanie McCrummen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, March 27, 2006; A01
In one sense, it is easy to explain where Gail and Brent Heppner live. Their new house is off Exit 110 of Interstate 95, a solid 70 miles south of the District, beyond so many subdivisions and fast-food clusters, past the giant, circular sign heralding Potomac Mills mall, then farms with billboards for $9.99 truck-stop rib-eyes, and then an additional 30 minutes past gray-green blurs of second-growth pine. They live all the way down in Caroline County, recently named one of the fastest-growing counties in the country.
In another sense, though, the Heppners' place in the geography of suburbia, of exurbia, of the Washington region -- and really, of the nation -- is more difficult to pinpoint.
They and their neighbors mainly commute to jobs north but often shop in Richmond to the south. They are surrounded by rough
ruralness yet live in a relatively cutting-edge, wired new community called the Village at Ladysmith, where roads, a library and a main street are still mostly lines on paper.
Smart Growth is apparently not on the agenda for people moving from the closer-in suburbs of D.C. to places like Caroline and King George Counties, Va. See below for the map that accompanies the story from the Washington Post.
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