Lorton - Loose Space and Common Areas in my Neighborhood

Looking through my neighborhood of Lorton, Virginia, I realized there are so many open spaces that are considered common areas and loose space.  I took pictures all along my route from my home to the GMU campus.

Lorton, Virginia Neighborhood

Starting at hwy 638 on Pohick Road, I drove north to Lorton Station Road then south until I reached Lorton Road (hwy 642). I took a right turn and I drove west until I reached Furnace Road then north on Ox Road (hwy 123) to GMU campus in Fairfax.  Along the way I took these photos of my neighborhood to show the open, loose and common areas.

Heading south on Lorton Station road between apartment complex is a dead end street.

The 3 pictures above is the area in my neighborhood which doubles as the parking lot for the VRE Commuter train but on the weekends in the spring to fall is the local Farmer's Market.  All the cars are gone and the vendors take over here.

On Lorton Station Rd. the area from the fences to the road is all loose space.

A common area located at the entrance of The Metropolitan, luxury apartments in my neighborhood.  During the spring you can see many families just sitting here and talking.

At the intersection of I-95 and Lorton Road, you can see the popular clock tower.  The area surrounding the clock tower is open, loose space.  

This picture is the entrance to Laurel Hill park which is a common area that used to be the location of the Lorton Correctional Facility since 1910 but has now been acquired by Fairfax County and turned into a local park with bike trails, fishing pond, Frisbee Golf Course, Playground and entrance to the CCT trails.

Across the street from the Laurel Park is the remains of the Lorton Correctional Facility that is behind a chain link fence.  The following picture shows the prison.

Watch Tower at the corner of the Lorton Correctional Facility.

Old Barracks on the Lorton Correctional Facility grounds

Photo of the open area as I traveled west on Lorton Rd heading to Furnace Road.

Barrett House is an old abandoned house on the edge of the Lorton Correctional Facility grounds.  This area is a common area as people can come and park in the adjacent parking to the house overlooking the grounds of the prison.

Driving towards the Nike Missile site on the right.

The entire area on the right is the location of the site where the Nike Missile were set up during the Cold War.

Entire location of the Lorton Nike Missile Site.

The following 4 pictures show the old abandoned buildings from the now closed Lorton Correctional Facility.  These buildings stand on the corner of Furnace and Hooes Road just a block away from Ox Road.  They are not in use.

These are a few of the many loose, open and common areas in my neighborhood.  As my neighborhood is in transition after the closing of the Lorton Correctional Facility, many changes occur rapidly.  Since the land from the correctional facility are being redistributed into common areas, I believe these old building will be utilized for something in the near future.

The Closing of a Prison

     In Lorton, Virginia stood the Lorton Correctional Facility that housed the prisoners from the Washington District of Columbia.  It opened in 1916 and officially closed in 2001.  This prison over took 3600+ acres of the Village of Lorton.  There was not many homes in the area and the majority of the population was on the grounds of the Correctional facility.  Ten years after the opening of the prison, overpopulation of prisoner began as it reached the height of 12,000 prisoners.  In 1995 a provision began to close the prison due to overcrowding, increase crime inside the prison, massive drug usage inside the prison and the disatisfaction of the local residents.  The prison did not officially close until 2001, when the last of the prisoners left for other penitentiary through out the country.  With the movement of the prisoners, massive growth began in the area.

     New Urbanism has sprung up countless neighborhoods and an 55 and over living community.  The old prison grounds has sparked growth in golf courses, parks, trail ways, new apartments and a high school.  The old prison building were salvaged and turned into a Art Workshop which houses many art and crafts activities.  This redevelopment increased the community open spaces in the neighborhood and has prospered ever since.  I believe gentrification did happen when the closing of the prison took place.  With the forced movement of the prisoners, it caused the demographics to shift drastically.  There were 80% minorities when the prison was operational to 80% white when the prison closed.
The land was restructured and sold to investors and builders who developed housing communities and schools.  The area has continued to grow with new neighborhoods sprouting up continuously.  So therefore, I believe gentrification did occur but now with new urbanism of the community, the Lorton, Virginia area will continue to prosper.

New Housing in Lorton

Redevelopment of Lorton Correctional Facility into the
DC Art Workshop

Bike and hiking trail developed from
the Prison Land

Hiking and Biking Trails in Lorton, VA

What is the Pruitt-Igoe Myth?

What is the Pruitt-Igoe Myth?  In the 1950's the city of St. Louis was looking to develop an area for housing.  The building of the Pruitt-Igoe housing began and the city moved in many low-income families.  The housing development prospered but eventually it began to deteriorate to the point of total destruction in the early 1970's.  What happened between 1956 and 1972 was an inhuman look at how a public housing project could fester into a manacing area for the residents.

The city of St. Louis is still dealing with the affect of the Pruitt-Igoe incident 50-60 years later.  The residents felt that the city was not maintaining the maintenance to the buildings and most of the housing development began to deteriorate.

It was a quick downfall to the buildings that the residents became angry and started to vandalize and destroy the area.  The residents eventually had a protests and stopped paying their rent to force the Mayor to make changes to the maintenance.  The residents won but a few months later a huge water main and sewer pipe broke making the buildings in habitable.

The city of St. Louis determined the housing development was not adequate for living so they decided to tear down the many building in the Pruitt-Igoe housing area.

The development of these buildings was a huge undertaking in help those who are in need of low-income or affordable housing.  By looking at these pictures it could say that most developers decided to hold back on these types of projects.

The Pruitt-Igoe project is a part of globalization because many different people from different places were brought together to live in an area that housed over 12,000.  With development of these housing buildings, it brought a huge influx of money to the area. The globalization of Pruitt-Igoe was a melting pot of many different cultures and traditions but everyone still wanted on thing for themselves and their families - a better life.

A snap shot in time of Lorton, Virginia

Lorton, Virginia

How time has changed this area.  It was but 10 years ago when the biggest known symbol of Lorton, Virginia closed it's doors to the last violent convicted felony prisoners at the Lorton Correctional Complex.  This complex was open in the early 1900's and only housed minimal security prisoners for the District of Columbia (DC)  It was that over the years the population rose to over 10000.  The overpopulation and the violent and drug crimes that ran ramped inside the prison itself was enough to raise concern of the citizens of the rural city of Lorton.  In 1997, Congress conveined and voted to close Lorton Correctional Complex over the next 4 years.

Since the closing of the Lorton Correctional Complex, the land was given to Fairfax County and since then Lorton had been a striving and developing area.  The 3000 acres of land that the complex sat on was renovated and developed.  Firstly, the beautiful open courtyard and the barracks were saved and turned into a Arts and Crafts complex called DC Workhouse Arts Center:

This complex has brought a unity of community back to the area which was separated by a huge prison in the middle.  With this change it also brought new housing developments and schools to be built in the area which is bringing more population in this area. Three big shopping complexes have opened in the surrounding areas:

Lorton Market Shopping right off I-95 and Lorton Road:

Lorton Town Center on Lorton Station Road (right in the heart of new housing development):

Lorton Valley on Ox Road which is the western most area of Lorton:

The other awesome symbol of Lorton which also came from the land the correctional complex was on are the regional parks that were developed.  This neighborhood now has The Occoquan Regional Park, Laurel Hill Golf Course and the Laurel Hill and Equestrian Park.  These parks are used daily and Lorton hosts many community events at the different parks year round.

Since I work from home, I don't commute except to make it to the local Starbucks at the Lorton Valley Shopping Center.  This is where I will hold small business meetings.  I have Xed both my home and the Starbucks in my neighborhood to show I practically travel through the entire city of Lorton to go from my house to Starbucks.  I get to see my neighborhood as it become vibrant and busy almost each morning.

Here is the Map of my neighborhood:  Lorton, Virginia

Lorton, Virginia

Using Archival Materials To Study My Neighborhood!

With my ongoing study of my neighborhood in Lorton, Va, I will be using the Special Collections & Archives (SCA) at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.  I will enter the SCA webpage through the GMU site.  Using the 'Our Collection' button, I can locate information about my neighborhood.  There are 12 different titles in the collections area to choose from and locate any type of information for my neighborhood.

One of the most interesting stories I have located in my neighborhood was the situation with the Women's Suffrage in Washington, DC.  The Lorton Prison was located in my neighborhood and it was the location where it held many women who were arrested as they protested in Washington, D.C.  They were held at the workhouse.  In the table of contents, I located the subject "Guide to the League of Women Voters of the Fairfax Area records, 1948 - 2009" and the area "League of Women Voters of the Fairfax Area C0031" will shed a light on this subject.  I look forward to continue my search to see how my neighborhood was used in the past.

An additional archive item I am interested in looking at is the "Guide to the Tom Davis papers, 1994 - 2008" which displays the "Memorandum of agreement on the transfer of the Lorton Correctional Complex out of Federal ownership, 2001" This was a huge event in my neighborhood as the correctional facility was closed and turned into a D. C. Workhouse of Arts.  I want to be able to read these papers and see if gives me a better insight of why they closed the correctional facility and who purchased the land around it that allowed the construction of many facilities to help the growth of the area.

Looking at all the information from the Special Collections & Archives at George Mason University available for my neighborhood may give me a better look at it's history.

Eden Center - A Center in Globalization

My husband and I decided to spend our Valentine's Day exploring The Eden Center in Falls Church, Virginia.  We enjoyed a wonderful dinner at one of the many restaurants and it was fabulous. I was very surprised to see such a huge location with so many restaurants in one place.
Eden Center is the biggest Vietnamese shopping center in the United States.  It houses over 30 restaurants, many cafe's and bakeries along with a few markets that sell just about anything Vietnamese.  40 years ago this location housed a few vietnamese stores but with the forward thinking of the owner, the areas surrounding the original buildings were renovated and the Eden Center grew and grew.

The Eden Center is a center of globalization with so much Vietnamese and Chinese influence such as the food.  The vietnamese influence is in each restaurant.  By bringing in the authentic flavors of the vietnamese cuisine it exposes other ethnicities to their culture.  Most people who visit the Eden Center come for the food and it is the easiest way the Eden Center shares in the globalization of he world.  

Eden Center continues to be a social gathering for the Vietnamese-American community.  The center holds festivals throughout the year to share in their culture with other residents in the area.  The social globalization that The Eden Center provides also bring in more revenue and increases the economy in the area.  This is evident as the Eden Center continues to grown and become a very diverse area with vietnamese and chinese influence.

As we walked around the area we noticed many different services available to the Vietnamese-American community such as tax services, travel agencies, telephone packages, pension services and investment opportunities.  This a invaluable service to the community for Vietnamese people and allows them to maintain contact with portion of life in America and even in other parts of the world.

Continuing a close relationship with the Vietnamese-American Community and the surrounding neighborhoods will continue to improve and expand this gem that can be found in the middle of the DC Metropolitan area.  The last 40 years had brought a huge growth in the globalization of the Vietnamese culture in the United States and the next 40 can be even better.

Personal interview with Willa Lopez - Mexican Immigrant

 I interviewed Willa Lopez on 10 February 2012 by telephone.  She is a Mexican immigrant who is now 78 years old.  She has lived a long life so far and she feels she has seen many things change while she has been alive. Willa Lopez was Born in Pueblo Yaqui, Sonora, Mexico in 1934.

Before she immigrated to the United States she first moved to Ciudad Obregon to try to make a life. She got married and had 3 children. One child died in infancy. She found herself in an abusive relationship and when an opportunity arose to visit the United Staes she did so with her female cousin. They visited a male cousin who was living in Los Angeles. So in 1966, she got her passport and then traveled to Los Angeles, CA.  Los Angeles was so different from her little town in Mexico that she was over whelmed with all the excitement, she decided to stay and try to make a living in the U.S. her children were now 13 and 11 and she left them in the care of her parents. The first job she got when she arrived was a babysitting job for a family with 3 children ages 7, 5 and 3. Willa stated she didn't send much money home because she didn't make that much and the children were well taken care of by her parents. She was sure she could have gotten a job like babysitting in Mexico but she never worked after having children because her ex-husband was a lawyer.

Like in the article by Pannase, she too felt like she should work hard to bring her children to the United States but said the children chose to stay in Mexico to finish up their studies.

Willa eventually remarried and had 3 additional children. They lived in Los Angeles until they decided to move to the City of Puerto Penasco, Sonora, Mexico in 1976 with my husband and 3 children.  This was mainly to escape the violance that had erupted in Los Angeles at the time. She never thought she would return to Mexico but did so for the family. They saty was not long though and the family moved from there in 1978 and headed to Tucson, AZ where the children graduated high school.  

Willa said the immigration process was very quick for her. She was on her passport permission but then applied for her Green Card when she got married. It was all done within 6 months. She said it is much harder and much longer now.

During our stay in Arizona, She did get a divorce in 1985 while her children were in high school. Since She got divorced She had to get a job. Willa worked as a janitor at the University of Arizona because she was told her children would get a discount if thy went to college there.

"One of my children did attend the University of Arizona, which made it worth all the long hours I worked at night." After the children graduated from high school, she followed one of her children who was in the military service to their duty stations from 1994 to 2002.  She was able to travel to Europe, Japan, Korea, Italy and then back to the U.S. In 2002, she decided to stop traveling and she moved in with her oldest daughter in Plano, Texas where she has been leaving since. "I have 4 of my 5 children near me and I also blessed that they take care of me" Willa said.

Willa stated in the end, "I came to the U.S. and just liked it.  I didn't come to work because I was distressed in Mexico.  I could see the advancements here in the U.S. compared to my little town in Pueblo Yaqui.  I would have rather brought my children right away to the U.S. but they wanted to finish high school  first so I did leave them to continue living with my parents."

I see this as a sacrifice just like the Filipino woman have done over time I the article. They did it for their children and you can't deny this is a huge sacrifice.