Newcomers & Community Guide: McLean

Newcomers & Community Guide: McLean

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Top Issues Facing McLean Community

As Tysons Corner booms and the new Silver Line stations become more successful, McLean will be undergoing changes over the next few years. The McLean Citizens Association and other community leaders will be working to ensure the new Metro stations are successful, Tysons becomes a community, traffic reduces on Route 7 and update Mclean itself.

Top Issues Facing McLean Community

As Tysons Corner booms and the new Silver Line stations become more successful, McLean will be undergoing changes over the next few years. The McLean Citizens Association and other community leaders will be working to ensure the new Metro stations are successful, Tysons becomes a community, traffic reduces on Route 7 and update Mclean itself.

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Welcome to Fairfax County

Welcome to Fairfax County, the best place in the country to live, work and play. Fairfax County is home to a fantastic public school system, top tier business and shopping opportunities, compassionate human services, and some of the best parks and open spaces in the D.C. Metropolitan region.

McLean Chambers and Business Resources

Many organizations in McLean are here to serve your business and help connect you with the resources you need to make your business successful and to help it grow. Below are a list of business associations and chambers, in no particular order. Find a comprehensive online listing of county business resources at http://www.fairfaxcountyeda.org/business-resources.

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Every Year Is Election Year in Virginia

Northern Virginia has most two-party races on ballot.

While the Virginia governor’s race is the one getting the most attention, both nationally and in the state, Virginia’s House of Delegates race is shaping up to be the most competitive in a decade. According to an official candidate list released last month by the Virginia State Board of Elections, 57 House seats will be contested this November — marking only the second time in the last decade where at least half of the 100 House seats will have more than one name on the ballot.

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What in the World Does a Supervisor Do, and Why Should We Care?

Local Government 101: Where the rubber meets the road.

We see them at just about every community event. They manage a budget larger than the budgets of four states, and rule over a county with a diverse, well-educated population of more than a million people. The 10 members of the Fairfax County Supervisors have an intense, time-consuming, insanely detailed job, one that comes with enormous power and even more responsibilities. They impact our lives in large and small ways, allocating money and resources in ways that can propel our community forward—or cost us our first-rate status in education, livability and culture. Yet most of us, media included, are so focused on politics at the state and national level that we overlook the decision-makers in our own backyard.

Obsessed With Politics? Fairfax County Welcomes You!

What newcomers need to know to be politically-savvy insiders.

Fairfax County may be physically separated from Washington, D.C.—the ground-zero of All Things Political—but residents here are a politically-savvy bunch. We know who Larry Sabato is—a prominent University of Virginia political analyst—and we pay attention to Not Larry Sabato—a Virginia politics blog by Ben Tribbett, a Fairfax County resident and self-described “vicious campaign insultant.” We follow our politicians on Twitter and Facebook.

Supervisors Give Us Their Best “Insider” Tips

Fairfax County has a fantastic park and library system, with tons of activities to enjoy. One of my personal favorites is the Cardboard Boat Regatta at Lake Accotink Park every summer.

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An Insider's Guide to the Arts in Northern Virginia

A selection of upcoming arts productions, happening right where you live.

There are more artists of every stripe making art in Northern Virginia than you may realize. Populating the bedroom communities, small towns, growing cities and metropolitan areas of Fairfax County, Arlington and Alexandria are your pick of dance, theatre, choral, symphonic, visual and performance, music and fill-in-the-blank groups. Look beyond Wolf Trap and Jammin' Java to the Torpedo Art Factory, the Workhouse Arts Center, and smaller, quality groups like ArtSpace Herndon and McLean Project for the Arts to cast their creative spell (that's only to name a few). Delve in and, we dare you, let your stereotypes of an artless string of suburbs dissolve. In place you'll get something much better than stereotypes: some culture.

Lifetime Learning Institute of Northern Virginia

Affiliated with Northern Virginia Community College, the Lifetime Learning Institute of Northern Virginia (LLI) is a non-profit, member-run organization dedicated to providing continuing educational opportunities to older adults of all backgrounds and income levels.

Insiders' Tips: Places to Visit in Dranesville District

Supervisor John W. Foust (D-Dranesville) recommends places to see in the area.

Newcomers to Dranesville should visit our beautiful Potomac riverfront parks. Scotts Run in McLean offers fantastic hiking trails and great views of the Potomac. Riverbend Park and Great Falls National Park in Great Falls have visitor centers, great trails, spectacular river views and scenic picnic areas.

Newcomers and the Community Guide; Get to Know Area Non-profits

Get to know the area non-profits!

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Insiders’ Tips: What Are Your Favorite Places in McLean?

After four dynamic years yielding him two Cappie awards and an EP of original songs, McLean’s Damian Leverett, 18, cites the food of Chop n Chicken at 1375 Beverly Road, McLean, as the main fuel to his fire. The recent McLean High School graduate says, “It was my favorite meal to have before performances. … They catered a few of our all-night rehearsal dinners and fed us in between matinee and evening shows.” The aspiring actor recommends the “Create Your Own” option which allows customers to add any three toppings to the restaurant’s namesake dish, but he adds that because “every dish has their delicious chopped chicken … it’s hard to go wrong.” As Leverett prepares to study acting at the Guthrie Theater BFA Program at the University of Minnesota, he reflects on the family-owned business as “definitely the restaurant I’ll miss most when I move away for college.”

Best Educated, Most Diverse

If you are a new resident of Fairfax County, or an employee working for a company new to the county, welcome!

New Superintendent Relishes Opportunity

A fan of Baylor grad RG3 … not Cowboys

Here in Fairfax, not only do we have the talent and the expertise to solve the problems facing us in FCPS, but we are uniquely positioned to solve the most pressing issues facing public schools across the country. -Karen K. Garza, Ph.D., superintendent, Fairfax County Public Schools