Fairfax County General :
Fairfax Underground
Welcome to Fairfax Underground, a project site designed to improve communication among residents of Fairfax County, VA. Feel free to post anything Northern Virginia residents would find interesting.
The thread about people moving out of Fairfax and to MD got me to thinking. Any old-timers know anything about the history of Great Falls? I'm not talking about stuff you can learn when you visit. I'm talking about cosmetic differences between the VA side and the MD side. The VA side is crap. What's with the chain link fence? Compare it with the MD side where you have the renovated canals, beautiful short hike to a wonderfully-maintained, safe decking providing beautiful views of the falls. You've got the three billy-goat trails. Tons of people enjoying the canal trails year round.
Then there's the VA side. The visitor's center is OK, and there are some hiking trails. But the chain link fence says it all. VA doesn't give much of a crap about it's natural and historic treasures.
It seems VA has a history of this. Mount Vernon would probably have been razed if not for the hard work of the Mount Vernon Ladies Association.
Even at Chincoteague you can see a huge difference between the philosophies and level of care given to the MD side versus the neglected VA side - but I won't go into it more since it's not Fairfax.
I've lived in Fairfax since 2000, and I generally like it. But these examples symbolize this weird difference I see between MD and VA and I can see why people might prefer MD - when a state makes an effort to improve and maintain their public treasures as opposed to waiting for private groups to organize and step up to the task, that says something about the population.
The VA side is on lower ground than MD, it floods maybe every other year. There is a sign post with the highest floods recorded. So VA has not spent a lot of money building things up in the flood zone, but keeps it natural. What's wrong with that?
I lived all over both states, and Maryland is generally better when it comes to infrastructure and road maintains. Thats why Maryland is one of the top states that get a good grade in those things. It sucks when it comes to crime, and other thing. Even that Alexandria Chief that was busted for the DUI lived in Maryland, and there are few Judges all over VA that maintain their residency in Maryland.
Angua1 Wrote:
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>
> Even at Chincoteague you can see a huge difference
> between the philosophies and level of care given
> to the MD side versus the neglected VA side - but
> I won't go into it more since it's not Fairfax.
>
Chincoteague is 100% Virginia. You are referring to Assateague Island.
I maybe wrong on this, but i think there is alos more "old money" on the MD side. So maybe that side of the river has had more time to mature in the beauty it is now?
"I think Burke Lake is well maintained and popular."
Considering Burke Lake used to be a landfill, i agree.
Both the Maryland side and the Virginia side of Great Falls park are maintained by the NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, thus your argument is an absolute FAILURE.
So i guess the MD side just has a more powerful lobby, or the powers that be who are in charge of the park reside in MD? Not that I care, its just usually how these things come about.
I love both sides, we're blessed to have such great parks.
I spend more time on the VA side and love how they've expanded the trails, esp. along the river all the way to Algonkian Regional Park!
I think the NPS has tried to reduce the amount of drownings with the fences etc. But the new overlook areas are fantastic (and you can still walk out on the rocks if you really want to).
FurfaxTownie Wrote:
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> I maybe wrong on this, but i think there is alos
> more "old money" on the MD side. So maybe that
> side of the river has had more time to mature in
> the beauty it is now?
>
>
> "I think Burke Lake is well maintained and
> popular."
>
> Considering Burke Lake used to be a landfill, i
> agree.
about 38 years ago, there were some accidents and some that were on purpose that caused the chain link fence to go up.
First, it's a national park service...not state.
Secondly a mother/wife took her shoes off, put her purse on the ground and promptly jumped over the cliff to her death. She did leave a suicide note.
a few years later (not more then 3) a family was hiking and one of the sons slipped on a rock and fell about 50 feet onto another rock. The next son hiking slipped in the same area and also fell. Both sons survived, but the injuries were severe.
There is your story. Both the womand and sons were from the annandale area.
Johnn Wrote:
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> I lived all over both states, and Maryland is
> generally better when it comes to infrastructure
> and road maintains. Thats why Maryland is one of
> the top states that get a good grade in those
> things. It sucks when it comes to crime, and
> other thing. Even that Alexandria Chief that was
> busted for the DUI lived in Maryland, and there
> are few Judges all over VA that maintain their
> residency in Maryland.
Might Maryland be better in so called "Road Maintenance", because the state is so small? You forget that Fairfax is only a fraction of the entire Commonwealth, and there are thousands of miles of roadways to maintain.
MD generally sucks, and VA will always be better. That is the bottom line.
Hmmmm Hmmm Wrote:
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> Both the Maryland side and the Virginia side of
> Great Falls park are maintained by the NATIONAL
> PARK SERVICE, thus your argument is an absolute
> FAILURE.
>
> Next....
As I was reading this thread, I was wondering if anyone would point this out. Thank god someone did.
The Maryland side is better, but that's because the federal government still holds a grudge against Virginia for that whole Civil War disaster.
trogdor! Wrote:
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> Hmmmm Hmmm Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Both the Maryland side and the Virginia side of
> > Great Falls park are maintained by the NATIONAL
> > PARK SERVICE, thus your argument is an absolute
> > FAILURE.
> >
> > Next....
>
> As I was reading this thread, I was wondering if
> anyone would point this out. Thank god someone
> did.
>
> The Maryland side is better, but that's because
> the federal government still holds a grudge
> against Virginia for that whole Civil War
> disaster.
Lol, it was the "War Of Northern Aggression" my friend. Maryland was confused then as to which side they would take, and they still remain that way even today.
ThePackLeader Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> trogdor! Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Hmmmm Hmmm Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > Both the Maryland side and the Virginia side
> of
> > > Great Falls park are maintained by the
> NATIONAL
> > > PARK SERVICE, thus your argument is an
> absolute
> > > FAILURE.
> > >
> > > Next....
> >
> > As I was reading this thread, I was wondering
> if
> > anyone would point this out. Thank god someone
> > did.
> >
> > The Maryland side is better, but that's because
> > the federal government still holds a grudge
> > against Virginia for that whole Civil War
> > disaster.
>
>
> Lol, it was the "War Of Northern Aggression" my
> friend. Maryland was confused then as to which
> side they would take, and they still remain that
> way even today.
And we kicked southern ass...no matter what you call it.
Registered Voter...a Big talking coward..big man on FFXU...little man in life.
Vince(1) Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ThePackLeader Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > trogdor! Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > Hmmmm Hmmm Wrote:
> > >
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> >
> > > -----
> > > > Both the Maryland side and the Virginia
> side
> > of
> > > > Great Falls park are maintained by the
> > NATIONAL
> > > > PARK SERVICE, thus your argument is an
> > absolute
> > > > FAILURE.
> > > >
> > > > Next....
> > >
> > > As I was reading this thread, I was wondering
> > if
> > > anyone would point this out. Thank god
> someone
> > > did.
> > >
> > > The Maryland side is better, but that's
> because
> > > the federal government still holds a grudge
> > > against Virginia for that whole Civil War
> > > disaster.
> >
> >
> > Lol, it was the "War Of Northern Aggression" my
> > friend. Maryland was confused then as to which
> > side they would take, and they still remain
> that
> > way even today.
>
> And we kicked southern ass...no matter what you
> call it.
"We" as in who? Maryland? You didn't kick anyones a$$, especially seeing how hundreds of thousands died on both sides of the conflict. You probably don't even have any history invested in the War anyhow.
Make no mistake, without MD there would've been no Northern victory. Md was very crucial during the war, and if memory serves me better a very well known Md general was behind the unions capture of Nova and drawn the lines seperating nova counties. Brush up on your civil war history folks.