Fairfax County, Virginia is a 399-square mile suburban-style community in northeastern Virginia near Washington, DC. Because of Virginia’s unique form of local government, the county operates essentially as a city, notwithstanding its formal designation. With over one million residents, it is thus equivalent to the nation’s tenth most-populous municipality, and has one of the largest concentrations of jobs, office buildings, and retail space in the United States.
 
 

Tysons Corner, shown here in a 2004 photograph, is Fairfax County’s “downtown.” It is one of the nation’s largest commercial districts.
 

In 1900, Fairfax County’s population was 18,850. Thirty years later, it remained a rural agricultural community of 25,264 which served the nation’s capital. By 1950, however, the population had grown to 98,557. The county’s transition over the following half century to a major population, economic, and cultural center which is proximate to, but largely distinct from, Washington is one of the most significant events in American urban history.

Just as earlier American metropolitan areas were the result of specific economic, cultural, and geographic trends, Fairfax County is a prototypical post-war “city,” influenced by the development of the automobile, suburban housing patterns, office parks and enclosed shopping centers.

The growth of the federal government (including the armed services) occasioned by world war, the Cold War, and Great Society, and the expansion of certain federal contracting activities, spurred the construction of large suburban housing developments to accommodate those working in Washington. Beginning in the late 1970s, however, Fairfax County began to attract a substantial number of businesses, especially in the professional services, computer, and telecommunications industries. By the mid-1990s, it became a major center for the development, operation, and use of the Internet and the headquarters for five Fortune 500 firms. Now, most who live in Fairfax County work there as well and many who live in nearby jurisdictions travel into the county for employment, shopping, or leisure activities.

Modern Fairfax County is a large, complex jurisdiction with many contrasting characteristics. Despite the enormous number of homes, offices, and buildings which were constructed in past decades, for example, one-third of the land area is zoned semi-rural. The County has a modern economy, yet one of the largest equine populations in Virginia. It is a well educated, ethnically diverse community, with little serious crime, highly-regarded public schools and a well-established park system. But it also has a severely burdened road network and a relatively high cost of living.
 
 

The Mount Vernon Dairy circa 1915. This farm was near, but not associated with, George Washington’s historic home in southeastern Fairfax County. Photograph courtesy of Virginia Room, Fairfax County Public Library.
 
Fairfax County includes the subordinate towns of Herndon, Clifton, and Vienna, and the informal, unincorporated communities of Annandale, Burke, Centreville, Chantilly, Fairfax Station, Franconia, Great Falls, Lorton, McLean, Mount Vernon, North Springfield, Oakton, Oak Hill, Reston, Springfield, Tysons Corner, West Springfield and some mailing addresses reflecting nearby, but independent, municipalities of Fairfax City, Alexandria, and Falls Church.
 
A Virginia Business magazine review by Mr. Bright of The Dinner Club, a book about local high tech leaders, can be found here.

Mr. Bright also wrote a history of the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce in connection with that organization’s seventy-fifth anniversary.

Journalists, scholars, organizational representatives, or others who have further questions are invited to contact Christopher Bright.

While they do not all specifically mention Fairfax County, some research projects have addressed cultural, political, and demographic trends apparent in the county:

A 2005 study project by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press identifies categories of voters. This illustrates the partisan realignment underway in Fairfax County.

The Rise of the Creative Class, and the follow-up, Cities and the Creative Class, by Richard Florida, a well-known former George Mason University professor, now at the University of Toronto.

David Brooks’ pop sociology, Bobos in Paradise.

The Emerging Democratic Majority contains astute observations by partisan election analysts.

Edge City, a classic by journalist Joel Garreau.

In addition, Virginia Tech’s Metropolitan Institute is undertaking very important research about the history and future of communities such as Fairfax County.

The Virginia Room of the Fairfax County Public Library is a significant repository of historical information.

The Fairfax County Historical Society promotes interesting studies.

The Fairfax County website features important statistical and demographic details, although some arcane terms are used. This link also includes a basic explanation of the county’s form of government,.

The Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, a quasi-independent government entity, is devoted to business recruitment and retention.