NOVA building
By Brian Howell
20 Dec 2008
What city do you live in? What neighborhood?
I live in Herndon, which is west of DC in Fairfax County. The shots in this series were all taken in Fairfax, and Loudoun County, nearby Washington / Dulles international airport.
What are some adjectives that describe your neighborhood?
Busy, suburban, traffic, airport, technology, security, traffic, people, corporate, nice, under construction.
How long have you lived there, and what brought you there?
I have lived in NOVA my entire life, aside from a brief sojourn to North Carolina.
What is your favorite thing about this place? Your least favorite?
I like how people come from all over to live here. I feel fortunate for already growing up here when I meet people who come from other parts of the US, or from India or Denmark or elsewhere abroad, to take advantage of the diversity and the wealth of opportunities in the area.
My only complaint is there aren't any real beaches here.
Do you feel that you belong there?
I kind of think I belong everywhere, but yeah, here too.
What is the most common misconception about where you live?
Probably the political stuff. Not everyone here works for the government.
What is a special fact about your city that you have to live there to know?
The population of Fairfax county is more than double that of Washington DC.
Dulles airport is named after John Foster Dulles, the former US Secretary of State from the Eisenhower presidency.
What aspect of your city do you secretly love?
I like the balance of steel and glass buildings and untouched landscape. I like all the bright orange construction cones everywhere. I like hearing the planes take off and land and thinking about travel.
