Tysons, originally known as Peach Grove, received the designation "Tysons Crossroads" after the Civil War. William Tyson, a Maryland native from Cecil County, purchased a tract of land from A. US Post Office (est. Known originally as Peach Grove, the area received the designation "Tysons Crossroads" after the Civil War.
Tysons as an urban metropolis is a somewhat modern phenomenon for an area that was largely farmland for 100 years after William Tyson purchased it. As recently as the 1950s, Tysons was a quiet rural intersection flanked by a few small stores and a fruit stand operated by the Tyson descendants, who sold apples and apple cider from the corner of their property.
Basically before 1962 (a watermark in Tysons development) there was really not much of anything other than a crossroads of Rt. 7 and Rt. 123 along with a few buildings such as a country store.
It was in 1962 that the Fairfax County County Board of Supervisors approved the development of the then-new shopping mall at a cost of $20 million. In 1962, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved the Tysons Corner Shopping Center, now Tysons Corner Center, which was planned to be 88.13 acres (356,600 m2) within a 150 acres (0.61 km2) triangle bordered by Chain Bridge Road, Leesburg Pike, and the Capital Beltway.
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The Rise of Tysons Corner Center
On July 25, 1968, Tysons Corner Center introduced suburban Washington, D.C. to the convenience and comfort of a fully enclosed, climate-controlled shopping experience when it opened its doors for the first time. It quickly grew to include three anchors (Hecht’s, Lansburgh’s and Woodward & Lothrop) and 100 specialty stores.
By 1988, the center boasted nearly 650,000 square feet of new retail space, filled by 100 additional stores. In 2005, with Macerich at the helm after acquiring a 50 percent interest in the property, a massive renovation would bring the shopping center today to a total of 2.25 million square feet - almost twice its original size - making it the largest in the Washington, D.C.
Tysons is home to two super-regional shopping malls, Tysons Corner Center and Tysons Galleria, and the corporate and administrative headquarters of Alarm.com, Appian, Booz Allen Hamilton, Capital One, Freddie Mac, Hilton Worldwide, ID.me, Intelsat, M.C. The area is home to Tysons Corner Center, the largest shopping mall in the state and in the Baltimore-Washington area - and two upscale shopping centers, Tysons Galleria (also one of the largest malls in the region) and Fairfax Square, which neighbor it to the north and south respectively.
Transformation and Urbanization
By the 1980s, when the first satellite photos are available, Tysons was already a developed area. The 1988 image of Tysons, above, shows Tysons Galleria to the north on the eve of opening later that year.
The streets surrounding Tysons Galleria were also widened and became more interconnected over the years, allowing for more dense construction to the north and to the east, including several recently opened and planned mixed-use developments. One of the most visually striking shifts on Leesburg Pike is the decrease in surface parking lots, which covered much of the office parks east of Leesburg Pike. Several of the lots have been replaced with under-construction developments like The Boro.
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In the early 21st century, an influx of technology companies into Northern Virginia led to new office buildings and hotels to the landscape. The rapid growth of Tysons in comparison to other locations near the Capital Beltway has been the topic of numerous studies. One factor was the aggressive promotion of Tysons by Earle Williams, for many years the CEO of the defense contracting firm Braddock Dunn & McDonald.
Tysons serves as a downtown of Fairfax County, with one quarter of all office space and one eighth of all retail in the county, despite occupying just 1% of the county. In 2008, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to begin a 40-year plan to urbanize Tysons around the coming four stops of Washington Metro's Silver Line in the vein of neighboring Arlington County's Rosslyn-Ballston corridor.
A preliminary estimate from the Fairfax County Department of Transportation suggested that $7.83 billion in transportation infrastructure projects would be necessary to transform Tysons Corner into a high-density urban center from 2010 to 2050, most of which would be allocated to both construction phases of the Silver Line. Existing plans call for construction of a grid layout for streets around the rail stations, projected to cost $742 million.
In November 2012, the county approved Arbor Row, a 2,500,000 ft (762,000 m) mixed-used development of office and residential high-rises, ground-floor retail, and underground parking near the Tysons Corner (now Tysons) station. In April 2013, the county approved Scotts Run Station South, a 6,700,000 ft (2,042,160 m) development containing 17 buildings, including six office and residential buildings, one hotel, and ground-floor retail near the McLean Station.
Ahead of the Washington Metro Silver Line opening in mid-2014, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and the Tysons Partnership, a nonprofit association that represents the area's stakeholders, began rebranding the area as simply "Tysons", dropping "Corner" from the name. The change started as a matter of convenience, but later took hold to market the change in the area's character, according to members of the board.
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Fairfax County decade closer transforming Tysons mixed-use destination
Tysons Today
The Tysons of today is hardly recognizable as compared to a mere 30 years ago. Tysons is seen as a modern prototype of an edge city. In its 40-year history, it has been given substantial redevelopment offers for the next 20 to 30 years. The area has seen growing interest as plans to make it an urban center were begun in 2010.
Private-sector development in the United States in combination with political groups have begun the planning process behind the redevelopment of Tysons. Two forces are at work in the creation of an edge city, as it can be beneficial to both parties. With the redevelopment process taking place there has been an aggressive push to bring in businesses to Tysons. The plan remains to see Tysons become Fairfax County's downtown core.
So far, "eight districts have been delimited, with four centered on new metro stations being transit-oriented development districts". Future plans for transportation around the area continue to be made. The community lies in the Piedmont upland, about 3.7 miles (6.0 km) south-southwest of the Potomac River. The highest natural point in Fairfax County, at 520 feet (160 m) above sea level, is in Tysons.
Wolftrap Creek, a tributary of nearby Difficult Run, forms the community's northwestern border. Two of the creek's tributaries, Moomac Creek and the Old Courthouse Spring Branch, flow north through northwest Tysons. As a suburb of Washington, D.C., Tysons is a part of both the Washington metropolitan area and the larger Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area. Tysons' climate is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters.
Tysons includes a technology industry base and network infrastructure. In 2007, roughly 1,200 technology companies operated in Tysons. With 115,000 office and retail workers, Tysons is the nation's 12th-largest employment center.
Demographics
As of the 2020 census (some information from the 2022 American Community Survey) there were 26,374 people, 14,222 housing units and 13,494 households residing in the CDP. The population density was 6,176.6 inhabitants per square mile (2,384.8/km2). The average housing unit density was 3,330.7 per square mile (1,281.3/km2).
The racial makeup of the CDP was 48.86% White, 6.39% African American, 0.17% Native American, 32.40% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 3.13% from other races, and 9.03% from two or more races. Of the households, 41% were married couples, 22.1% were a male householder with family but no spouse, and 29% were a female householder with family but no spouse. The median age was 36.1, 16.8% of people were under the age of 18, and 13.1% were 65 years of age or older.
The median income for a household in the CDP was $129,468, and the median income for a family was $157,611. 5.5% of the population were military veterans, and 80.6% had a bachelor's degree or higher.
As of the 2010 census, there were 19,627 people, 9,481 households, and 4,754 families residing in the community. The population density was 4,607.3 inhabitants per square mile (1,778.9/km2). There were 10,637 housing units at an average density of 2,496.9 per square mile (964.1/km2).
The racial makeup of the community was 60.9% White, 27.5% Asian, 4.9% African American, 0.2% American Indian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 1.9% from other races, and 4.5% from two or more races. There were 9,481 households, out of which 23.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.8% were married couples living together, 2.9% had a male householder with no wife present, 7.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 49.9% were non-families. 40.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 18.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
The age distribution of the community was 18.4% under the age of 18, 6.6% from 18 to 24, 40.4% from 25 to 44, 23.5% from 45 to 64, and 11.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35.8 years. The median income for a household in the community was $94,083, and the median income for a family was $131,717. Males had a median income of $85,645 versus $66,019 for females. The community's per capita income was $64,294.
Economy and Employment
As of 2012, 75.6% of the population over age 16 was in the labor force. 0.6% was in the armed forces, and 75.0% was in the civilian labor force with 70.4% employed and 4.5% unemployed. The occupational composition of the employed civilian labor force was: 66.4% in management, business, science, and arts; 20.3% in sales and office occupations; 10.5% in service occupations; 2.1% in natural resources, construction, and maintenance; 0.7% in production, transportation, and material moving.
The corporate headquarters of Alarm.com, Appian Corporation, Booz Allen Hamilton, Capital One, Cvent, Freddie Mac, Hilton Worldwide, Logistics Management Institute, M.C.
Government and Infrastructure
As it is unincorporated, Tysons has no municipal government. Congressional Districts. Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) provides public primary and secondary education to Tysons residents. Five FCPS schools are in Tysons: Freedom Hill Elementary School, Joyce Kilmer Middle School, Westbriar Elementary School, Spring Hill Elementary School, and Westgate Elementary School. Resident high school students attend nearby George C.
Interstate 495, the Capital Beltway, runs generally north-south through eastern Tysons. Virginia State Route 267, the east-west Dulles Toll Road, runs along the community's northern border. The I-495/VA 267 interchange is located in the northeastern part of the community. Due to its large daytime population, Tysons experiences high traffic congestion. This has led to plans for denser development, including additional rail infrastructure.
On July 26, 2014, the Washington Metro started offering rapid transit rail service in Tysons via its Silver Line. Metro operates four stations on the line in Tysons; from east to west, these are McLean, Tysons, Greensboro, and Spring Hill.
In February 2017, VDOT began construction on the Jones Branch Connector, a half-mile roadway that crosses Interstate 495 and connects Central and Tysons East and is projected to carry more than 32,000 vehicles per day by 2040. The bridge opened to traffic in 2018, and work was completed in 2020. The connection improved the operations along the adjacent road systems.
| Census Year | Population | Housing Units | Population Density (per square mile) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 19,627 | 10,637 | 4,607.3 |
| 2020 | 26,374 | 14,222 | 6,176.6 |