
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, August 9, 1993                   TAG: 9308090086
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

BOOM DAYS OVER, N. VIRGINIA ADJUSTS TO NEW IDENTITY

Northern Virginia, once celebrated as a chic symbol of 1980s prosperity, has been sobered by the recession's lasting effects, civic leaders say.

Although business leaders say the region's economy shows signs of improvement, signs of tougher times are everywhere.

The Galleria at Tysons II, intended as a citadel of suburban opulence, feels drafty and deserted, while a Price Club a few miles away is going like gangbusters. George Mason University, which had become famous for hiring big-name faculty members such as failed Supreme Court nominees Robert Bork and Douglas Ginsburg, has been hammered with state funding cuts totaling 20 percent of its budget.

New Dominion, a magazine launched in 1986 to celebrate the arrival of glamour and glitz, has disappeared. And the Fairfax Symphony, once pointed to as proof that the suburbs had just as much culture and sophistication as the city, has laid off violinists.

"The frontier days are probably gone forever," said developer John Hazel, an architect of the area's go-go days. "In the last two or three years, it's been impossible to have fun."

In the '80s, Northern Virginia declared its independence from an indifferent national capital to the north and a suspicious Virginia establishment to the south. This "New Dominion," they vowed, would have its own business hubs, first-class restaurants and charities.

"It's still a `New Dominion,' but not of the epic scope and glamorous trappings that were envisioned," said Thomas Grubisich, who publishes a chain of small newspapers in Northern Virginia. "It's a sea change of attitude."

Some changes wrought by the '80s boom, however, will be permanent. Dulles International Airport, once a white elephant, is now a major transportation hub.

Northern Virginia, once known as a bedroom community for federal workers, has a significant corporate presence with companies such as Mobil Corp. The area's per capita income and education levels remain in the first rank nationally.

But these days, even Northern Virginia's most ardent boosters say an era of diminished expectations has arrived.

Linda Wright, for example, was president of a bank in Reston and president of the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce. Wright lost her job when her bank was taken over by an out-of-town company. Unemployed for a year before taking a job in public relations, she says many people have lost their exuberance about the region.

"When somebody's running really fast and they get whacked, they look up to see what hit them," Wright said.

by CNB