Focus Groups: Mixed Reviews

After Two Weeks of Focus Groups on Lake Anne Revitalization, Residents Still Have Many Unanswered Questions.
The Connection Newspapers
By Jason Hartke
June 2, 2005

For Annette Gibson of Lakeview Condominiums near Lake Anne, it was about finding out why Lakeview wasn’t part of the revitalization.
For Jeff Crowe, it was an opportunity to distribute a “vision statement” issued by the Lake Anne Village Advocates, a group he and other Lake Anne residents recently founded, and to listen to views of other residents.
For several others at the final focus group on Lake Anne revitalization last Tuesday, May 24, it was about getting answers only to find out that questions wouldn’t be answered at the event. Instead, the participants’ questions were put up on a message board to be answered later.

THE PROGRAM for the evening focused on getting participants to think about community values that they wanted to see exemplified at Lake Anne and about their vision for the area’s revitalization. The Perspectives Group, a public participation advocacy organization, who conducted the nine focus groups over the last two weeks, asked participants to focus on sharing in these abstract exercises that seemed similar to community brainstorming.
“We’re asking that your voice be heard in this revitalization process,” said Donna Lucas of the Perspectives Group, who directed the session, which was attended by about 60 people.

While the previous eight focus groups targeted particular stake holders in the Lake Anne community — such as merchants, developers, rental residents, and clusters — this meeting was open to the public, held at Lake Anne Elementary.

“I’m pleased there is so much consensus on most things,” said Joe Stowers after both discussions on values and visions.

During the talk on community values, three were heard most often: a sense of community, accessibility and diversity. The talk on vision also had recurring suggestions: an arts movie theater, strong community involvement in the process, the preservation of open space and increased but controlled density.

PATRICK KANE, a community activist who lives near Lake Anne, went to two of the focus groups. Kane found fault in the process in that people didn’t get questions answered. “Who’s in charge here, who’s going to make the decisions?” Kane said, issuing some of the questions that he thought needed to be answered. “I don’t think there was enough education in the process,” he said.

“They should have educated the people a little bit better, which is what I hope they’ll do before the Charrette.” W hile a representative from Supervisor Cathy Hudgins’ office and a representative from the county’s revitalization programs in the Department of Housing and Community Development attended the session, neither answered substantive questions from the audience. Robert E. Simon, founder of Reston and Heron House resident, also attended two of the sessions.

“The process is going to alert quite a few people that something is needed to be done and that is going to be the main product,” Simon said. “I think that it’s really being accepted that what’s needed is more density and more attractive retail.

“Everyone agrees it would be nice to have an art movie theater, but there needs to be more,” Simon said. But he also has doubts that revitalization will get done. “I don’t think this thing is going to happen unless the parking lot that’s owned by several owners is brought under eminent domain because it’s too difficult to get so many owners to agree to anything.”

ONE OF THE merchants in the village center, Susann Gerstein, who has lived in Reston since 1978, is extremely hopeful and optimistic about the process. She attended two focus groups. “I think that this is a strategic part of the process and it will elicit the right kind of development,” she said.

“I think among the merchants, who have been here a long time, we know we will only benefit if more people can walk here and work here,” Gerstein said. “We know more foot traffic down here would be a wonderful thing.”
Others had a more skeptical view.

“I feel the visioning change in the future was an exercise to open us up to change,” said Annette Gibson. “That’s fine as long as it wasn’t an effort to rubber stamp a preset agenda.”

The Charrette, where community members and development experts will come together to hammer out a revitalization concept plan, is scheduled for later in the summer.

©Times Community Newspapers 2005