Why I support Winsome Sears: Helping ROVA
For many years, the Rest of Virginia has been ignored in favor of Richmond and Northern Virginia. Such a state of affairs has led to a divide in the state.
Virginia before the 1950s was a rural state by its nature. It was a state that was founded in the reign of King James I and was largely about shipping tobacco. Many of these cities were built in a time where river transport was more important than land transport. As Virginia built the railways, places such as Manassas became more important. When I-66 right near Manassas, the town continued to grow, though its original character has been obscured by sprawl and suburban constructions. This meant that many "cities" in Virginia, especially those in those counties near the Chesapeake are so sleepy and disconnected from the rest of the state. The areas along I-81 and I-95 excluding the capital are not much better.
Virginia was state defined by small towns not its cities. None of these cities had the stature of Philadelphia or Boston. Richmond was the only really major city other than maybe Alexandria.
When the Civil War began, Virginia was a rural state filled with subsistence farmers who often had access to towns which were laid on railway tracks. This was a rural society at the cutting edge of transportation tech.
However, after the Civil War, Virginia would lag greatly in the development of cities. When one looks at Virginia today, one sees a marked difference between this state and North Carolina. Northern Virginia, while urban, is more of suburban sprawl surrounding the previously small cities that were peppered across the region. You can clearly see this with Manassas. In the past, this town was small for many years, then the suburbanization hit. The Manassas that one sees from I-66 is not the actual town. That town is located a couple more miles east of the highway. However, one wouldn't be able to know that without taking an exit and going through sprawl before getting to the town proper. Even Manassas Park, which is near Manassas, is hidden by all the sprawl that has built over the years.
When you look all around Northern Virginia, that is the scene that you see, repeated in many places. Herndon, the town core is surrounded by suburban sprawl. Same thing with the city of Fairfax which is in the center of a county with a huge population. The elitism that informs places such as Mclean is one of the reasons Prince William County is more tolerable of a place as it is not so urban mixing with this suburban sprawl moving around everywhere. Even though there is alot of sprawl in Prince William County, it is more manageable in comparison with other areas in the region. Winsome Sears needs to able to speak to these voters just in the way that Glenn Youngkin was able to successfully achieve in his campaign.
There is a community there, but it does not the organic construction that really makes it feel like its own. It has more in common with Celebration in Florida than anything Virginian or Southern. When you walk along the Promenade, it feels more like an amusement park than an actual downtown area. Another thing that you to consider is that the "Promenade" is surrounded by a sea of parking lots. I rarely see anyone walking towards the Promenade from local communities. While the place is walkable, it is mostly as a luxury rather than something that feels organic here.
Such constructions in Northern Virginia are why the divide between NOVA and ROVA is so strong. Bridging that gap will make Virginia a much better state.
When I went to Strasburg, Virginia in December 2024, I saw a place that was filled with effort to make the town have life. Unlike in the exurbs or lucky villages like Haymarket, there is concerted attempt in Strasburg to make the town have its own identity beyond just being a vassal state to Northern Virginia.
Winsome Sears should focus on making Virginia be more holistic in its economy and culture. |Northern Virginia should not be dominating the whole state. While Virginians may pride in ROVA that they have kept their small towns intact, they have to be pragmatic and allow for new economies to come to fruition. Aspects that they should be trying to encourage is more training in digital technologies. Instead of just treating like symbols of consumption, they should be encouraging citizens to create not just watch things on Netflix or any other site.
Winsome Sears is not beholden to the government elites. Those same elites got rich during the War on Terror and have been controlling Virginia's politics for many years. I believe that Republicans have the opportunity to change this situation and make Virginia a much more prosperous state.
What we need to achieve is bring some economic growth back to ROVA. It should not just be places in Richmond, or Northern Virginia getting all the attention. Small does not mean inefficient or not worth maintaining. I see more character in these small places than in many places in Northern Virginia.
It's time to bring respect back to these places again and make Virginia a holistic state.
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