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Would you like to live in Fairfax County?
Would you? Why or why not?
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16Yes37.50%6No62.50%10Barnarnar0.00%0"The issue is there are still many people out there that use religion as a crutch for bigotry and hate. Like Ben."
Ben Kenobi: "That means I'm doing something right. " -
No -- because it's too expensive and pointlessly bland without anything unique."The issue is there are still many people out there that use religion as a crutch for bigotry and hate. Like Ben."
Ben Kenobi: "That means I'm doing something right. " -
What are the alternatives? If Calgary is the only alternative, yes I'd like to live in Fairfax. If I can live wherever I want, the answer is no.Comment
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No. Virgina roads are terrible and my blood pressure rises several points every time I'm forced to drive through the state.Click here if you're having trouble sleeping.
"We confess our little faults to persuade people that we have no large ones." - François de La RochefoucauldComment
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No, I am happy with Kansas City.
In Kansas City, an Arts Center Makes a Debut
Steve Hebert for The New York Times
The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas City, Mo., was designed by Moshe Safdie.
By A. G. SULZBERGER
Published: September 15, 2011
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — As arts organizations from one coast to the other wrestle with cuts in grants and declines in ticket sales, an ambitious new performing arts center in the middle of the country is defying the trend.
Steve Hebert for The New York Times
The Brandmeyer Great Hall at the center.
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Steve Hebert for The New York Times
The grand opening for the center is set for Sept. 16.
Enlarge This Image
Steve Hebert for The New York Times
Donna Thomason is putting on an event in the new center Nov. 3 and stopped by to get the lay of the land.
The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, a $326 million concrete-and-glass clamshell overlooking downtown, will open Friday. It was designed by the prominent architect Moshe Safdie and paid for with private donations.
The building, people here say, reflects the willingness of Kansas City residents to open their wallets if it means raising the national profile of the city’s arts scene.
The opening, which will include a performance by Plácido Domingo, has captured attention elsewhere, too, given these lean times. Michael M. Kaiser, president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, said the Kansas City structure, with an 1,800-seat theater for the ballet and opera companies and a 1,600-seat concert hall for the symphony, reflected an investment unseen of late in far larger cities.
“At a time when the arts are really challenged to find private funding, and when certainly governments are cutting back funding, to have a city that to most of the rest of the country isn’t known as the arts capital of America put such much emphasis on funding the arts is really unusual,” said Mr. Kaiser, who once led the ballet company here.
The project was seeded more than a decade ago with more than $100 million from the Kauffman family, one of a handful of wealthy local families who continue to exert considerable sway in the affairs of the city.
Though the donations slowed during the recession — 24 of 25 gifts of more than $1 million came before the downturn — community members would occasionally call to reiterate their support. “They would say, ‘I want to give but I have to wait and see,’ ” said Jane Chu, president of the center.
At one point, project leaders considered abandoning plans for two stages in favor of a single, multipurpose theater more common to a city this size, but decided that would compromise too much.
Instead the slowdown left its mark on the building’s final touches — modest ones that allowed it to come in on budget. “We really cut back on frivolous spending and streamlined it immensely,” said Julia I. Kauffman, who has led the project since the death of her mother, who first proposed the building.
Though the center was conceived in something of a boom period for such facilities, only a few such centers have opened in recent years.
“During the recession we saw a slowdown in capital campaigns,” said Randy I. Cohen, vice president of research and policy for Americans for the Arts, a national group. “Either they’ve taken longer, or they’ve been put on hold.”
Putting up the building during hard times without public help — though the city paid for the $47 million parking lot on the grounds — is a point of pride in a city that celebrates its routine standing near the top of lists of most philanthropic cities.
The building has also renewed hopes for a downtown that remains sleepy despite extensive redevelopment, including a new arena.
“This has been a very supportive arts community for a long time,” said Jeffrey J. Bentley, executive director of the ballet company, which just relocated into a $32 million building near the center. “But this is a coming-of-age moment for Kansas City.”
One worry for any new cultural facility now: Will the seats be filled for ballet, opera and symphony performances, or will there be an economic tug toward more lucrative shows? Center leaders say the early results seem promising. The pricey opening gala, with tickets starting at $500, is sold out. Already, they say, season subscriptions have increased substantially.
I just bought a season ticket!No, I did not steal that from somebody on Something Awful.Comment
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Yes, because Virginia is awesome and driving is fine if you live further away from the horribleness that is DC. Tech jobs are plentiful and the schools are the best in the country.
If there is no sound in space, how come you can hear the lasers?
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That happens to me when I drive in Maryland or get stuck behind a Maryland driver elsewhere.Originally posted by Lorizael View PostComment
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Maryland
If there is no sound in space, how come you can hear the lasers?
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Maryland drivers are awful, but at least we maintain our goddamn roads.Click here if you're having trouble sleeping.
"We confess our little faults to persuade people that we have no large ones." - François de La RochefoucauldComment
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We're now fixing our roads, though, since McDonnell passed his transportation plan...
Of course that means there's construction everywhere
If there is no sound in space, how come you can hear the lasers?
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Yeah. See. In Maryland we fix our roads periodically so that you never have construction everywhere.Click here if you're having trouble sleeping.
"We confess our little faults to persuade people that we have no large ones." - François de La RochefoucauldComment
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Well, it'll all be over by the time I graduate, so I won't really have to deal with it.
If there is no sound in space, how come you can hear the lasers?
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Sure it will.
All that aside, I've noticed that Virginia drivers are generally more attractive than their Maryland counterparts, and Virginia also has the closest good FLGS to where I live.Click here if you're having trouble sleeping.
"We confess our little faults to persuade people that we have no large ones." - François de La RochefoucauldComment
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It's a Republican's dream county. Obscene amounts of people work for the government...Originally posted by Hauldren Collider View PostYes, because Virginia is awesome and driving is fine if you live further away from the horribleness that is DC. Tech jobs are plentiful and the schools are the best in the country."The issue is there are still many people out there that use religion as a crutch for bigotry and hate. Like Ben."
Ben Kenobi: "That means I'm doing something right. "Comment
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Why do we need a forum poll? The land prices speak for themselves...Comment
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