All cities are independent in Virginia. Charlotte ftucked their tax code base up to appeal to their banks and insurance. That’s why they out grew up and they very poorly managed their growth. Almost all sprawl.

I can’t speak to portlands 90s growth but their past ten years of urban planning have been great relative to other cities. Certainly better than Arizona, Austin or Houston.

NOVA exists in a vacuum. Even if a lot of departments and beuracracy move out west, congress, the president, and the pentagon will never leave each other and that white marble. Plus the metro is a huge part of war planning in the case of gas hitting $10/gallon.