Honorary name proposed for Annandale’s main street
Mason District Supervisor Andres Jimenez has scheduled two community meetings on a proposal to designate a portion of Little River Turnpike as Gangnam Street.
The name would be purely honorary; it would not change residential or business addresses and would not be recognized by the Post Office. If approved, Gangnam Street would run from Evergreen Road to Hummer Road.
The first meeting will be held Jan. 30 at 6 p.m. at the Mason Government Center. Another meeting is scheduled for Feb. 5, 6 p.m., at the office of the Korean American Association of Greater Washington, 7004 Little River Turnpike, Suite L.
After the community feedback process, and if the community supports the renaming, the proposal will be submitted to the Virginia and Fairfax County transportation departments, says Olivia Logan of Jimenez’ staff. VDOT and FCDOT will determine where to place the street signs.
The new name, proposed by the Korean American Association of Greater Washington (KAAGW), would reflect the Gangnam district of Seoul, Korea, an area full of stylish young people, luxury stores, modern buildings, and big companies. The area was made famous by the 2012 megahit “Gangnam Style.”
More than half the commercial properties along Little River Turnpike are owned by Korean-Americans, says KAAGW President Steve Lee. “The new street name will recognize the contributions of Koreans since the 1980s and encourage them to do more.”
Related story: Koreans made Annandale unique
“We’ve been here long enough. We need to do better for our sake and for the community we live in,” Lee says. “The ultimate goal for us – Korean Americans – is to promote Annandale more. We hope this will help.”
Anna Ko, KAAGW executive vice president says Ko says renaming Little River Turnpike for Gangnam will draw more people to local restaurants, spark economic growth, and help revitalize the area.
In a related story, the City of Falls Church held a ceremony Jan. 22 for the renaming of a section of Wilson Boulevard in front of the Eden Center as Saigon Boulevard.
The renaming, a longtime priority of the Viet Place Collective recognizes the social, economic, and cultural impact of the Vietnamese community.
Related story: Falls Church section of Wilson Blvd. to be designated Saigon Blvd.
4 responses to “Honorary name proposed for Annandale’s main street”
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Wish Jimenez would concentrate on reducing Crime, improving schools and lowering taxes – that said – full support Gangnam name change. South Korea is a great ally and having served multiple tours in South Korea the Korean community of Mason have been great for the area and the Country – and love their culture.
Please do something actually useful for this community.
As an American with who happens to be from
Both full fledged Korean parents, and a business owner in Annandale. Please don’t.
Rather spend more time and resource in reducing crime. Ex. Stronger penalties for shoplifting and credit card fraud.
How about vacuuming up the leaves and enforcing code violations and traffic laws?