Center for Global Development : Initiatives: Active: Commitment. Street Design Manual. The American Prospect. Leesburg, Virginia, is the archetypal American exurb.
Named after an ancestor of Robert E. Lee, it is the seat of Loudoun County, 35 miles northwest of Washington, D.C. -- the farthest true suburb west of Washington. To its west are small towns and a few remaining farms; to its east are highways lined with chain hotels, mega-malls, and the office towers of the defense contractors powering the recent growth in Northern Virginia's economy and population.
In 2004, Loudoun was the nation's fastest-growing county, and median home prices were rising by about one-fifth every year. In 1990, Leesburg had only 16,000 people. An Interview with Enjoy Banking. For months, I’ve been spotting countless friendly and ironic stickers popping up across the city’s art-friendly zones.
These cutesy bubble-lettered slogans scream “Enjoy Subprime Lending,” “Enjoy Credit Crunch,” “Enjoy Bailout Package,” “Enjoy Golden Parachutes,” or some other economic absurdity that has become all too common in our daily newspeak. I was very intrigued by the idea that the streets of New York are being used as an arena for economic discussion. While it’s a truism that everything is about money–and I’m really not trying to be cynical–this direct debate (as opposed to the coded one we are accustomed to) is unusual for the street, where ambiguity often reigns. It also was quite refreshing to see street art being used so cleverly to do what it does best—the institutional critique. According to the organizers, “EnjoyBanking is a multimedia art + in4mation campaign responding to the changing economic landscape.”