Fairfax Thinks Natural Grass is Greener

FairfaxTimes editors read the Montgomery County Report on artificial turf and concluded that natural grass was a better option. Apparently these editors can do the math. 

Fairfaxtimes.com:  Grass is always greener

...In fact, keeping up with our current stock might prove challenging. According to Fairfax County Park Authority estimates, the county will need to replace about three of its current fields per year, at a cost of about $400,000 per field, beginning next summer.
Last month, Montgomery County, Md., released a report on issues related to athletic field maintenance and concluded turf fields require about $10,000 in annual maintenance while their natural grass counterparts need $25,000. When the $400,000 field replacement costs are factored in, grass is a better fiscal option -- $550,000 ($400,000 replacement plus $100,000 maintenance) per decade as opposed to $250,000 (maintenance).
So where are we going with all this?
Perhaps it's time to view the county's other 774 fields -- the ones with real grass, dirt and divots -- in a different light. Ten years ago, hundreds of thousands of games were played in Fairfax County on fields that had to be cut by lawnmowers and watered with sprinklers. Not one lacrosse coach or youth soccer director in Northern Virginia threatened to cancel a game or pull the plug on a tournament because it was being played on real grass...