Apparently the scientific community is up in arms about the notion, story here. Note that my home town, Arlington Virginia is the current home of AFOSR. Interestingly NSF is apparently leaving their current HQ in Arlington for a further out location in Alexandria in several years. Might DARPA and ONR be next?
So I think the real story is about the nexus of these current federal research agencies dispersing. For years, they’ve essentially been ‘across the street’ from one another. Arlington has thrived, and many universities (including my own) have presences in Arlington to be close to the action.
Discoverers and Discoveries 