Posts about ArlingtonRSS
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Join us for happy hour in Crystal City next month!
Let’s ring in summer with the next Greater Greater happy hour. Join us at Highline RxR in Crystal City on Tuesday, July 11 from 6 to 8 pm Keep reading…
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DCST will work on bus priority and routes, curbside management, and autonomous vehicles
Greater Greater Washington has teamed up with the organization DCST to advocate for better transportation in DC (and Rosslyn). I can now announce what we're going to be working on: Making buses great, streamlining the curbside usage in business districts, and planning for new technologies of the future, such as autonomous vehicles. I'm excited about it! Keep reading…
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Arlington needs a new high school. Where should it go?
Arlington County is looking for a location to build a new public high school, and the search is now down to three sites. But if an effort to grant historic status to a complex of buildings near Washington-Lee High School succeeds, the plans might come off the rails. Keep reading…
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The Mount Vernon Trail is now a little safer by Roosevelt Island
There's a new crossing where the Mount Vernon Trail passes through the parking lot for Roosevelt Island, which sits between Rosslyn and Foggy Bottom. The trail crosses the lot at a smoother angle, and there's a large speed bump that both slows drivers and keeps the trail level. Keep reading…
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Arlington banned rowhouses in 1938. We’re suffering the consequences now.
The Washington region's dramatic undersupply of missing middle housing is a serious problem. One reason it's so severe: Arlington once banned rowhouses trying to preserve its suburban character. Keep reading…
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The circle of migration: How people move around our region
While DC residents arrive from and depart to places all over the world, most of its domestic migration is very local: Prince George’s County, Montgomery County, Arlington County, Fairfax County, and Alexandria are the top five places within the US that DC residents move to and from. Keep reading…
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For Arlington County Board: Erik Gutshall
Four candidates are seeking the Democratic nomination for the Arlington County Board to succeed Jay Fisette, who is retiring this year. We encourage Arlington Democrats to nominate Erik Gutshall at the "firehouse primary" in early May. Keep reading…
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Arlington may scrap new bike lanes on Washington Boulevard
Arlington had plans to repave Washington Boulevard and add almost a mile of bike lanes from the East Falls Church Metro to the Westover neighborhood. Now, to save some parking spaces and appease a vocal minority, the county has determined that putting people on bikes at risk is a fair compromise. Keep reading…
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Arlington will likely require less parking near Metro stations
Currently, new residential developments near Metro stations in Arlington have to come with a certain amount of parking. The amount required, however, could soon drop, a move that reflects a growing understanding of how excess parking promotes urban sprawl and traffic congestion and drives up housing prices. Keep reading…
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Not all trails are created equal. Here’s how to tell the gold standard from the imitators
Trails are a huge part of ensuring that walking and riding a bike are among a person's transportation options. But when it comes to building them across our region's many jurisdictions, whether or not they’re safe and inviting can really vary. A set of criteria like those in this post could change that. Keep reading…
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Bogota has a world-renowned BRT system. What would it take to replicate it?
Bogota’s TransMilenio Bus Rapid Transit system, which opened in 2000, is one of the largest and most heavily used in the world. In fact, the United States government even looked at how to mimic it. Creating a high-quality BRT system here is possible— it’d just require quite a bit of political will. Keep reading…
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Why Alexandria has far fewer food trucks than DC, Arlington, and Fairfax
If you step out for lunch in a dense part of DC or Arlington, there’s a good chance one of your options will be a food truck. In Alexandria, not so much. That’s because there are tight restrictions on where trucks can do business and permits cost a lot more than in most other places around the region. Keep reading…
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It’s part streetcar, part bus, and it ran in Arlington and Fairfax in the 1930s
The Rosslyn-Ballston corridor is a famous example of early transit-oriented development because of the Orange Line, but the area was home to an innovative transit experiment long before Metro. From 1936 through 1939, a streetcar-bus hybrid provided service from the City of Fairfax to Rosslyn and into DC. Keep reading…
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Local (and federal) governments want you to go sledding!
Last year, for the first time in a long while, government officials started actually encouraging (or at least tacitly allowing) area residents to have some winter fun on hills that were previously off limits to unsanctioned sledding. Check out our list of the best hills to hit while there's still snow on the ground. Keep reading…
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Don’t want to venture outdoors? Take cover in one of these indoor shortcuts.
Stepping off Metro and want to avoid chilly winter winds — or scorching summer humidity — for a few more moments? There might be an indoor shortcut along your route that could shave some distance off your walk, or at least let you enjoy a few moments of extra climate-control en route. Keep reading…
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Here’s how immigrants contribute to Virginia and Maryland’s workforces
Like DC, Virginia and Maryland have a huge number of maids, painters, and taxi drivers born outside of the US. But Virginia also has a large number of computer programmers who weren’t born here, and in Maryland, that’s the case for a lot of medical scientists. These graphs show which jobs in Virginia and Maryland have the most immigrants. Keep reading…
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As Pentagon City becomes more urban, its streets need to keep pace
Pentagon City in south Arlington has experienced a lot of development in the past few years, and there’s more growth coming. That means new challenges when it comes to being a place where walking is safe and easy. Keep reading…
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Thanks to good planning, Arlington is building over 200 new affordable housing units
Arlington has set ambitious goals to tackle housing affordability, in part by making it easier for developers to build affordable housing in the first place. According to a recent report, Arlington made plans for new affordable units and brought its number of homeless residents down last year even as rents and housing costs went up. Keep reading…
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Make DC part of Maryland? Most GGWash contributors don’t like the idea.
Social media and local blogs exploded last week when Utah Representative Jason Chaffetz said he was "exploring" returning a portion of DC to the state of Maryland. Some GGWash contributors like the idea of more consolidated regional planning as well as real congressional representation for the District, but others aren't so into the thought of setting aside the dream of home rule in order to become a Maryland municipality. Keep reading…
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Let’s cover blank walls with public murals
One of the most basic tenets of good urban design is that walkways should be lined with things to look at. So, given that, why do we accept so many blank spaces in our cities? Keep reading…
