Elements of Urbanism: Arlington, VA

[Metro Jacksonville]

Elements of Urbanism: Arlington, VA



Metro Jacksonville explores a transit corridor in community well known for its smart growth development strategies: Arlington, VA.

Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2009-sep-elements-of-urbanism-arlington-va

[Tripoli1711]

I go to DC often and Rosslyn is the place to stay.  Plenty around the area, a walk over the Key Bridge to Georgetown and easy access to anywhere in DC from the Metro.  Although traffic is usually a nightmare in Arlington and Northern Virginia on the whole, you can do just fine for yourself leaving your vehicle in the garage. 

[Captain Zissou]

Those unique Arlington facts seem to beat jacksonville pretty badly.  35% with a grad degree??? What's our percentage with undergrad degrees??

Somebody should take that sign about the apartments on the orange line and post it all over city hall and JTA. 

[copperfiend]

Why are there tables and chairs on the sidewalk?

-Jacksonville City Council

[Traveller]

You almost need a graduate or professional degree to afford to live in north Arlington.  One bedroom apartments were over $1000/mo. when I lived there over a decade ago.  It's probably closer to $1500/mo. today for a 1BR, over $2000/mo. for a 2BR, for anything within walking distance of a Metro station.  Those Archstone apartments from the sign are even more.

[heights unknown]

Nice looking city, especially the pics of downtown.  Seems to be clean, upscale, well educated populace that resides in Arlington.  Jax and Arlington have very little in common, but I believe that Jax can learn quite a bit from Arlington.

Heights Unknown

[stjr]

- In 2005, Arlington was ranked first among walkable cities in the United States by the American Podiatric Medical Association.

I would have to question this conclusion based on your pictures.  My idea of the ultimate walkable is NYC, Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco, Washington, Chicago, or other great downtowns.  Not many people on the street on what appears to be a perfect day weather-wise speaks volumes.  The aerial map also shows the lack of a grid pattern making walking one block to another appear awkward. 

This area, per your pictures, mostly comes across as an uninspired, cold, concrete infested environment with people holed up in inauspicious structures for work and living and a few token trees dropped in.  Where are their parks?  And, I didn't see any historic or old buildings either which makes it look even more devoid of anything special (is anyone listening at City Hall in Jax?!).  Also, not many storefronts visible in front of most structures.  The streets themselves, as pictured, looked built for speeding through to somewhere else, not taking in the area's amenities, whatever they may be.  Most of the architecture lacks personality and warmth and I would project that on the community.  This could be "Anywhere, USA."

I bet outside of work, most of the residents are recreating somewhere else.  They live here during the week to avoid long commutes.  The Metro is their savior although I thought I could pick out more than a few ugly parking garages lurking amongst the buildings.

I give them credit for having clean and well cared for streets and sidewalks.  We should raise our standards here.

I have visited the DC area many times, and there are some beautiful areas.  But, much of the Virginia suburbs have been overrun by a tidal wave of people flowing out of DC and were developed way too quickly to properly digest it all.  Drive out another 40 to 50 miles to see the worst in urban sprawl.

I think Silver Springs, Bethesda, and some other areas in Maryland came out better.  Maybe Alexandria in Virginia.  Vienna, as I recall, is like Arlington, full of towers built in the last 20 years.

The area is expensive because it's all high level, well paid government workers who never get laid off (hence, low unemployment).  No one is insanely rich (except the lawyer lobbyists), but no one is especially poor either.  Think of this as the "corporate headquarters" of the U.S. Government, i.e. a company town.

Not a bad place to live maybe, but not where I would chose, given a choice.  I hope Jax doesn't follow this model to the future.

[thelakelander]

Well Arlington is a suburb.  Its not even a municipality.  The area these images were taken in resembled what Emerson and Baymeadows are today, when the Metro's Orange Line was completed.  I don't the idea is that our DT or urban core neighborhoods should be designed in this manner.  However, this is a huge step up from what exists in suburban Jacksonville.   Arlington is a perfect example of a suburb that found a way to integrate high density development and transit, while preserving established single family dominated neighborhoods. 

Personally, I'd be thrilled if a Philips Highway, Beach Blvd or River City Marketplace area could look something like this a decade or two down the road, once real transit is put into place.

[thelakelander]

Btw, when I say "look like this", I'm really referring to the successful development of pedestrian and transit friendly design.  Not actual building architectural design.

[stjr]

Lake, give me a hundred San Marcos, 5 Points, Springfields, Avondales, Riversides, etc. instead.  No reason we can't duplicate those "town center" models instead.  Perhaps, MetroJax should do some stories on the "suburban" cities between and/or around San Francisco and San Jose for inspiration.  Like Mountain View, Los Altos, Saratoga, Los Gatos, Sausalito,  etc.

[stjr]

Btw, when I say "look like this", I'm really referring to the successful development of pedestrian and transit friendly design.  Not actual building architectural design.

Yes, its walkable - they have nice clean, well maintained sidewalks.  But, where are they walking to?  The Metro and nowhere else?  And, what engagement do they experience during the walk?  Brick walls and shiny glass windows reflecting like mirrors?  It looks to me to be a half baked solution.  I think I could do better.  Put me in charge! 

[thelakelander]

Los Altos - incorporated in 1952.  Most growth occurred from the 50s to 80s (30 year period, but did not have to completely redevelop established sprawl).

Saratoga Springs - incorporated as a city in 1915.

Los Gatos -incorporated in 1887.  engulfed by San Jose's growth by 1950, but built out by 1980.

Sausalito - developed since the 1800s.

I think you may be missing the overall point, which is the successful integration of higher density pedestrian friendly new development around transit stations that were built in a place historically known for its cul-de-sac streets and single family residences moreso than historic structures / environments that exist in some of the established bedroom communities mentioned above.  I think a closer comparison to the places you mention is Alexandria, which will be highlighted in this series in October.  While the physical architecture could be better, the idea of densifying with mixed use development around transit stations applies to both concepts (except the older places already have decent density which is an asset they bring to the table that the Arlington environment did not).

I don't think you can duplicate a San Marco, a Riverside or Springfield "organically" in the middle of sprawling node like the intersection of Baymeadows and Philips or Philips and Emerson overnight.  Those neighborhoods are 100 years in the making.  With that said, this does not mean we can't have the type of environments you describe in areas like Durkeeville, the Eastside, Murray Hill, St. Nicholas, etc. where decent fabric is already in place.  

[thelakelander]

Btw, when I say "look like this", I'm really referring to the successful development of pedestrian and transit friendly design.  Not actual building architectural design.

Yes, its walkable - they have nice clean, well maintained sidewalks.  But, where are they walking to?  The Metro and nowhere else?

Its a transit corridor that has developed in the middle of preserved single family residential districts.  So the metro does draw traffic.  However, these nodes have a good deal of retail, restaurants and interior park spaces.  The spot we were in had a movie theater, underground parking, a hotel, a condo building, restaurants, an interior pedestrian promenade (linear park), a CVS, and a couple of office buildings all on the same mega block.  All of this was across the street from the courthouse metro station.  The street between this development and the metro stop was closed off for a weekend farmer's market.

So my guess is that those residents living in those established single family neighborhoods are walking and biking to the nearest commercial node (which happens to be around the metro stops) for many of their needs.  Here, depending on where you are at, you're driving a couple of miles in multiple directions for the same services.

And, what engagement do they experience during the walk?

In Rosslyn, its a verticle office park. However, in Courthouse and Clarendon, the engagement is retail shops, bars, grocery stores, urban central parks, shaded sidewalks in residential areas, etc.  Ballston felt more like Rosslyn.

Brick walls and shiny glass windows reflecting like mirrors?  It looks to me to be a half baked solution.  I think I could do better.  Put me in charge!  [/b]

Architecturally, I agree.  However, in terms of density and pedestrian friendly design at street level, I'd say the opposite.  Especially around Courthouse the Clarendon stations.

[stjr]

I brought up the California towns because most of what's there came well after they were founded and yet they preserved and expanded upon what they started with.  They didn't cave in to blah "suburban architecture" but rather made the area conform to what was already started.  On the other hand, it looks like modern suburban totally consumed Arlington.

Lake, what I am trying to say is that when going into an area and either (a) building it anew or (b) radically transforming it by overwhelming it with new development that changes the character of the area totally (as, I suggest, appears to be the case here in Arlington), the opportunity should be exploited to "create" town centers a la these older, proven, sustainable models.  There is nothing to say we can't continue to build today such town centers, we just need to commit to it.  They are just as viable an alternative as anything else pictured in your pictorials.  It doesn't take a 100 years to establish them, just good planning, vision, and execution.  People don't care if the town center is 1 year or 100 years old, but rather about its character and functionality.  We can create that at will if we chose to.  Many of the vibrant downtowns you have featured prove this.

If we don't build these town centers today, in 100 years people will still be saying, oh, it's not 200 years old, so it can't be done?  How to get off the treadmill turning out the Arlingtons of the world?  By changing models now!

[stjr]

Its a transit corridor that has developed in the middle of preserved single family residential districts.  So the metro does draw traffic.  However, these nodes have a good deal of retail, restaurants and interior park spaces.  The spot we were in had a movie theater, underground parking, a hotel, a condo building, restaurants, an interior pedestrian promenade (linear park), a CVS, and a couple of office buildings all on the same mega block.  All of this was across the street from the courthouse metro station.  The street between this development and the metro stop was closed off for a weekend farmer's market.

So my guess is that those residents living in those established single family neighborhoods are walking and biking to the nearest commercial node (which happens to be around the metro stops) for many of their needs.  Here, depending on where you are at, you're driving a couple of miles in multiple directions for the same services.

In Rosslyn, its a verticle office park. However, in Courthouse and Clarendon, the engagement is retail shops, bars, grocery stores, urban central parks, shaded sidewalks in residential areas, etc.  Ballston felt more like Rosslyn.

Lake, you were there, I wasn't so you have the upper hand and I will take your word.  I don't think the pictures fully reflect your experience per your comments above and the pix are what I had to rely on aside from my memories last I traveled these parts.

Regardless, I think there is plenty of room for improvement and suggest, if we could, to strive for a higher standard here when given the opportunity.

Thanks for showing us all these studies as they do offer us a full menu of outcomes to select the best from.