Arlington, Virginia: The Neighborhood in Which I Grew Up

It is very difficult to categorize Arlington, Virginia either as a traditional neighborhood or as a sprawl because it is mixed of both. What I mean by that is I can access some groceries stores by walking five minutes just like I can go to Publix and get some groceries. However, if I want to get clothes or appliances, I will definitely need to have a car. Because Arlington is so close to Washington D.C., it is part of D.C. Metropolitan area and of course, there is more public transportation than the suburb. The Metro (same as Marta here) is a very convenient tool to get to D.C.; however, there are still plenty of people drive their cars to work. The rush hour period is long and hideous. Believe it or not, the rush hour starts at 2pm. The ethnicity and income level are pretty diverse in my neighborhood, but there is still not a very strong sense of community. Maybe it is because of lack of public space in my neighborhood. So, it is hard to make Arlington fit into either categories defined by the Suburban Nation or Blueprint America.



Here below is a video I found on YouTube. It shows that one have access to lots of activities around Arlington without driving in a car. At the beginning of the video, you can see that it is very easy to gain access to subways. Offices are above stores and restaurants that are on the first floor. There are also not too much traffic on the roads during most of the day. However, during rush hour, there definitely will be at least 4 times the traffic. :(



Even though my neighborhood is sort of in the middle, I have seen both sprawl and traditional neighborhood not far away for my neighborhood. In D.C., the Dupont Circle is a great example of traditional neighborhood. The circle itself is a public green space and many people can choose to relax there. The streets are designed in rows and columns to ensure that there are multiple ways to get to the destination. Almost all buildings are multipurpose: work or residential on top and commercial shops on the bottom. On the other hand, ten miles away from D.C., sprawling is everywhere. I saw this work park for Verizon. The parking lot is five times the size of the building and I guarantee you that the building takes more space than a stadium. Houses around the beltway are pretty much all identical and one could hardly get around without a car, exactly like what is described in Suburban Nation.


~Sheng Zhao