Virginia

Northern Virginia is an economic engine and with smart investments in walkable, inclusive, transit-oriented communities, the region can continue to thrive while reducing traffic and saving open space.

That’s why we support transit communities, revitalization of aging commercial corridors, and transit investments in Fairfax, Arlington, Alexandria, Loudoun, and Prince William.

Yet, some still push for a return to 1950s-style development and an outer beltway that will gobble-up farms and forests, and divert resources from existing transportation needs. That’s why we must also fight for reform in transportation policies at the state level and encourage smart growth policies statewide.

Latest Happenings


Vihstadt victory could signal sea change in Arlington politics

|
The shockwaves around the re-election of John Vihstadt to the Arlington County Board last night continue to reverberate today, with many around Arlington wondering if the county is about to undergo a major policy shift. “The streetcar is dead,” local political blogger and strategist Ben Tribbett told ARLnow.com last night

Arlington cancels Columbia Pike streetcar project

|
"Arlington's proven smart growth track record had given us confidence in their analysis and ability to create a great transit corridor. The streetcar's ridership capacity was integral to the plan to use density bonuses to preserve thousands of units of affordable housing."

With streetcar dead, Arlington ponders: What’s next?

|
Whatever happens on Columbia Pike, both sides agree that it needs to happen soon. In the next 30 years, county leaders say, 65 percent of Arlington's population growth will be along Columbia Pike and Route One -- the two areas where the streetcar lines have now been cancelled.

Arlington County Board cancels streetcar; Fisette cites “political realities”

|
The proposed streetcar would have run a 7.4 mile path between Fairfax County and Arlington, much of it along Columbia Pike in Arlington. The route was estimated to cost between $250 million and $400 million. “The Coalition of Smarter Growth is disappointed by the Arlington Board’s decision,” said Stewart Schwartz, executive director of the group, in a statement following the announcement, “but far more so by the deeply negative and frequently inaccurate campaign against the streetcar.”

For Fisette and Hynes, streetcar vote was painful but necessary

|
The Coalition for Smarter Growth, which backed the project, trained its anger not so much on Fisette and Hynes as on “the deeply negative, and frequently inaccurate, campaign” by opponents. “Failure to invest in modern, high-capacity transit will mean more traffic and less economic development,” the group said in a statement.