Arlington County

Winner of the first EPA Smart Growth Award and the Coalition for Smarter Growth’s Capital Region Visionary Award, Arlington County is a national leader in transit-oriented development, affordable housing, transit, and street design. Today, Arlington boasts 50 million square feet of transit-oriented development in the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor alone and has done so without increasing traffic. Nearly 40% of trips in this corridor are made by transit, walking, and bicycling.

The County continues to make major investments in transit, bicycle and pedestrian facilities, and affordable housing with a focus on getting the details right and maintaining an inclusive community

Our Work in Arlington, VA

Plan Langston Boulevard

Arlington County is developing a comprehensive vision and policy framework for the future of Langston Boulevard, which is Route 29 and formerly known as Lee Highway. During the spring/summer 2021, the county held listening sessions and walking tours on the preliminary land use scenarios that offered different land use mixes that would enable diverse housing options, enhancements to open space and stormwater management, safer streets and better transit. Community feedback will help inform County staff what concerns and priorities to address as they move to the next phase of developing a Preliminary Concept Plan. Learn more >>>

Image: Arlington County website

Missing Middle Housing Study

Arlington County has initiated a Missing Middle Housing Study to explore how different housing types could help increase the County’s housing supply and diversify the range of housing choices. “Missing middle” refers to the range of housing types that fit between single-family detached homes and mid-to-high-rise apartment buildings. Having different types and sizes of homes helps provide more options at different price points. A phase I report that was just released summarizes the priorities and concerns identified by community feedback, which will be used to determine the housing types to study as part of Phase II. Learn more >>>

Image: Arlington County website

Latest Happening

Arlington’s streetcar is dead. Now what?

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As streetcar projects around the U.S. continue to be a magnet for either giddy anticipation or derision — and often both — officials last month voted to kill one such transit plan just outside of Washington, D.C. After an election last month where a county board member who had campaigned
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Virginia officials consider HOT Lanes on I-66 through Arlington

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It will also be the way the state attacks traffic congestion on I-66 from the Beltway west to Haymarket, as The Washington Post first reported. But adding lane capacity to 66 inside the Beltway has always been a tougher sell because of the opposition of Arlington County.
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Officials to consider road widening, HOT lanes through Arlington portion of I-66

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The state’s plans for an environmental assessment come as transportation officials are also moving forward on improvements outside the Beltway — plans that include building new high-occupancy toll roads in place of HOV lanes, creating space for rail and implementing other traffic-calming measures.
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Virginia to study HOT lanes inside the Beltway

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While HOT lanes in the peak hour merit study along with HOV in both directions and transit, HOT lanes may still lead to too many cars trying to fight their way into D.C. or the Rosslyn-Ballston Corridor. The focus should be on moving the most people at the peak hour, and transit offers the best opportunity to do that
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Guest Commentary: The Fairfax-Arlington streetcar – What’s next?

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Boiled down to its basics, our region and each locality stand between two options –continue auto-dependent growth and try to expand highways and arterial roads to support that growth, or invest to a much greater extent in transit and transit-oriented communities with a focus on redevelopment of commercial corridors
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