Arlington Exploding with Construction
-
11/27/2015
Here in cozy Northwest Arlington, about a third of the homes have been bulldozed in the last ten years -- and reincarnated as "McMansions." These teardowns are escalating. Houses once 2,000 sq. ft. are becoming 5,000 sq ft. Their whole-house vacuum systems, heat pumps, grease fans, blinding security and architectural lighting, and sheer height and girth, make them scary neighbors. Schools are bursting, their athletic fields littered with portable classrooms. New schools can't be built fast enough. Massive road projects and other construction ringing and bisecting Arlington, occur 24/7 -- and traffic is only getting worse. There's gridlock in the Lee-Harrison shopping center now, where ten years ago, its large parking lot was more empty than full. The Metro has added the Silver Line. Noise from the trains and mounting traffic are becoming a din.
The Rosslyn-to-Ballston metro corridor is becoming more and more lined with condos towers averaging about 22 stories, creating a relatively energetic, successful urban village, where the goal is for people to be able to work, live, and shop without being reliant on the automobile, which has, heretofore, dominated life in Arlington. If you're young and coming up, Arlington can be a great place. If you've lived here 20 years in a small house on a small lot, albeit in a nice neighborhood, you may be getting really sick and tired of the endless construction, no matter where you go -- for Arlington is one of just dozens of localities that comprise the exploding (with construction) Northern Virginia area. The beauty and charm of DC and its suburbs has been tainted by incessant construction, increasingly affluent, over-educated, competitive, entitled go-getters. The incidence of lame, insipid, even nasty, vanity license plates must be way near the top of the charts. Things like, "MyBeemer," and "EnvyHer." There are many good people here and some clever pleasant vanity plates. You'll be sitting in so much traffic that you'll be seeing tons, and tons of license plates, unless you do what the county government hopes and buy a condo along the metro corridor and walk to work, stores, and attractions. Tremendous arts and culture and beauty available. Your experience may vary.
james | Arlington, VA