HomeDiagramsDatabaseMapsForum About
     

Go Back   SkyscraperPage Forum > Photography Forums > My City Photos


Reply

 
Thread Tools Display Modes
     
     
  #21  
Old Posted Mar 24, 2014, 7:16 PM
anonymoose anonymoose is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Tampa, FL
Posts: 10
Quote:
Originally Posted by 202_Cyclist View Post
You omitted to mention El Pollo Rico (http://www.elpolloricorestaurant.com/menu.html), one of the best restaurant deals in the entire Rosslyn-Ballston corridor. When you exit the Virginia Square metro station, it almost immediately smells like pollo a la brasa!
Also try Crisp & Juicy on Lee Hwy. Heavenly.

http://crispjuicy.com/
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #22  
Old Posted Mar 25, 2014, 2:25 PM
Cirrus's Avatar
Cirrus Cirrus is offline
cities|transit|croissants
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Washington, DC
Posts: 18,344
Thanks for this thread. Nobody would argue the R-B corridor's urbanism is as great as 19th Century cities', but I can't think of any better model for urbanizing suburbs in America. And as we get better at understanding good urban design, so do the projects in R-B get better as well.

A few specific notes on your comments:

Quote:
Humans!!! Ballston's pedestrian activity is still somewhat sporadic. Mostly people going to the mall or transferring at a bus stop. Not a lot of “third space” activity... See..A lovely “urban” style park, but not a lot of urban activity.. no people hanging out, no musicians, no vendors, etc.
There's an arts & crafts market in the square every weekend during the warm months, and almost always multiple sidewalk vendors on Stuart Street (the one with the bus stops) and in the square with the Metro station entrance. The rest of Ballston I agree is lacking, both because too much of the retail is bottled up in the mall and because the sidewalk retail that does exist is not designed well, but Stuart Street is pretty solid most of the time.

Quote:
The urban zone really only extends about a quarter mile from the Metro stations then it’s back to streetcar suburbia (tightly packed SFHs and low-rise Garden Apartments). It’s moderately dense due to the large number of garden style apartments, and much better than ex-urban cul-de-sacs, but still basically suburban... McMansionization is alive and well along the corridor. Personally, I would like to see the SFHs replaced by townhouses or multi-unit SHFs, but the zoning only allows for million dollar SFHs as replacements.
This is intentional and is actually really important. A clear division between the developable land and the protected single-family neighborhoods was absolutely essential to getting community buy-in for the high-density redevelopment. Without that agreement, NIMBYism wouldn've torpedoed the whole thing. This was a necessary trade-off to get the high-rises built.

Also key to point out these neighborhoods are on a grid. They're streetcar suburban, just like Tenleytown or Brookland DC, or Chicago's massive bungalow belt.

Quote:
Virginia Square. In all honestly, this just feels like an auxiliary stop for Ballston.
Agreed. I've always thought of it that way.

Quote:
Pseudo-industrial lofts…complete with appropriated NYC names: the Mercer and the Wooster, respectively. Personally, I think they look pretty good. I just hate the side yards. I guess a bow to the reality that this is not in fact a cool old warehouse district.
The story behind those buildings is really interesting. Because of unusual state laws in Virginia, the best way for Arlington to zone the R-B corridor to allow relatively low density stuff "by right," but give huge bonuses granting much more density in exchange for developers agreeing to pay for sidewalk improvements, transit, etc. Because you get so much more density, nearly every developer wants to the do the bonus. The industrial looking buildings you see with the large setbacks are some of the only ones that were built "by right." Thus the setbacks and otherwise poor urbanism, which under "normal" circumstances would be negotiated out by the county.
__________________
writing | twitter | flickr | instagram | ssp photo threads
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #23  
Old Posted Mar 27, 2014, 7:58 PM
Cirrus's Avatar
Cirrus Cirrus is offline
cities|transit|croissants
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Washington, DC
Posts: 18,344
Quote:
Originally Posted by OP
Maybe someday there will be a neo-Flatiron Building rip off, but for now a drive through Wendy’s will have to do.
Speak of the devil.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ArlNow
Office Building Planned to Replace Courthouse Wendy’s
http://www.arlnow.com/2014/03/27/off...thouse-wendys/

The Wendy’s fast food restaurant at the intersection of N. Courthouse Road, Wilson Blvd and Clarendon Blvd appears likely to be replaced by a 12-story office building in the coming years.

Carr Properties submitted a preliminary site plan to the county’s zoning division yesterday outlining its plans for the 12-story building with about 6,800 square feet of ground story retail. The building — called 2025 Clarendon Blvd — will replace the Wendy’s at 2038 Wilson Blvd and the Wells Fargo bank at 2026 Wilson Blvd. The plan calls for the Wells Fargo to occupy some of the ground floor retail space in the new building.

__________________
writing | twitter | flickr | instagram | ssp photo threads
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #24  
Old Posted Mar 27, 2014, 8:39 PM
jpdivola jpdivola is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 335
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cirrus View Post
Speak of the devil.
Nice find.

Wow, that was fast. I guess ask for it on skyscraperpage.com and you shall recieve. I hope Arlington gets an additional subway line along Columbia Pike.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #25  
Old Posted Mar 28, 2014, 1:45 AM
pdxtex's Avatar
pdxtex pdxtex is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Portland, OR
Posts: 3,119
hey that looked pretty nice. also, isn't the gourmet doughnut the new cupcake?
__________________
Portland!! Where young people formerly went to retire.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #26  
Old Posted Mar 28, 2014, 2:24 AM
lhueaglesphan's Avatar
lhueaglesphan lhueaglesphan is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Philadelphia area
Posts: 32
Great shots. I used to take an intern course in Ballston while I was living in Alexandria. Great place.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #27  
Old Posted Apr 7, 2014, 1:20 AM
ukw ukw is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 792
Quote:
Originally Posted by marcus View Post
This was such a great, in-depth tour, jpdivola!

I think it's a great description to describe these sub/urban areas of Nova as right on the threshold of urban and suburban because it is extremely hard to define them. From my experience in some of these cities, it seems that even when it is lively with people, it still feels soulless. And attempts to make these pockets have their own character, such as adding art for example or little details that can be found in true urban centers, it feels very manufactured and contrived. I think these cities are just very uninviting with the designs of their midrises at street level. It's like they're deigned for people to use, but mostly for robots who do not care about curb appeal. When you scroll through the thread really quickly, the only colors you notice are tans, whites, and red/browns, which to me just feels very depressing and a reflection of suburban pallets. It's interesting because the sub/urban pockets of Maryland like Bethesda and Silver Spring do not feel as contrived as so many of these do in my opinion. Rockville and Gaithersburg do, though, although from afar Gaithersburg is kind of recognizable with the Sodexho building and the fact that it is not a big skyline with endless clone midrises. And Rockville has historic districts. Do these cities have historic districts? It seems Old town Alexandria is by far the prettiest city in Nova, and gives much needed character to that region of Virginia
I agree with the above post 100%. NoVA is a soulless place, where the people are transplants and have no roots or attachments to the area. In contrast to NoVA, the Maryland side of DC does have some roots, and doesn't feel as contrived and bizarre.

A job recruiter I know told me that MD is residential, while NoVA is corporate. I think there's a lot of truth in that statement and it explains a lot.

FYI, if you haven't watched this video yet, this is a satirical look at NoVA, which is exactly on the mark.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T1RMuoQnKo
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #28  
Old Posted Apr 8, 2014, 1:22 AM
novaCJ novaCJ is offline
Stuck in the Suburbs
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Northern Virginia (DC Suburbs)
Posts: 360
Reading these responses has been quite disheartening. I grew up in and have lived in various parts of Northern Virginia my entire life, and while it's not Georgetown, Adams Morgan or U Street, Arlington has made tremendous strides toward being more urban and livable just within my lifetime. You can't build something from (kind of) scratch and expect it to look like or have the character of something hundreds of years old, but given the circumstances, Arlington is doing everything they can and has done a superb job. Keep in mind they have yet to finish. Yes, Ballston is somewhat bland, I'll give you that much, but it light years from what used to be there. Of course the area isn't done. there are cranes building things as I type this, with more projects on the way. There are also quite a few independent businesses, including a favorite record store of mine, and a specialty shoe store where my aging mother has been able to alleviate some of her back pain thanks to the wonderful and knowledgable owner. The lower density neighborhoods surrounding the Orange Line corridor are unique in their own way, in that they consist of very beautiful, well-built homes dating from the streetcar days. If you call the newer homes 'mcmansions', I would love to take you out to Loudoun or Prince William Counties and show you some real mcmansions and truly disgusting suburban development. Also keep in mind that this area is contiguous with the city. It's only one metro stop from Rosslyn to the West End and George Washington University, and Georgetown is a short walk across the Key Bridge. The street grid is not really as gridded, and in that respect, development actually feels more organic than many areas of DC. Northern Virginia has an incredibly diverse immigrant community, and what family from out of town often find unusual is that people actually (generally, save for some crotchety old-timers) get along. It is culturally and economically more diverse than any other 'suburb' I have ever seen, on par with the worlds most cosmopolitan cities. Don't take this as saying the area is without it's faults, it clearly has them(I could write a book on them), public transit out of certain areas is lacking, and yes, once you go outside the beltway it becomes very monotonous and dull, but please don't fault us for actually taking action and attempting to urbanize instead of sitting around like most of our counterparts. (/endrant)
__________________
"The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The realist adjusts the sails."
-William A. Ward
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #29  
Old Posted Apr 8, 2014, 3:39 AM
someone123's Avatar
someone123 someone123 is offline
hähnchenbrüstfiletstüc
 
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Vancouver
Posts: 33,677
The brick highrises are a nice departure from all the glass condos going up in some other cities.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #30  
Old Posted Apr 8, 2014, 3:44 AM
destroycreate's Avatar
destroycreate destroycreate is online now
Registered User
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 1,608
Um, I'm fucking impressed. What a great looking area, I love it.

Reminds me of a mid-Atlantic version of the Wilshire corridor in LA.
__________________
**23 years on SSP!**
Previously known as LaJollaCA
https://www.instagram.com/itspeterchristian/
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #31  
Old Posted Apr 8, 2014, 4:37 PM
Surrealplaces's Avatar
Surrealplaces Surrealplaces is offline
Editor
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Cowtropolis
Posts: 19,968
Very interesting tour. We don't see this part of DC very often!
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #32  
Old Posted Apr 12, 2014, 6:13 PM
novawolverine novawolverine is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 1,942
Ballston, and to a lesser extent Virginia Square, are very commercial and commuter heavy. That's why there's hardly anyone out on a Saturday. Those areas during the weekdays work hours are much more vibrant feeling. It sucks, but that's what the planners are hoping to fix.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #33  
Old Posted Apr 12, 2014, 6:29 PM
novawolverine novawolverine is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 1,942
Quote:
Originally Posted by ukw View Post
I agree with the above post 100%. NoVA is a soulless place, where the people are transplants and have no roots or attachments to the area. In contrast to NoVA, the Maryland side of DC does have some roots, and doesn't feel as contrived and bizarre.

A job recruiter I know told me that MD is residential, while NoVA is corporate. I think there's a lot of truth in that statement and it explains a lot.
This is true to an extent as well, but there's a little more context needed. DC, in general, is a bit lacking in soul. I wouldn't say MD is more residential. It has a lot of commercial activity, but you could say it's less corporate. MD's developments are older and the area doesn't have a negative cultural stigma to fight like VA does. Not to mention, that the job recruiter probably wasn't talking about PG County, which is basically half of DC's MD suburbs, he was talking about Montgomery County and the Western Half of it mostly.

Being the border of the North-South, Virginia gets shit on a lot from DC and Maryland, let alone the rest of the country who clings to the Civil War stereotypes. Even if you're from Northern Virginia it is kind of annoying having to explain to people from outside of the area that it is literally a stone's throw from DC and not at all like most of the South culturally, even if there are some similarities and lots of historical ties. I know plenty of people who before moving to the area completely out-ruled Virginia has a place to consider living in because of the state's political history.

Northern Virginia is fairly wealthy, educated, less conservative, and relatively pleasant, but most people don't really know that or are just getting to know that over the past decade or so. The Maryland side developed earlier and there's more old-money there so the perception and image of that Old Washington influences what many people think about the area.

I'll lastly say that to many outsiders, they wouldn't notice a huge difference between most of Northern Virginia and Suburban Maryland with respect to "soul". There are pockets of old urbanity, but lots of bland residential neighborhoods and bland Smart Growth, even if its scale is impressive and is better than many alternatives.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #34  
Old Posted Apr 12, 2014, 8:14 PM
dc_denizen's Avatar
dc_denizen dc_denizen is offline
Selfie-stick vendor
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: New York Suburbs
Posts: 10,999
I don't quite understand these generalizations, Arlington, Falls Church and Alexandria - basically the area inside the beltway - are some of the most comfortable cities/suburbs in North America. Mature trees, well-kept homes, condos, nightlife, good schools, smart people, highrises, diverse populations, low crime - these areas are pretty stellar. I would in fact put them ahead of Maryland's inner cities/burbs urbanistically, Bethesda and Rockville are too linear along Wisconsin Ave and don't offer a real grid, also the topograhy is less interesting. Tysons is getting rail and a ton of development, in 10 years it will be Bethesda on steroids and all within 5-10 miles of DC.

The yucky part of Nova is the area around Dulles airport, which has nothing to do with Rossyln/Ballston.
__________________
Joined the bus on the 33rd seat
By the doo-doo room with the reek replete
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #35  
Old Posted Apr 13, 2014, 3:06 AM
Cirrus's Avatar
Cirrus Cirrus is offline
cities|transit|croissants
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Washington, DC
Posts: 18,344
Bethesda and Silver Spring have better mixes of old & new buildings than Rosslyn or Ballston. That's their advantage over Arlington. And while Alexandria has a great old town far more historic than anything in MD, they've banished new development outside the old areas, and their new centers aren't as good as Arlington's.
__________________
writing | twitter | flickr | instagram | ssp photo threads
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #36  
Old Posted Apr 25, 2014, 2:19 AM
rs913's Avatar
rs913 rs913 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 1,302
To the OP: great job with the pictures and commentary. I looked at the whole thing with great interest (I know people who live there and have been there to visit)

One thing I sensed while going through your pictures was a very palpable tension between people who want the Orange Line corridor to be like NYC, and those who want it it to be like Reston, only with taller buildings.

My proposal: have the two groups of people face off in an Anchorman-style street fight, then let the winners decide the area's development plan.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #37  
Old Posted Apr 25, 2014, 2:50 AM
Centropolis's Avatar
Centropolis Centropolis is online now
disneypilled verhoevenist
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: saint louis
Posts: 11,866
very interesting. makes me wonder if clayton (inner suburban stl) is partially modeling itself after d.c. suburbs.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #38  
Old Posted Apr 25, 2014, 9:41 PM
bobdreamz's Avatar
bobdreamz bobdreamz is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Miami/Orlando, FL.
Posts: 8,123
For a 'so called" suburb it looks pretty urban to me! Thanks for the tour!
__________________
Miami : 62 Skyscrapers over 500+ Ft.|150+ Meters | 14 Under Construction.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #39  
Old Posted Apr 26, 2014, 3:25 AM
novaCJ novaCJ is offline
Stuck in the Suburbs
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Northern Virginia (DC Suburbs)
Posts: 360
Quote:
Originally Posted by rs913 View Post
One thing I sensed while going through your pictures was a very palpable tension between people who want the Orange Line corridor to be like NYC, and those who want it it to be like Reston, only with taller buildings.
Precisely. This is what holds the entire DC region back. Too many people fail to realize that we are a huge metropolitan area with over 4.5 million (over 1 million of which live in Fairfax County, the region's largest jurisdiction) in the urban area, 5.8 in the metropolitan area. and this assumption that increased development and density leads to traffic. Traffic is the main sticking point in the area: it is so awful, yet nothing has been done until fairly recently, and for a number of years we had the worst traffic in the country. It wasn't until Arlington took note of the fact that automobile traffic has gone down even when the population tripled in the Orange Line corridor that people are tepidly now accepting higher density development, coupled with improved transit as a good thing. Keep in mind people here are not used to tall buildings, DC does have a very low height limit (we're not getting into it here, but for the record I'm not a fan).

As for Virginia politics.
__________________
"The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The realist adjusts the sails."
-William A. Ward
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #40  
Old Posted Apr 26, 2014, 7:27 AM
Dr Awesomesauce's Avatar
Dr Awesomesauce Dr Awesomesauce is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: BEYOND THE OUTER RIM
Posts: 5,889
There's something about the blandness of these new sub-urban developments - as you put it - that I've always liked. Thanks for sharing!
Reply With Quote
     
     
This discussion thread continues

Use the page links to the lower-right to go to the next page for additional posts
 
 
Reply

Go Back   SkyscraperPage Forum > Photography Forums > My City Photos
Forum Jump


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 1:38 PM.

     
SkyscraperPage.com - Archive - Privacy Statement - Top

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.