Arlington's Urban Villages
Arlington, Virginia is an urban county of about 26 square miles, directly across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The county's small geographic area contains a surprising diversity of neighborhoods, from business centers with towering skyscrapers to quaint residential neighborhoods with a small-town feel.
Arlingtonians have many options for getting around car free. The county is served by the regional Metro system, with eleven Metrorail stations within its borders. Metrobus service on the major corridors is complemented by Arlington Transit - ART, Arlington's local bus service, connecting Arlington neighborhoods to each other and to the Metro system. Arlington is also pedestrian- and bike-friendly, and has more than 100 miles of multi-use trails, on-street bike lanes, and designated bike routes. Zipcar carsharing and Capital Bikeshare are both available in the County. Workers commuting into Arlington can take advantage of commuter rail and commuter bus.
While car-free options are available throughout Arlington, some neighborhoods stand out as particularly convenient for car-free living. These "urban villages" have shopping, restaurants, recreation, offices, and homes all within a few blocks of each other, and are well-served by transportation options. Arlington's urban villages profiled here include the booming business centers of Crystal City, Rosslyn and Ballston, the local government center in Court House, the quirky liveliness of Clarendon, Pentagon City's world-class shopping, the Lee Highway and Columbia Pike commercial corridors, and the quaint neighborhoods of Virginia Square, Westover, and Shirlington.
