Three Decades of Smart Growth: Arlington’s Urban Village · “Smart growth” zDensity confined...

Three Decades of Smart Growth: Three Decades of Smart Growth: Arlington’s Urban VillageArlington’s Urban Village

An Overview

Christopher ZimmermanArlington County Board

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Arlington, VirginiaArlington, Virginia

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Arlington TodayArlington Today

Population199,000

Jobs203,100

Housing units93,182

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Daytime population is over 260,000County has over 34 million sq. ft. of private office space

Arlington TodayArlington Today

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Arlington history Arlington history ----Development stagesDevelopment stages

To the 20s -- Largely rural, small villages30s to 70s -- Suburb, with some office development70s/80s -- emerged as economic center

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Population peaked in 1970 (170,000)Fell in 80s (154,000), as economy, infrastructure aged

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Transformation into economic center followed introduction of transit in late 70sDevelopment in 2 Metro corridors

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Transit in ArlingtonTransit in Arlington

By 1970 trolley lines were gone

In 1960s planning began for new rail system for Washington area

Construction began early 70s

2 lines opened by 1980

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Transit in ArlingtonTransit in Arlington

Key decision was re-orientation of Orange line from I-66 to Rosslyn-Ballston corridor

Enabled creation of new downtown

Urban village, rather than suburban development

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The RThe R--B Corridor B Corridor (Orange line)(Orange line)

Instead of running on the highway up here . . .. . . the line was sent underground to Ballston

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The RThe R--B Corridor B Corridor (Orange line)(Orange line)

5 stationsRosslyn, CH, Clarendon, VaSquare, Ballston

20 million sq. ft. of office space -- over 13 since 1980

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The Jeff Davis Corridor The Jeff Davis Corridor (Blue and Yellow lines)(Blue and Yellow lines)

PentagonPentagon City, Crystal CityNational Airport

12 million sq. ft. of Office space

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Planning PrinciplesPlanning Principles

“Smart growth”Density confined largely to R-B and JD corridors --Of total commercial office of 34.2 million sq. ft., 31.4 -- 92 % -- is in the two corridorsMaintain low-density neighborhoods outside corridor, preserve green space

The RosslynThe Rosslyn--Ballston CorridorBallston Corridor

Before & After

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ROSSLYNROSSLYN

. . . Then

& Now . . .

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ROSSLYNROSSLYN

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COURT HOUSECOURT HOUSE

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CLARENDONCLARENDON

Then . . .

. . . and Now

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VIRGINIA SQUARE VIRGINIA SQUARE

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BALLSTONBALLSTON

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Rosslyn

Ballston

Virginia Square

ClarendonCourthouse

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What Arlington DidWhat Arlington Did

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What Arlington DidWhat Arlington DidSet in motion a series of planning efforts to look at the future of the countyThe major policy goals that resulted were:– Strive for a 50/50 tax base mix of residential

and commercial– Strive for mixed-use development with a

significant level of residential– Preserve existing single family and garden

apartments– Focus redevelopment within 1/4 mile of metro

station entrances to encourage transit ridership

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What Arlington Did What Arlington Did –– Tools Tools

Defined the corridor on the General Land Use Plan (GLUP)

Adopted unique designations, specifying higher densities, mixed uses based on development goals

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What Arlington Did What Arlington Did –– ToolsTools

Then developed sector plans for each Metro station, focused on an area approximately 1/4 mile from the station

Give detailed guidance on County expectations for development

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The sector plans identify– Desired public improvements– Location for retail– Urban design standards– Public infrastructure needs– Open space, streetscape standards

They are intended to tell landowners, developers and residents what the future of the station area will be and how individual parcels can be redeveloped

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GLUP, sector plans for Metro corridors indicate County’s willingness to rezone for higher density

In response to development proposals, county will rezone for higher density use shown on GLUP

Lower (pre-existing) zoning remains in place until proposal receives County Board approval of a special exception site plan


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The site plan allows significantly higher density & height than underlying zoning (1.5 - 3.8, 55 ft - 153 ft)

Site plan is approved only if:

– It complies with the standards of the zoning ordinance,

– Is in compliance with the mix required by the GLUP

– Provides the features called for in the sector plan for the area -including public improvements


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Property owner always maintains underlying by-right zoning until they implement approved site planThe zoning categories for site plans actually have lower base rights than the existing zoningSince owner requests rezoning reduced rights is not an issue


Assessing Our SuccessAssessing Our Success

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MixedMixed--use Developmentuse Development

People live there: Station areas include more than 30,000 residential units – and rising

People shop there: 4.6 million sq. ft. of retail (mostly street-level)

People work there: Today Arlington has more office space than downtown

. . . Dallas . . . Pittsburgh . . . Denver . . .

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RR--B Corridor DevelopmentB Corridor Development

1970Office4,168,033Residential6,036 UNITS % Residential to office36%

2001Office

19,793,263Residential21,813 UNITS% Residential to office43%

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Household, Population & Household, Population & Employment in the REmployment in the R--B CorridorB Corridor

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

70,000

80,000

1972 1980 1990 2000 2003Est.

HH

Population

Employment

(Courtesy of Dennis Leach)

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Commercial Office and Retail Commercial Office and Retail Development in the RDevelopment in the R--B CorridorB Corridor

0

2.5

5

7.5

10

12.5

15

17.5

20

22.5

1972 1980 1990 2000 2003+UC

Office(M SF)

Retail(M SF)


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RR--B Corridor Residential and Hotel B Corridor Residential and Hotel DevelopmentDevelopment

0

3,000

6,000

9,000

12,000

15,000

18,000

21,000

24,000

27,000

1972 1980 1990 2000 2003+UC

HotelRooms

HousingUnits


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Market DemandMarket Demand

Office rents command a premium over suburban locations in the region

Office occupancy rates have outperformed most business locations in the last two business cycles

Residential demand is very strong across a number of housing types

Retail vacancy rates are low and supply is expanding

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Fiscal ImpactsFiscal Impacts

The R-B Corridor has a current assessed real estate value of over $9 billion, producing 32.8% of the County’s real estate tax revenue

The 7 station sectors in the 2 corridors produce nearly half of County real est. revenue – from ~7 % of its land areaArlington enjoys the lowest tax burden in the Washington Metropolitan area

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TOD ImpactsTOD Impacts

AM Peak AM Off PM Peak PM OffTime Periods

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

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Thou

sand

sPa

ssen

gers

EntriesExits

Arlington Metrorail StationsRidership by Time Period

Balanced development Balanced development ---- balanced balanced ridershipridership

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Benefits of TODBenefits of TOD

Getting to work – transit use– National avg: 4.7 %

– Fairfax County: 7.3 %

– Arlington: 23.3%

And, those who walk to work are double the national avg, 5 times Fairfax

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Car ownership (vehicles per household)– Nationally, almost 90% have a car;

55% have 2 or more

– In Fairfax, 96% have at least one;two-thirds have 2 or more

– Arlington: 12% have zero cars;less than 40% have 2 or more

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Numbers are more dramatic in Arlington’s Metro corridors– Car ownership: 17.9% have zero cars,

while less than 25% have 2 or more– Getting to work: Less than half drive

• 39.3% use transit• 10.5% walk or bike• 2.3 work at home

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Metrorail Access at 5 RMetrorail Access at 5 R--B Corridor B Corridor Stations Stations -- 39,500 Daily 39,500 Daily BoardingsBoardings

73.0%

7.5%

3.6%

12.9% 2.0%1.0%

Walk

Metrobus

OtherBus/VanpoolAuto (incl. Drop-off)Other

No Response


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Metrorail Access at 4 Suburban Orange Metrorail Access at 4 Suburban Orange Line Stations Line Stations -- 29,250 Daily 29,250 Daily BoardingsBoardings

14.6%

9.3%

4.8%

57.6%

12.0%

1.7% Walk

Metrobus

Other Bus/Vanpool

Auto (incl. drop-off)

Other

NoResponse/Unknown


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Transportation System PerformanceTransportation System Performance

Despite growth in corridors, and throughout region, traffic growth in corridors has been modest

Major increases on the interstates (I-66 and I-395) due to regional and local factors

Stable to modest increases of traffic on most arterial streets

Stable to modest increases in traffic on residential streets

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Traffic TrendsTraffic Trends

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10,000

15,000

20,000

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ChallengesChallenges

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Major ChallengesMajor Challenges

Affordable housing

Affordable housing

Affordable housing

Affor – well, you get the idea . . .

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Maintaining independent retail and other small business

Quality architecture

Coherence of built environment (creating attractive streets and other public spaces)

Historic preservation

Uneven condition of public infrastructure

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And did I mention affordable housing?

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Thank you

Three Decades of Smart Growth: Arlington’s Urban Village · “Smart growth” zDensity confined...

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