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The metro is the tie that binds Arlington to DC. I can leave DT DC and be in Pentagon City Mall in a matter of twenty minutes. So I think Arlington is an unofficial part of DC. Most people don't look at Arlington as suburbs (like Tysons) at all. Same thing with DT Silver Spring. It sort of feels like DC.
There is a Target in Alexandria, about 1 1/2 blocks from the Arlington County line so it's close. The areas of DC that have those things are not NW, which makes it a pain. Plus it is hard to drive around DC if you live in NW and Arlington is that much easier to get around due to the road grid being more sufficient.
Those stores are in NW. I was just at a Target in NW DC last night. DC USA, the new mall in Columbia Heights has Target, Best Buy, Bed, Bath & Beyond, Staples, and a few others. There's also a Best Buy and a Sears in Tenleytown right down the street from me. They are literally on the top of the Metro stop.
Having been born a raised in and all around DC I know when I'm in Arlington opposed to DC. It is different, a different vibe. Someone who is not familiar with the area would confuse the two I suppose.
Where does the Arlington "line" end/start? I used to live off Carlin Springs and that was Arlington, just up from there on 50 is a Target, Home Depot, etc. - is that considered Falls Church?
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Originally Posted by pcity
Actually, Arlington doesn't have many big-box stores at all, even compared to DC. It doesn't have a Target, Kmart, Walmart, Home Depot, or Lowe's. It does have a Best Buy, Borders, Barnes and Noble, Marshalls, and Costco, but that's pretty much it.
DC has all of those stores except for Costco, has multiple Best Buys, Borders, and Barnes and Nobles, and DC also has a Target as well as a Home Depot. Of course, DC is also much bigger than Arlington so it should have more shopping.
I do agree Arlington is more family oriented though.
Yes. In fact, it used to be a part of DC (completes the square).
Agreed. If DC was almost any other city in the country that did not have border lines so tightly drawn and that was neighbored by other states, an inner suburb like Arlington would definitely be considered part of the city. And the posters who say the vibe is so different in Arlington from DC...this is the same situation with different "neighborhoods" in a city. In Atlanta, Virginia Highlands (which is inside the City of Atlanta) has a very different vibe from downtown, and a different vibe yet again from midtown. In San Diego, Point Loma (which is inside the City of San Diego) has a very different vibe from North Park, and a different vibe yet again from Kensington. In NYC, compare Manhattan and Staten Island. The list goes on and on.
Agreed...both on Arlington being an unofficial part of DC and on the different vibes. Do you get the same vibe in Anacostia that you get in Georgetown? Is the vibe in AU Park the same as the one in Dupont Circle?
One other point is Arlington's local and State government is completely different than DC's by leaps and bounds and reflects on the culture of the two, no doubt. One tightly drawn border is a fairly large river.
If you really want to see a larger contrast in the immediate area go down river a few miles to the Wilson bridge. There is a big difference between Maryland and Virginia at this point and always has been as long as I can remember and I grew up there. And I'm talking decades.
Where does the Arlington "line" end/start? I used to live off Carlin Springs and that was Arlington, just up from there on 50 is a Target, Home Depot, etc. - is that considered Falls Church?
If you're going west on 50, there's a "Welcome To Fairfax County" sign a little before you get to the Target and Home Depot. On the map it looks like the line on route 50 is right at the intersection of Nottingham St.
Just another side note to this discussion- Back in the late 1700's NYC was the capitol of the United States and the idea of having a federal city dedicated for this purpose was very hard to sell to the public. Congress ending up giving Virginia back their land and kept DC on the Maryland side of the water because nobody ever thought that the city would grow. Now there are several US gov't buildings in Maryland that otherwise would have been in Arlington provided that the diamond kept its shape.
Most people I know here in DC--myself included--basically view Arlington and Alexandria as extensions of DC. The urban density and development is largely continuous as you cross the Potomac, and a place like Old Town in Alexandria very much "feels" like you're in a DC neighborhood such as Georgetown. In addition, the connectivity between the two areas--via Metro and the various bridges that span the Potomac--add to this feel. There are some DC or Arlington residents who would claim offense at their place of residence being compared to what is across the river...but for all intents and purposes I consider them basically components of the same city.
There are some differences, of course. The buildings in Arlington are taller, and there is more new development, largely clustered around the Metro stops...you could argue that these developments have a more suburban character, but I'd argue that if you added 10-15 stories to the buildings in DC neighborhoods such as Van Ness, Tenleytown or Chevy Chase you could hardly tell the difference between them and similar neighborhoods in Arlington.
Interestingly, if Arlington and Alexandria had not been retroceded to Virginia in 1848, the southwest quadrant of DC would be the most populous quadrant (surpassing northwest), and may in fact have become the wealthiest and most developed (although how those two areas would have developed had they remained a part of DC will forever remain an unknown.)
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