What's the Story with South Arlington? (Reston, Annandale: real estate, amusement parks, fingerprints)

[ACWhite]

Originally Posted by Alanboy395

I wish I had known this. That would have been a cool phototour.

I'm sorry you didn't see it before you moved. Maybe someone here who is good at photography will include it in their next round.

Here is a little info and a link to a booklet that might interest you:

Up on the Hill | Arlington Arts

[normie]

Originally Posted by ACWhite

I'm sorry you didn't see it before you moved. Maybe someone here who is good at photography will include it in their next round.

Yay!!!! Love when people are pushing the photo tours! This would be a great one.

[703Fireman]

Originally Posted by ACWhite

Also, terrence81, the Highview Park neighborhood in 22207 (N. Arl.) is also historically black.

You must be talking about Hall's Hill... Doesn't really look the same now as it did to me growing up (graduated W-L mid 90's). I remember growing up, everyone tried to avoid driving through there at all costs, especially at night. A buddy of mine lived over on Evergreen and we'd sometimes take the late night trip to the Hall's Hill 7-11 via the long way..16th St to George Mason. One night as it was getting too close to midnight for a beer run, we decided to cut through Edison and take the back way to 7-11. There were a lot of people out in the streets having a good time, but we never had one single problem. We actually got more waves than we did going through any other neighborhood. Needless to say, we changed our beer run route from then on out and never had any problems. As a matter of fact, my buddy ran into an acquaintence at that 7-11 one night and we ended up at his buddy's house party on Cameron St I think. We were then only white people there, but that didn't matter... we were treated like anyone else. I hear Hall's Hill has changed quite a bit since I moved out of there. Anyone remember those elaborate murals painted on the side of 7-11?

[ACWhite]

Yes, 703Fireman, I think the same area is known by both names, or they are very near each other.

Here's more info on the history:

History of Highview Park & Hall's Hill — John M. Langston Civic Association

[Alicia Bradley]

South Arlington has a lot of the 'WTF' qualities that bother me about its neighbor, Fairfax Co. - large stretches of industrial/post-industrial wasteland (which is all the more bizarre considering how much the land must be worth), ugly/under-maintained roadsides and medians, decaying strip malls and strange former auto body shops (and other such weirdnesses)... oh, and the oh-so-walkable Crystal City (I actually miss snickering at the people traipsing across Rt. 1 in heels en route to some bar or club in that 'urban' wonderland). That said, it does seem to be improving, and Shirlington Village is just cool.. actually, one of my favorite places in all of NoVA.

This particular building used to make me roll my eyes and sigh when my SO and I would drive past (back when we lived just south of Alexandria). However, I'm on something of a mid-century architecture kick lately, so I've developed a newfound appreciation for the utilitarian blue structure. Anyway.. presenting the building that used to be the punchline to many an in-joke between me and SO:

Aireco Supply, Inc., at 3000 S. Eads St. in Arlington!!


Anyone know anything about this building - anecdotes, history (for instance, was it always Aireco?), etc.?

[stpickrell]

Route 1 is a barrier to walkability in Crystal City, but the part east of Crystal City is perfectly fine, as is the part west (although it's pretty tiny, just a block along 23rd Street).

There is a tunnel under Route 1 at 23rd Street, but it smells like urine.

[cdmurphy]

Originally Posted by Alicia Bradley

Aireco Supply, Inc., at 3000 S. Eads St. in Arlington!!

Anyone know anything about this building - anecdotes, history (for instance, was it always Aireco?), etc.?

Per Aireco Supply's website (http://aireco.com/Aireco_Advantage/Company_profile/companyprofile.htm - broken link):

Aireco Supply, Inc. was founded in 1952 under the name American Bakers Supply in Washington, D.C. In 1957, the name Aireco Supply, Inc. was adopted and the business was moved to Arlington, Virginia, in what is now the Crystal City area....By 1989, Aireco had grown to 11 branches, with its headquarters at the Arlington location....January 1992 was a signal month in Aireco's history as it moved into its new 100,000 sq. ft. headquarters in Savage, Maryland.

According to the Arlington County Tax Assessment Database, 3000 S. Eads St. was built in 1960. So, likely, Aireco moved to Arlington in 1957, then built that building, which was their headquarters for another 32 years.

[Alicia Bradley]

Woo... cdmurphy's reference-/research-fu to the rescue yet again!! Thank you!! I wonder if there are any employees who've been working in that building since its original construction?

[jmusmc85]

I live in S. Arlington and the area is just fine. We live just south of the Arlington Ridge/Pentagon City hoods and have never understood why S. Arlington is seen as a bad area. Less than a mile up the road are million dollar houses. The only bad thing I can say that is there is no Metro stations close by unless you live in Pentagon City or Crystal City. Just south of Arlington is the Del Rey neighborhood of Alexandria. Now that area is pretty much the barrio. We have friends that live there (gay couple) and have never had a problem when visiting there. Just a bunch of immigrants and working class families. So unless you have a problem with that, you shouldn't have a problem.

I never felt unsafe walking around our apartment complex or to the grocery store at night. I have a friend who is a cop recently and when he was in our apartment he was surprised at how nice it was. he told me that a few years ago the complex was not so nice, but with renevations they really improved. I also venture to guess it out priced some of the old residents. They are also renovating the strip mall along S. Glebe road adding a Chipolte and Starbucks. Any place with those two can't be that bad at all....

[lackadaisi]

I like South Arlington a lot. Actually, if not for the lack of metro, I would prefer it to North Arlington. It has much more personality. If I were to move out of the city, most likely I would move to South Arlington. On the other hand, there is a chance that I would end up on North Arlington just because the schools are better. Without having to make that decision at the moment, however, I believe that the difference in the school quality between North and South Arlington is not significant enough to be worth the extra cost of North Arlington. I am certain I will end up touring many of those schools to make a more informed decision at some point (unless I succeed in my quest to piece it together in the city). I much prefer South Arlington to most of Fairfax County (I do have a soft spot for the Belle Haven area, however, although in the end that area would probably be too whitebread for me).