Livability Arlington Initiative
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| Livability Arlington Initiative | |
|---|---|
| Name | Livability Arlington Initiative |
| Type | Initiative |
| Location | Arlington County, Virginia |
| Established | 21st century |
Livability Arlington Initiative is a comprehensive planning effort in Arlington County, Virginia focused on enhancing urban design, transportation, housing, and neighborhood services. The Initiative integrates strategies from municipal plans, regional authorities, and civic organizations to coordinate investments across corridors, stations, parks, and civic facilities. It connects local decision-making with metropolitan networks, transit agencies, transit-oriented development programs, environmental regulations, and nonprofit stakeholders.
Background and Goals
The Initiative emerged amid debates involving Arlington County, Virginia, Northern Virginia Transportation Authority, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board, and neighborhood civic associations. Goals cited in county board reports referenced alignments with Rosslyn-Ballston corridor, Columbia Pike, Courthouse Station, Crystal City, Pentagon City, and Clarendon revitalization efforts. Objectives included reducing vehicle miles traveled, supporting Metrorail access, increasing affordable housing consistent with Fairfax County patterns, expanding public space similar to Gravelly Point Park and Long Bridge Park, and meeting standards comparable to LEED-influenced municipal projects and U.S. Green Building Council guidance.
Planning and Implementation
Planning drew on frameworks from Arlington County Board, Arlington County Planning Division, Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce, Washington Area Bicycle Association, and consultants with experience on projects such as Hudson Yards, Portland Streetcar, Atlanta BeltLine, Denver Union Station, and Seattle Sound Transit expansions. Implementation phases referenced capital improvement plans, zoning amendments akin to Form Based Code pilots, and strategic environmental assessments similar to National Environmental Policy Act processes. Staff reports compared outcomes to urban redevelopment in Alexandria, Virginia, Bethesda, Maryland, Reston, Virginia, San Francisco, and Boston.
Transit and Transportation Improvements
Transit improvements coordinated with Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority service planning, Metrobus network adjustments, Arlington Transit (ART) scheduling, Virginia Railway Express commuter links, and regional freight corridors tied to CSX Transportation rights-of-way. Infrastructure upgrades invoked concepts from Complete Streets, Protected Bike Lane design used in Portland, Oregon, bus rapid transit models like Cleveland HealthLine and Los Angeles Metro Busway, and station-area pedestrianization influenced by Times Square (Manhattan) and Piazza del Duomo, Florence. Corridor projects considered multimodal integration at Crystal City-Potomac Yard Transitway, Columbia Pike Transit, and Blue Line (Washington Metro) interchanges, and referenced safety practices from National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and street design manuals from American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.
Housing and Land Use Strategies
Land use strategies referenced zoning tools akin to Transit-oriented development, inclusionary housing policies similar to Montgomery County, Maryland approaches, and affordable housing trusts modeled on Los Angeles Housing Department programs. The Initiative examined density transitions used in Shinagawa redevelopment and mixed-use models as in Battery Park City and Canary Wharf. Partnerships with Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing, Habitat for Humanity, Enterprise Community Partners, and Nonprofit Housing Association of Northern Virginia were considered to preserve rental stock and incentivize workforce housing like projects in Seattle and Portland, Oregon. Fiscal mechanisms echoed tax increment financing examples from Chicago and land banking practices used in Cleveland.
Community Engagement and Equity
Engagement strategies relied on outreach models developed by National League of Cities, American Planning Association, Local Initiatives Support Corporation, Madeleine Albright-era participatory frameworks, and neighborhood planning experiences from Shadyside, Pittsburgh and Georgetown, Washington, D.C.. Equity analyses referenced tools from Urban Institute, Brookings Institution, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, and civil rights precedents connected to Fair Housing Act implementation. Programs sought to involve stakeholders such as Arlington County Civic Federation, Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization, Ballston-Virginia Square Civic Association, Crystal City Business Improvement District, Greater Washington Partnership, and local faith-based groups.
Funding and Partnerships
Funding combined local capital from Arlington County Board appropriations, regional grants via Northern Virginia Transportation Authority, state programs administered by the Virginia Department of Transportation, federal support through U.S. Department of Transportation discretionary grants, and private investment from developers active in JBG SMITH, Clark Construction Group, and institutional investors similar to Goldman Sachs-backed real estate funds. Philanthropic and technical partners included Kresge Foundation, Ford Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Kaiser Family Foundation, Enterprise Community Partners, and academic collaborators from George Mason University, University of Virginia School of Architecture, Virginia Tech, and Virginia Commonwealth University.