Walkable Communities in Northern VA
by Adam Gallegos on March 8, 2010
I recently wrote about the resilient real estate market in Arlington Va. I pointed out that worsening traffic to and from the suburbs is making life closer to DC more appealing. I should have taken this one step further to explain that home buyers are not just moving to Arlington to avoid traffic they are also moving closer in to take advantage of a walkable life style. Living in a walkable community allows residents to spend less money on automobile ownership, improve their health, reduce greenhouse gasses and enjoy modern conveniences at their doorstep. While you’re at it… why not support your local businesses and expose yourself to the possibility of meeting new people? It’s not a new concept. In fact it is getting back to the traditional model of communities before people started becoming automobile dependent.
When recently preparing to list a condo in Clarendon for sale, I calculated the WalkScore and was amazed that it came back with a perfect 100 out of 100 “Walkers Paradise”. We provide the WalkScore for every home we put on the market and I have never seen a perfect score. The condo is in Station Square located at 1205 N. Garfield St., Arlington VA 22201. Here is a summary of how WalkScore came to this perfect evaluation:
- Transit – Orange Line MetroRail .07 mi
- Grocery Store - Whole Foods .22 mi
- Restaurant - Restaurant 3 .03 mi
- Coffee Shop – Common Grounds .23 mi
- Bars - Ri Ra .12 mi
- Movie Theater – AMC Courthouse .12 mi
- Schools – Georgetown University .08 mi
- Parks - Quincy Park .73 mi
- Library – Arlington County .17
- Bookstore – Barnes & Noble .15
- Fitness – Potomac Crossfit .1 mi
- Drug Store – CVS .18
- Hardware Store - Virginia Hardware Center .13
- Clothing & Music – Kinder Haus Toys .05 mi
The top 10% of Arlington homes score an average of 96 out of 100. The overall average for Arlington is 73 out of 100.
Check out how some of the other Arlington Va condos along the Orange Line score.
- The Residences at Liberty Center – 95
- The Continental – 89
- The Hartford – 98
- The Phoenix at Clarendon Metro – 94
- Clarendon 1021 – 98
- The Odyssey – 98
- 1800 Wilson – 89
- Wooster and Mercer Lofts – 89
- Turnberry Towers – 94
- The Waterview – 94
- The Westlee – 58
Because more and more Northern Virginia home buyers are ditching their cars for the convenience of walkable communities, we have added WalkScores to our free Northern VA Home Search tool. Now you don’t have to flip between your home search and the WalkScore website. You can see everything on one screen including Google Street View maps.
We have been told by our clients that even when looking for a home in suburban Fairfax County, the WalkScore report is helpful to find shops, schools and resources in the surrounding neighborhoods. Please give it a try and let us know what you think.
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