Rosslyn-Ballston Corridor

Rosslyn-Ballston Corridor, Arlington, Virginia 
By: Chris Harpstrite

Figure 43.1 Aerial view of the Rosslyn-Ballston Corridor. Source: Weaver Research

One of the most notable success stories of transit oriented development; the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor is an approximately 3 mile stretch of mixed use development in Arlington, Virgina. This came into effect because of community foresight and political will to get the job done, the 3 mile commercial corridor had never been incorporated as a city, and because of that, it led to a decline in population and commercial activity. City leaders knew of talks to build a light rail system in the area, and they knew where they wanted it to run. The line of light rail that now runs underground through Arlington was originally planned to follow the windy Highway 166 to its North. However, as mentioned earlier, community foresight led to building this light rail track with four stations situated in Ballston, Virginia Square, Clarendon, Courthouse and Rosslyn. “This insight not only helped to protect the single-family neighborhoods of Arlington County by directing growth to transit-oriented districts but to preserve the qualities valued by residents by strengthening the economy and making more resilient.” (Weaver 2011)


Figure 4.2 Proposed and Adopted Metro Alignment Source: Weaver Research

Washington Metropolitan Transit System began in 1960, and Arlington was already a major source of office space for District of Columbia. (Weaver 2011) They wanted to ensure growth would go in the direction that was desired, to assist that the Arlington County General Use Plan was drafted and began in 1972. “At the outset of the General Land Use Plan development, Arlington County residents established four keystone policies.
Foremost was the policy to preserve their established single-family residential areas.
Second was to build a strong tax base by pursuing development that would result in roughly equal total valuations for commercial and residential properties.
Third, redevelopment efforts would target areas within a quarter-mile radius of Metro stations.
Finally, within these radii high density projects designed to combine commercial, retail and residential uses would be encouraged. Countywide, the areas designated for high—density development comprised roughly 11 percent of the total land area, while 89 percent was reserved for low-density development.” (Weaver 2011)

Since the conception of these five stops, from 1972 to 2002 there was a net increase of more than 11,000 housing units, office space went from 4.9 million square feet to over 21.1 million square feet, an addition of 950,000 square feet of retail (now a total of 3.4 million), an addition of 1,900 hotel rooms, and lastly, an 81% increase in the assessed value of land. (Dittmar & Ohland, 2004, p. 132)

While the Rosslyn-Ballston Corridor is one of the most know success stories of transit-oriented development, there are a few shortcoming that are still being worked on.

The first issue on this project is the lack of affordable housing in the area. One of the great qualities of transit-oriented development is that it puts lower-income citizens within walking distance of transit; this is to help lower expenses because of the omission of vehicle costs. Maintaining an affordable place to live in the community has proven difficult because of the quick rise of property values in the corridor. As of 2001 the vacancy rate in the area is at a measly 1.4%, the average rent is $1,161, and the average sale of a home is $268,000. The county is well aware of the problem now and has recently adopted a plan to expand density bonus of up to 25% for the development of affordable housing, and in addition to that they have provided an additional $1-$2 million per year for the development and preservation of affordable units in the county. (Dittmar & Ohland, 2004, p. 136)

A second issue that faces the Rosslyn-Ballston Corridor is the lack of cohesive and high quality architecture. One of the major guidelines, as few as there are published, state for clear boundaries of the TOD community. With different architectural styles and qualities it is difficult to determine whether a person is in the same community or not. Dennis Leach, co-author of The New Transit Town, did a study of the 3 mile stretch speaking with sixteen member of the community, who represented all the major stakeholder groups, and asked their opinion about the redevelopment effort. The corridor received great reviews on its residential neighborhoods, transit access, range of services offered, and impact on regional transportation and air quality, however, where it received unfavorable responses was the curb appeal and cohesiveness of the new development, and the quality of the pedestrian environment.