What is it like to live in Arlington VA?

What are the top five most important things to know

about living in Arlington VA?

This the blog post to accompany my "Living in Arlington, VA" video, which has a lot of useful information, so I've created this blog post to go along with it. I am always coming out with new videos with helpful information for buyers and sellers in the DMV area. Great video to check out if you are moving to Arlington.

Now I may be partial; I grew up in Arlington. I know how much I loved the schools and taking advantage of the park system growing up. But these are the 5 key things you should know about living in Arlington, so you can decide if it’s the right move for you.

#1: location.

One of the best things is the location; you're right outside of the nation's capital, Washington DC. You can easily take advantage of all of its great museums monuments and resources that the city has to offer. Obviously many people that live in Arlington commute to work in DC. But Arlington is a really developed city of its own. It's the second biggest city in the DC area. 35% or residents live and work in Arlington; and for the rest, the typical commute is 30 minutes or less. Being in the DC area or the DMV as we call it here, has its advantages. Again, because of the location, you're only a couple hours from Shenandoah National Park, the Blue Ridge Mountains and about 3 hours from many different beaches. You have many other great places and cities to visit such as Baltimore, Harpers Ferry, Richmond and the National Harbor are all within short drive.

#2: The weather

One thing that people say they really like about living in this area, is that you get to experience all four seasons.

Graphic from www.bestplaces.net

You typically get a mild climate with an average of over 200 sunny days a year. You do get some snow as well, an average of 14 inches per year. It seems like a lot but it only comes about one or two inches at a time and rarely accumulates. Although, we do get our share of snow storms. Take a look at photos from 1996 and 2009.

You'll get a beautiful flowering season in the spring. You'll see many Dogwood trees, containing Virginia's State flower and a multitude of cherry blossom trees which are popular around the area. In the fall, take a drive out to the Blue Ridge Mountains for this beautiful fall foliage is a must see.

Summertime is going to get hot and humid as it does reach over 100 degrees some days, but average temperatures in June through August are still in the 80s.

#3 Infrastructure -You should know where tax money goes.

It's important to know about the infrastructure in Arlington County, if you move here, you'll want to know where your money will be spent. They have, and continue to do a great job of building up their park system. They have 52 miles of bike trails and 149 County run parks and the city’s only 26 sq. miles.

Bike Trail Map

The bike trails actually make it very easy to avoid using your car, if you’re so inclined, and we have the Capital BikeShare program with 92 stations to help you get around the city.

The metro system is great, with 7 subway stops in Arlington and new ones being planned for the National Landing area. Its been ranked #1 by Forbes for best city without a car. And you also have Reagan National Airport in Arlington, at a metro stop, to make flying very easy.

Arlington’s school system was ranked #1 in Virginia by Niche in 2020. All of it’s elementary schools are ranked B- or higher, and 15 of the 23 elementary schools were ranked A- or higher and are among of the top schools in the nation. And all 3 Arlington public highschools have great ratings

Per MoneyGeek, Arlington County is the safest city in the country. According to national data, Arlington beat out 303 localities. You’ll find Arlington has a lot of red light cameras. But, as in the rest of VA, they’re not able to use speeding cameras which you find all over nearby MD and DC. I learned while making the video though, they are now allowed in road work areas.

#4 Entertainment, Restaurants & Arts.

Keep in mind it’s just a short drive over one of the four bridges you can use to get to DC to take advantage of all the nightlife and culture the capital has to offer! But there is no lack of great stuff to do in Arlington itself. There are 471 restaurants in Arlington, theaters, and

you have two full blown malls in Arlington. The newly renovated Ballston quarter is in the heart of North Arlington and Pentagon city which is now part of National Landing. There's a lot more development to happen around that area soon and some of that is even going on now. Other prime spots I can point you to for places to dine, shop, and go to theaters are Clarendon/Courthouse in North Arlington and Shirlington Village. Opened in 1944 as the Shirlington Shopping Center, it was the first large shopping center to open in the Washington, DC area, and one of the first in the United States and it still retains this charm to this day. Its on Columbia Pike in S. Arlington. It has long been a bustling commercial district, and is now the focus of many transformative development projects. There are 9 farmers markets in Arlington, you can take advantage of one every day of the week except Monday. There’s an annual Taste of Arlington and Arts festivals throughout the Summer and even Public Art Tours of throughout Arlington showcasing public art murals, sculptures, and street art.

#5 types of housing

Arlington is an old city that was originally established in 1847 as part of Alexandria county. It was named Arlington in 1920 after the Arlington House, now part of National Cemetery built in the early 1800s by Parke Custis, George Washington’s adopted son. There's a lot of history here and you'll find many other homes as you drive around the city. The city has been established for so long, the average age of homes is 46 years old and you can easily find something dating back to the early 1900s or earlier. However, a lot of the area was developed in and around the 1950s making the average age of homes at 46 years old. Bungalow and craftsman style homes are popular in Clarendon In Lyon park neighborhoods. Throughout the DMV, the most common style of home you'll see is the colonial so that's very common throughout Arlington as well. Its characterized by its simple two-story box style with a centered panel front door flanked by rectangular windows. You'll also see some Cape cod's although I feel like this is a little more common in neighboring Falls Church city. The typical type of new construction you see coming up in Arlington has become very characteristic of the city and I often hear people refer to it as that looks like a house you'd see in Arlington so here's a little look at what you do find for new construction in Arlington.