Trip on Future Main Street

When people talk about our transformed Main Street of the future, most are referring to the new private development in our commercial downtown area. What many people may not be aware of is the vision for the future street itself is equally exciting.

Whereas today visitors coming to Columbia Heights/Penrose from Pentagon City as they turn onto Columbia Pike from Joyce Street would see the following on their way to our community. 1. The drab Navy Annex buildings 2. The aerial blight of all the overhead utility poles 3. Four lanes of unreleaved asphalt with sidewalks right against the street. 4. As they approach the Sheraton they see a run down commercial strip more overhead utilities and 5. the decrepit Washington Blvd bridge 6. Passing under the bridge, they're greeted by a mass of overhead wires at the Quinn St intersection with a large rusty overhead support for interstate signage. 7. The sidewalks on either side are narrow and near the auto traffic. 8 There are overhead utilities until Scott St where now Columbia Pike widens into five lanes of asphalt. 9. Bicyclists who are brave enough to ride this stretch of Columbia Pike must take the lane from traffic. 10. The bus stop facilities along this whole drive are small and unremarkable. 11. When one finally enters the downtown area at Wayne St there is no on street parking and the sidewalks are devoid of pedestrian activity.

Come 2012, here's what the same visitors to our community, taking the same route, will or may see. I've indicated the changes that are already funded in bold. Coming from Pentagon City they turn onto Joyce St and head to Columbia Pike. 1. They are greeted by a new ceremonial entrance to Arlington Cemetary with a landscaped traffic circle. 2. Moving around the circle they head west along Columbia Pike. 3. On their right is the National Air Force Memorial with it's highest tip soaring 270 feet into the air 4. Columbia Pike is lined with trees along either side, with a wide median in the center including a double row of trees. 5. There are on-street bike lanes on both sides of Columbia Pike 6. There are no overhead utilities and 16 foot black Victorian lamp posts and Victorian traffic light mast arms along the whole stretch. 7. On their right along the north side of Columbia Pike, our visitors see a wide path with people walking or roller blading and families riding bicycles - this shared used path continues all the way to Wayne St. 8. As the visitors approach Oak St they see the new Arlington Heritage Center on the right, built where the western most Navy Annex building once stood. The Navy Annex is gone replaced with the greenery of an expanded cemetary. 9. Passing the Sheraton National hotel the visitors are stunned by the new Washington Boulevard Bridge and its disinctive details and artwork. 10. A new intersection has been constructed at Quinn St without the overhead wires, signage and old mast arms. 11. At Scott St (and further on at Courthouse Rd, Barton St, and Walter Reed Drive) the visitors are captivated by new steel and glass transit structures - these 'Super Stops' have all the amenities of a metro rail stop 12. Also at Scott St there are new traffic signals to allow transit riders and pedestrians to safely cross the street. 13. The visitors continue on, impressed by the number of riders they see in the on-street bike lanes and the tree canopy provided by the landscaped medians. 14 Car traffic is moving at about 23mph and everything is flowing consistently without any bunch ups. 15. At Wayne St, the onstreet bike lanes and the shared use path end and the visitors enter the downtown commercial area. 16. There is on-street parking on either side, providing a buffer between pedestrians and the traffic. 17. The visitors disembark at the Barton St stop just before the traffic signal at Cleveland St. 18. There is a large civic square - Penrose Square - with restaurants around the perimeter. The square is overflowing with pedestrians yet at the same time car traffic is moving easily in and out of the numerous shared parking facilities set within the buildings. The visitors know they have arrived in a thriving vibrant place.

To read more details about many of these enhancements planned for our main street, you can check out the transportation section of the Columbia Pike Initiative: A 2005 Update document at:

http://www.arlingtonva.us/Departments/CPHD/forums/columbia/
CPHDForumsColumbiaRevitalize.aspx

The pedestrian, bicyclist, transit and landscaping improvements are all a result of the recommendations of the Columbia Pike Streetspace Task Force, which Allen Muchnik and I served on for a year. The task force was lead by Inta Malis from Columbia Forest and was arguably one of the most successful citizen lead undertakings in Arlington County. Some of the future improvements such as the Air Force Memorial, the Arlington Heritage Center and the new cemetary improvements to Columbia Pike are lucky unplanned opportunities that are falling in our lap over the next years.

I will try and do a series of blog entries on many of the future improvements listed above to give people more understanding of the specifics.

10,000 Strong!

OK, not actually 10,000 but the 2000 Census reported that Columbia Heights/Penrose had a population of 9,874 residents. For comparison in 2000, the City of Falls Church had a population of 10,377. Columbia Heights/Penrose's population grew by 18.9% from 1990 when its population was recorded as 8,389. As new development happens in our community, we can expect the population will increase by the 2010 census but probably not at the rate that occurred between 1990-2000.

Also from the 2000 Census. Columbia Heights/Penrose had 5,301 households living in 5,418 housing units. Of those housing units, 1183 were owner occupied which equates to a home ownership rate of 21.8% This isn't a very high home ownership rate but the vast majority of the community's housing stock is rental. There is probably the widest range of housing types in this community within Arlington County but that topic merits a blog of its own.

There are five parks in the community - four full size (Butler-Holmes, Penrose, Towers & Walter Reed) and one pocket park (Cleveland). Towers Park also features a Community Canine Area for all you dog owners. All the full size parks have basketball courts and playgrounds. Towers Park and Walter Reed also have tennis courts. There is a 27 hole private golf course, the Army Navy Country Club, on the southern border of the community.


There is only one local government building located in the community proper which is the Walter Reed Community Center at . The Columbia Pike branch library along with the Fenwick Center (a county health facility) and Patrick Henry Elementary School and the Arlington Public Schools' Career Center are located just over the western edge.

There are two churches located in the community - St. Johns Baptist Church at 1905 Columbia Pike and Trinity Episcopal Church at 2217 Columbia Pike.

The downtown of the community, where all the commercial retail is located, is along Columbia Pike between Walter Reed Drive and S. Wayne St. There are roughly 40-50 businesses in the downtown area currently. New development projects will boost this number as more retail spaces are created.

There are nine office buildings in the community - the B.M. Smith building (a nine story building in the downtown area), five government office buildings in a Department of Defense facility on S. Courthouse Road, and three large office buildings in the Sequoia Complex in the northeastern corner of the Penrose neighborhood.

Schools. Children in Columbia Heights/Penrose attend a variety of public and private schools. Within the top rated Arlington Public School (APS) system, residents choose from a variety of programs. Listed are the public schools predominantly chosen by residents, with neighborhood schools indicated with an asterik.

Elementary Schools - Arlington Traditional, Hoffman-Boston*, Key Spanish Immersion, Long Branch*, and Patrick Henry*

Middle Schools - Gunston Immersion, Kenmore Technology & Communications, Thomas Jefferson International Baccalaureate (IB)*, and H.B. Woodlawn

High School - H.B. Woodlawn, Wakefield*, and the Washington & Lee IB program

The Place Where I Live - Columbia Heights/Penrose

Place is a nebulous term. Place can be defined from the perspective of the individual. Where does my home reside? Where do I spend most of my time? Where do my friends reside? Where are the institutions and people I feel connected to? Where is the land I feel connected to?

Place is also a community statement. What joins a group of people in referring to the area where they live as a place? Is there a common history? Is there physical proximity and a natural set of borders that define that place? Is there a natural set of common interests?

I live in the neighborhood of Penrose in Arlington County, Virginia. I have lived here since 1992. Penrose shares a main street, Columbia Pike, with the neighborhood of Columbia Heights. Together these two neighborhoods share a common downtown area. Columbia Heights and Penrose collectively are the place where I live. This is the place I can walk to from my home - it is immediate and intimate. Once I enter my car, then my travel distance is unbounded as is any definition or scope of a place.

This blog is dedicated to Columbia Heights/Penrose. From this blog I hope to share my joys, frustrations and hopes for this place I have devoted so much time and energy to. My intent for 2006, is to post to this blog at least once a week, so hold me to it. Please send my any annecdotes, particularly any little history items you might have of the community. As always I welcome comments and thoughts from any of my fellow 10,000 residents in this wonderful place.