Development
Crystal City plan makes BRAC lemons into lemonade
Crystal City is changing whether Arlingtonians like it or not. Yesterday, the county's Planning Commission reviewed proposed plans to seize the opportunities and bring much-needed changes to Crystal City.
Image from the Crystal City sector plan (PDF).
The plan area's building stock and infrastructure is aging and needs renovation and modernization. On top of this, the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission's recommendations will result in more than 13,000 jobs being relocated out of Crystal City by September of next year. This will leave an estimated 3.2 million square feet of office space empty.
This reality presents both problems and opportunities for Arlington County. Losing so many jobs could dry up one of the county's economic engines, leaving a deteriorating neighborhood with no incentive or ability to revitalize.
Alternatively, the county could enhance the economic vitality of the area and transform Crystal City into a complete and vibrant urban community.
Crystal City, as it currently exists, is not well integrated into the surrounding community. Highway 1 cuts the bulk of Crystal City off from most its neighbors, creating what Jane Jacobs calls a "border vacuum." Crystal City offers relatively few attractions for those that live near, further lessening the incentives to ever go there.
There are also some very good aspects to Crystal City. Nonetheless, Crystal City could be better. It could be better integrated into the surrounding community, offer a greater choice of activities and amenities, a more walkable environment, and more easily accessible public and green spaces.
The Crystal City sector plan is a step towards many of these changes.
The plan doesn't do anything on its own. It functions as a planning tool to manage future development and redevelopment over the next 50 years. The plan itself doesn't approve the construction or destruction of any buildings. It doesn't cut down any trees or remove any parks. Although implementation of the sector plan requires certain zoning changes, each major project will be analyzed by its own merits in the normal course at the block level.
What it does do is to provide a guiding vision for the future of Crystal City and the surrounding areas. That vision includes the following:
- An updated, comprehensive transit plan that would relieve traffic and better connect Crystal City to neighboring communities while recreating Highway 1 as an urban boulevard.
- Establishing a recognizable block structure by reducing the number of superblocks and adding connecting neighborhood streets, providing a more cohesive and integrated neighborhood with greater access to storefront retail and entertainment options.
- Adding new, dedicated parks and public spaces (including a substantial new central park) in excess of any losses realized by redevelopment (much of Crystal City's current "green" or "public" space exists in traffic medians or on private land where it is not protected from future development.).
- Increased maximum building heights over much of Crystal City, facilitating greater density and ultimately creating an incentive for property owners to engage in full scale redevelopment rather than simply rehabbing the interiors of existing buildings.
In the absence of this guiding vision, the region will still see growth, construction, redevelopment, increases in traffic and additional usage of transit. But the sector plan is designed to ensure Crystal City grows in a managed, structured, and coherent fashion.
The plan will support, to the greatest extent possible, diversity of use, a more traditional street grid, integration into the surrounding community, and greater amenities. It includes proposals to help relieve some of the traffic and transit congestion that is inevitable based upon growth in the region.
Moreover, adding density creates the opportunity for additional amenities that would benefit Crystal City and existing neighborhoods, such as new schools, recreational opportunities, public health facilities, and affordable housing.
Last year, the Crystal City Vision Plan (the basis for the proposed sector plan) won a Charter Award from the Congress on New Urbanism. For more information on the Crystal City redevelopment process, check out the dedicated website.
Unfortunately, despite the plaudits, and despite an incredibly transparent process that engaged extensively with community members and stakeholders, there is a great deal of opposition to the proposals from some quarters.
Some are don't think the county will follow through with the infrastructure requirements of a 50-year plan, or don't think it can effectively provide carrots for good development instead of just sticks to prevent bad development. These are legitimate concerns, particularly for Crystal City residents who would be extremely troubled to find the redevelopment plan abandoned in 10 years with projects left incomplete and goals unachieved.
Similarly, others worry about giving out substantial increases in density before adding public services like schools and medical care, in particular. Still others are afraid to adopt a plan that will likely eliminate certain existing open spaces based on the promise of future (even superior) public open spaces. And as usual, some are concerned about building heights, traffic, and public safety.
While many of these concerns are valid, there are those that seem unlikely to ever support a plan to increase density one iota, restructure a single street, or redevelop a single parcel of land. They use innuendo and suggestion to argue that the County (inexplicably) wants to enrich developers on the backs of the local residents.
These critics are unwilling to recognize the serious negative effects on the horizon as a result of the BRAC process, which will move thousands of jobs out of Crystal City. Moreover, they refuse to acknowledge the benefits of making Crystal City a high-quality public realm with a robust diversity of uses and neighborhood activity 18 hours a day.
Eric Hallstrom is attorney interested in political law, public policy, urban planning and music. He lives in Arlington, VA.   |
Comments
- Successful speed cameras require fair speed limits
- Amid scandal, don't lose sight of Gray's policy achievements
- Montgomery plans 160-mile, "gold standard" BRT system
- VDOT ignores own data, pushes widening I-66
- DC's parks are 5th best in the nation, says "Park Score"
- Bethesda gets new but terrible bike racks
- DC's divide need not be black and white
by Lou on Sep 16, 2010 2:53 pm
Suspicious of plans to Turn Jeff Davis into a "boulevard". Maybe better to concentrate develop on one side -- which is what I think of as Crystal City anyway?
Integration with the dreaded North Tract?
ARlington has a great track record of building soulness smart density metro stops. Perhaps be radical, and build a new Georgetown or Old Town. Will there be a single office left in there after BRAC?
by charlie on Sep 16, 2010 4:29 pm
I like the idea of Crystal City, but right now, it's a pedestrian-unfriendly dehumanizing concrete jungle.
*Something* needs to happen to the Jeff Davis highway, because it is indeed disruptive to the surrounding area (but far from the only thing wrong with the city).
by andrew on Sep 16, 2010 4:35 pm
Inexplicably? That's what governments do. What do you think campaign contributions are for?
by Hoe Lieberman on Sep 16, 2010 4:44 pm
by Juanita de Talmas on Sep 16, 2010 4:47 pm
Here -- I fixed this part for you:
Nonetheless, Crystal City could be better. It could be better integrated into the surrounding community, offer a greater choice of activities and amenities, a more walkable and bikable environment, and more easily accessible public and green spaces.
by Peter Smith on Sep 16, 2010 5:29 pm
by Vicente Fox on Sep 16, 2010 5:34 pm
by OX4 on Sep 16, 2010 5:47 pm
everything is relative, but still, i'd have to disagree with 'pretty bike-friendly'. not worth discussing, tho, imo.
however, even if CC was already pretty bike-friendly, it wouldn't change the need to make it even more bike-friendly -- this, given the fact that the most bike-friendly city in America (Portland) probably only has a 10% bike mode share, and I suspect Crystal City is down near 2%. both places need to become more bike-friendly.
so, my comment is not just about Crystal City, but generally directed at all posts/comments/literature about these types of projects -- nobody is really allowed to say 'bikable' because then you lose all credibility -- you sound like a dirty hippie -- but it's OK to say 'walkable' because that means you own a car, drive to and from most places (and are, therefore, not a dirty hippie), and then walk around once you get to your destination, probably some high-end pseudo-downtown area like Clarendon.
we need to overcome our fear of suggesting that places should be bikable in addition to walkable. the fear is rational -- it will make you look bad to most people -- at least for a few more months/years -- until we turn this ship around. i'm just saying -- don't be afraid -- deal with the consequences -- be a trailblazer -- you won't lose your job over it. probably. (@see DC, Soon-to-be-Former Mayor of) ;-D
by Peter Smith on Sep 16, 2010 7:13 pm
by Arlington Solutions on Sep 16, 2010 9:27 pm
@Peter Smith: CC is among one of the most bike friendly parts of the area. I know this because I regularly bike to work. We have a direct access to the Mount Vernon Trail and most of the major roads have either marked bike lanes or are wide enough for bike access. As others have mentioned, we were the first to get bike-sharing. Furthermore we have our own cycling race, bike shop, and a lot of people here bike for pleasure or commuting. Perhaps instead of 'suspecting' you should have a look.
The withdrawl of military use presents some opportunities for the CC area. First and foremost we need a hospital in eastern Arlington. The nearest public hospital with emergency service is five miles away. This was a major issue on 9/11 and I'm surprised it has never been adequately redressed.
Second, with the nearest grocery stores more than a mile away (Pentagon City and Potomac Row) but plenty of fast food restaurants, CC qualifies as a Food Desert. What I envision is a permament Farmer's Market located near the metro station at 18th St and Crystal Drive - let's give Eastern Market some competition.
Finally, pedestrian access across US1 needs to be addressed. This isn't an issue with 12th, 15th, and 18th Streets as these are pedestrian friendly underpasses (wider sidewalks at 12th and 15th would be nice). The big problems are the 20th and 23rd St intersections. 20th St could be addressed in the short term with a pedestrian overhead crosswalk. 23rd and US1, however, is badly botched. The Plan proposes a traffic circle with underpass at 26th and US1 (similar to Conn Ave @ Dupont Circle), I'd build it at 23rd street instead.
by Smoke_Jaguar4 on Sep 16, 2010 11:02 pm
Besides, who would want to live next to an airport? Is that that new urban hipster thing to do?
by MPC on Sep 17, 2010 12:51 am
so you don't disagree with me, then. ok.
I know this because I regularly bike to work.
i don't particularly care about your 'credentials' -- i'm not like other people...ahem...i just care that your observations make sense.
for instance, i was a bike commuter for 2+ years in several different cities, and i wouldn't dare call any of them 'bike-friendly'. but people have different opinions.
i never bike commuted to or in CC - not regularly. i rode and ran the trip a couple/few times for fun. i suppose CC could have undergone the most radical bike transformation in the history of the world these past few years, all without anyone in the bike world knowing it, all without any documentation, but i doubt it. i don't know everything about bikes, but i know most of what is available in the English language.
We have a direct access to the Mount Vernon Trail
access to bike trails is not completely worthless, but i'd hesitate to suggest this access is meaningful in any 'bike-friendly' sense. my idea of 'bike-friendly' means normal people being able to get around on bike and do normal things, safely, comfortably, conveniently, with dignity intact. maybe our definitions differ. i don't generally view rape-o-matic trails as anything but playgrounds and exercise routes that are always to be avoided at night, and often, during the day, too.
can a normal person ride to the grocery store to pick up a gallon of milk? would a normal person even consider it? no? then how you gonna call CC bike-friendly?
and most of the major roads have either marked bike lanes or are wide enough for bike access.
Does Jefferson Davis Highway have a physically-separated bike lane? How about Glebe Rd? It does appear as though part of Eads Ave has something that resembles a bike lane along part of it -- that's nice -- it's a nice addition to that speed- and rage-inducing raised median.
Does that make Crystal Sh...City bike-friendly to you?
How about all the highways in and around the area? How about the airport access roads? How about the various high-speed one-way streets? How about the all the broken access due to the highways and on- and off-ramps criss-crossing everything in sight? Are wide roadways 'bike-friendly' to you? How about the empty streets after business hours -- are they bike-friendly to you? Or do you only care about yourself?
As others have mentioned, we were the first to get bike-sharing.
Bike-sharing is overrated. It's easy, which is why some cities are doing it. It doesn't re-appropriate road space from cars. It's an easy PR win for a sitting mayor/council.
Paris had a bike mode share of about 1% before its bike mode share program -- probably similar to where Crystal City is at. After bike sharing, it jumped a percentage point or so.
Then Paris realized that they had to do the hard work that New York City, Portland, and DC have been doing -- then the mode share numbers started moving again. Though, really, everyone knew what was going to be required all along. It's not necessarily the wrong move, but we shouldn't have illusions about what bike sharing is going to be able to accomplish.
Furthermore we have our own cycling race, bike shop, and a lot of people here bike for pleasure or commuting.
So, Crystal City is like...how many other cities/towns in America that are also not bike-friendly? Clarendon. San Jose. San Rafael. Indianapolis. They've all got races, bike shops, and people who commute and even have fun on bikes. Does that make them 'bike-friendly'? No.
I will say, though, that I've never seen a 'regular bike commuter' make the case that their city/town/area is bike friendly because it has: a) a bike race, b) a bike shop, and c) people who not only ride to work, but ride for fun/exercise, too. Brilliant. I've read it on city web pages, but I thought everyone knew that was jut marketing material. Apparently, not everyone.
Perhaps instead of 'suspecting' you should have a look.
I suspect you disagree with my 2% mode share estimate, but are afraid to challenge me on it, because you know I'm right, and that's why you've resorted to the old 'air quotes' routine. Hope that 'works out for you'.
CC has been 'up and coming' forever. It needs a radical transformation of its streets. Some mega-complex is not good enough, but I guess it's a start. Crystal City is the one place one can live 'in' DC and be in a band -- it's the only place that's affordable, because it dies at five. Without Metro access, CC would have dried up and blown away by now. Crystal City needs real bike infrastructure, not platitudes about how bike-friendly the town is just because it has bike-sharing.
by Peter Smith on Sep 17, 2010 1:27 am
i never bike commuted to or in CC - not regularly
So you have no actual data with which to refer to, but you're going to go with your belief otherwise, unlike someone who lives there. That's very illogical, as most beliefs are.
I fear cyclists more than I fear drunk drivers, cab drivers who were licensed in Eritrea and distracted Metrobus drivers. On my walk home I saw, as I do every day, a cyclist trying to go for the always intelligent "I'm special, red lights are for suckers" attempt to cross fast moving rush hour traffic at 11th & M. Good thing for her that car screeched to a halt right in the middle of the intersection; survival of the fittest applied to DC cyclists would yield a 90% reduction in their numbers.
I'd be far more supportive of bikes if the people riding them weren't a threat to everyone else.
by copperred on Sep 17, 2010 3:15 am
Huh? There's plenty of dining on 23rd Street, but it's on the west side of Route 1. How much would it cost to just bury Route 1 for a couple blocks?
by monkeyrotica on Sep 17, 2010 8:34 am
Erm... There's a Harris Teeter at the south end of Crystal City, and a Shoppers at the north end of Potomac Yards. (They may be less convenient than the HT at Pentagon Row if you live at the north end of CC, but they are there.)
by Reverend Dave on Sep 17, 2010 10:18 am
Regarding biking through/around Crystal City (which I've done a bit of, especially lately), I generally agree with Smoke Jaguar (I *HAVE* to ask BTW if that screenname comes from Battletech?), though I think the reality of bike issues in Crystal City lies somewhere between his position and that of Peter Smith's.
by Froggie on Sep 17, 2010 10:46 am
by charlie on Sep 17, 2010 11:03 am
by Zimmerwoman on Sep 17, 2010 11:33 am
And, to tie this in with another thread: Having the cabi bikes will make it a whole bunch more convenient for folks who commute in via metro. :)
by Reverend Dave on Sep 17, 2010 11:47 am
Maybe, but they are for the most part empty buildings.
by Tam Tem Tim Tom Tum on Sep 17, 2010 12:43 pm
@MPC: every time I'm down there,it blows my mind to see those condos going up. Metro and regular train tracks on one side,Rt 1 on the other,and planes flying overhead. No thank you,I'd rather live underground in the CC arcology,at least I'd get some peace and quiet.
@copperred: srsly? Bikes scare you? They threaten everyone else? There were 29 traffic fatalities and 14 pedestrian deaths in DC last year*,none of them caused by cyclists. And cyclists only make up something like 2% of the local commuter traffic. But cyclists are the problem?
* http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/departments/nrd-30/ncsa/stsi/11_DC/2009/11_DC_2009.htm
by dynaryder on Sep 17, 2010 2:37 pm
either that, or your analytical skills are sorely lacking.
by Peter Smith on Sep 17, 2010 3:41 pm
by David Alpert on Sep 17, 2010 3:49 pm
by Marian Berry on Sep 17, 2010 3:49 pm
by Tino on Sep 17, 2010 5:22 pm
by ForestGlen on Sep 18, 2010 4:29 pm
Yep, BTech many, many, many years ago. Old school too with hex grids and 2xD6! As for the Harris Teeter, for most CC residents it's on the fringe of accessibility. The only convenient way of getting there is via car. If it weren't for this, most CC residents could ditch there vehicles altogether. Makes me wish for the old Safeway in the CC underground.
@charlie:
Yeah, Dupont Circle is a mess because it's the confluence of 8 intersections with traffic lights. It's the clearest reminder that L'Enfant's vision was most definitely pre-automobile. The one thing they did get right was the underpass for Conn Ave. For CC, if they address how Clark St interesects 23rd near US1 (which is in the Plan), then a circle at 23d and US1 would work. This is especially important since 23d St is nightlife and tourist center of CC. There are lots of pedestrians who risk crossing this busy and walker-unfriendly intersection instead of taking the pedestrian underpass. This underpass itself is poorly marked and in poor condition (it stinks of pee...)
@Marian Berry:
Yes, the definition of CC is murky. There are several official definitions, but the reality is the area is a continuum bounded by I-395, Glebe Rd, and the George Washington Parkway. Most people focus on the area east of US1, but the real residential center of this area is focused on Virgina Highlands Park (bounded by Hayes, Joyce, 15th, and 18th Streets) which provides green space for the surrounding SFH's and high-/mid-rise apartments and condos and
@Peter Smith:
Whatever merits your arguements may have, you undermine your own credibility with inflamatory language like 'rape-o-matic' and 'Crystal Sh...City'. A little more maturity goes a long way, otherwise you just come of as a troll.
by smoke_jaguar4 on Sep 19, 2010 9:56 am
Upon further reflection, aren't most of the apartment high-rises in CC north of 23rd? I guess in that vein, the Harris Teeter would be a bit of a walk...IIRC, it took me 20 minutes recently walking from Alexandria Toyota to the CC Metro station.
by Froggie on Sep 19, 2010 11:20 am
I'm sorry, I don't know anyone who lives here that considers that park part of Crystal City.
by Jesse Baxon on Sep 20, 2010 12:34 pm
a troll is anyone who disagrees with you -- you don't know this?
i don't think my language was inflammatory -- i thought it was honest-ory -- you should try it sometime. many of my friends/colleagues referred to CC as CS -- as others in this thread have pointed out, it's an abomination of a place. at some level i understand false pride in one's hometown -- i also think it's extremely damaging.
maybe if we had a little bit more truth-telling about trails, we could have more on-street facilities, where they belong:
Unfortunately for women who jog, walk, bicycle and skate along the area's many trails and paths, [attacks do] happen on a regular basis.
...
Gabeau knows from experience. A runner for 27 years, she was attacked by a man while jogging on the Mount Vernon trail near Alexandria in 1981. She was able to escape her attacker, but the experience led her to start the safety bulletin and develop a list of suggestions for runners. Now that she's retired, however, it's unclear if anyone else will take on the job of compiling the safety bulletins.
The article goes on to describe how one attacker, in 2002 or so, attacked one woman on one area trail, then another a month or so later, and was sent to prison for 10 years, which means he's either out already or about to get out -- and he may be already on the Mount Vernon Trail looking for his next victim. or he may have struck already -- without good crime reporting/status, it's tough to know for sure.
let's make a deal -- i'll tell the truth immaturely, and you conceal the truth maturely -- cool?
by Peter Smith on Sep 20, 2010 4:21 pm
by Brent Spence on Sep 22, 2010 9:00 am
by South Arlington on Sep 29, 2010 10:34 am
Add a Comment