Downtown Roanoke, VA

Downtown Roanoke is a very intact downtown with much of its historic fabric and buildings still standing. The City also managed to keep its historic market, which has become a wonderful catalyst for the revitalization of the Downtown area. Many non-food related stores (boutiques, clothing, and specialty retail) have opened within or near the historic market. Outside of the Market District other parts of Dwtn are experiencing revitalization including Campbell St., Jefferson St., and the West Station Conversion. Just north of Downtown is the Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center, a historic hotel built by the Norfolk & Western railroad company next to their large station. This is a reminder that Roanoke used to be a major railroad town.

The Western and southern edges of Downtown are pretty underutilized but promise hope for additional revitalization efforts Dwtn. Fortunately there are still plenty of historic buildings in these areas that can help spark revitalization efforts before the market is ready for new construction.

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Very intact historic fabric.
* Vibrant historic market and district in the heart of Dwtn. In addition to restaurants & food stores there are plenty of boutiques and unique stores in the market district.
* Lots of recent renovations and rebirth Dwtn.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Pretty limited skyline.
* Decent number of surface parking lots in the SW quadrant of Dwtn.
* So density Downtown. Could certainly use a larger population to support important retail amenities like a supermarket.

Charlottsville, VA- Downtown

I consider Downtown Charlottesville to be the area between High St down to the railroad tracks and btwn Ridge St and 9th St from west to east. This is also referred to as the Charlottesville Historic District. The District is a decent sized downtown area for a City of Charlottesville’s size. Main Street functions as the central heart of Downtown where the bulk of cultural and retail amenities are located. And its a pedestrian street! Charlottesville and Burlington are running neck and neck for the smallest US cities with a functioning pedestrian street. Some of the energy of Main street spills over to Water and Market Streets. I particularly like the mixed-use urban form of Water Street, which combines both old and new, low rise and mid rise buildings. Market street is a mix of residential and institutional uses. Great 19th century architecture here. he area between Market and High has a decent # of surface lots and can feel pretty dead. North of High street is primarily a residential area called North Downtown.

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Great pedestrian street along Main.
* Great cultural amenities including tons of restaurants, bars, and cafes, plenty of art galleries & several theaters, etc.
* Lots of local retail options including plenty of boutiques, several bookstores, a couple grocerias, and other typical neighborhood retail.
* Great array of historic bldgs.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Decent # of parking lots and underutilized areas, especially btwn market and high.
* Not a major jobs center.
* Ok bike infrastructure.

Crystal/Pentagon City- Arlington’s best New Urbanist Center

Arlington’s Pentagon City and Crystal City is a great example of how to built a relatively urban environment in the auto age. This is a rare American example where cars, pedestrians, public transit and bike modes are relatively. I can’t say I love the design and set back of the original buildings built in Crystal/Pentagon City in the 70s & 80s but their multi-model design was certainly ahead of its time. More recent in-fill developers have been much better from an architecture and urban design standpoint. The neighborhood is also a great example of how park and recreation space can be better integrated into the urban fabric when urban planners are given a clean slate.

Already Crystal/Pentagon City is a quality jobs hub with around 35-50K jobs. Amazon will bring over 25K jobs to Crystal in the next decade. The main areas to improve from an urban perspective is making Crystal/Pentagon City more family friendly. To achieve this more walkable schools are needed along with affordable 3-bedroom condos & townhouses. I fully anticipate future in-fill will continue to be built with quality urban design helping solidify Crystal/Pentagon City as a quality mixed-use district in Arlington.

Click to view my Pentagon City and Crystal City albums on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Many quality examples of modern in-fill. The design of in-fill buildings are better since 2000 but even the older stuff from the 70s & 80s has decent urban design.
* Consistent quality sidewalk and ADA infrastructure network. Sometimes sidewalks are uncomfortable due to high traffic boulevards.
* While there are probably around 50K jobs in Crystal/Pentagon City, it also has very convenient access to Downtown DC and other Arlington Nodes.
* Great public transit access and bike infrastructure including many dedicated bike lanes and good bike share access.
* Good racial diversity.
* Lots of rental options but generally pretty expensive. Studios and 1-bedrooms rent in the $1,000s, 2-bedrooms in the 2Ks & 3Ks, and 3-bedrooms in the $2,000s-$4,000s. Fortunately there is some affordable housing options here.
* Great array of parks and amenities well dispersed throughout Crystal/Arlington City.
* Cultural amenities include a great array of restaurants, bars & cafes, two performing arts theaters, a couple local museums, many art galleries, and an upscale movie theater.
* With at least 4 shopping malls, several department stores, countless brand name stores, several grocery stores, neighborhood retail, and a good about of boutiques and creative stores, its hard to get better retail amenities than here.
* Very safe neighborhood with really no blight (partially due to age of development).

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* No historic architecture in Crystal/Pentagon City.
* Connecting is decent but rather confusing with the city’s curvilinear street grid.
* Generally very high incomes but some economic diversity more so in Crystal City.
* Age wise the neighborhood skews towards the young professional but about 35-40% family households here.
* For sale condos are kind of limited and expensive. 1-bedrooms general sell in the 300Ks and 400Ks, 2-bedrooms 500Ks & 600Ks, and 3-bedrooms 700Ks-1 Million.
* No schools within the Crystal/Pentagon neighborhood boundaries, some elementary and middle schools about 1 mile away.