rankings

Arlington Ranked Third-Best Place to Live in U.S.

By Ethan Rothstein

Aerial view of Rosslyn (Flickr pool photo by @ddimick)Arlington County has been named the third-best place to live in the country, among localities with a population between 20,000 and 350,000.

Arlington ranked behind No. 1 Madison, Wis., and No. 2 Rochester, Minn., according to Livability.com, a website that “explores what makes small-to-medium sized cities great places to live.

“Arlington strikes a great middle ground for those who want something less urban than Washington D.C., but more suburban than many of the other towns that ring our nation’s capital,” Livability editor Matt Carmichael wrote. “Arlington’s status on this list can be traced largely to a decision made back in the 1960s.”

“Arlington lobbied to run the Metro underground and planned for high-rise and high-density development nearby,” Carmichael continued. “The result is the Rosslyn-Ballston Corridor that planners imagined as an ‘urban village.’ Each stop has its own function and identity. Together, its mix of retail, residential, government buildings, and offices help draw residents and businesses, but also help support the more traditional suburban parts of Arlington such as the cul-du-sac [sic], single-family-home neighborhoods of Country Club Hills and Columbia Pike.”

Livability scored localities in eight categories: economics, housing, amenities, infrastructure, demographics, social and civic capital, education and health care. Those factors were graded out of 100 and added together. Arlington had a score of 680 (Madison finished at 705, and Rochester and 685). Arlington received 88 points for its school system and 76 for amenities.

County leaders touted the ranking in a press release.

“This is gratifying recognition of decades of long-term thinking, planning and follow-through by many community leaders,” said Arlington County Board Chair Jay Fisette. “Our outstanding transportation network, strong neighborhoods, welcoming business climate, mixed-use development and great schools were all factors in our ranking.”

Flickr pool photo by @ddimick

Redfin: Arlington Has Top Two Millennial ZIP Codes in U.S.

By Ethan Rothstein

ZIP code map (image via City-Data)(Updated at 2:25 p.m.) Arlington’s 22201 ZIP code, which contains Clarendon, Courthouse Virginia Square and part of Ballston, is the top area for “educated millennials” in the country, according to a new report.

Redfin, a real estate firm, released a study that found 22201 has the highest percentage educated people between the ages of 25 and 34 in the country, at 44 percent. Just behind 22201 is the 22209 ZIP code, which comprises all of Rosslyn and Ft. Myer Heights, with 43 percent.

In addition to sporting the most millennials per capita of any ZIP code in the country, Arlington also has by far the highest median income of any of the top 25 millennial-dense neighborhoods, according to Redfin’s data. 22201 is first at $110,300, 22203 — 16th in density at 30 percent — is second at $100,900. The 22206 ZIP code, which includes Shirlington, is 14th in density at 32 percent and third in income at $95,000, while 22209 is fourth in income at $94,100.

Two ZIP codes in Chicago trail immediately behind Arlington in terms of millennials per capita, with a Miami ZIP code ranked fifth. Washington, D.C.’s 20009 (Columbia Heights and Adams Morgan) is seventh in the country and 20008 (Woodley Park, Cleveland Park and north of Dupont Circle) is 18th.

“Redfin’s report looks at the common attributes of millennial ZIPs,” said Redfin’s Alina Ptaszynski. “Not surprisingly they are diverse, urban areas that are expensive places to live and buy a home.”

In addition to having the highest percentage of — and arguably the richest — millennials in the nation, Clarendon was named the D.C. area’s “best neighborhood for millennials” earlier this year by Niche.com.

Unsurprisingly, Redfin found that millennials across the U.S. have a lower rate of home ownership than the population as a whole — 42 percent for millennials compared to 65 of the overall population.

Image via City-Data

Three Arlington ZIP Codes Named Area’s Wealthiest

By ARLnow.com

North Arlington ZIP codesThree Arlington ZIP codes have made a list of the top 50 wealthiest ZIP codes in the Washington area, but none cracked the top 10.

The list, published in the latest print edition of the Washington Business Journal, includes the 22207 ZIP code at No. 14, 22213 at No. 21 and 22205 at No. 31. All three encompass parts of north Arlington.

The average household income for each, respectively, is $193,292, $183,484 and $171,153.

The ZIP codes in the top 10, meanwhile, include parts of Vienna, Cabin John, McLean and Potomac, among others. The No. 1 wealthiest ZIP code, according to the list, was the Great Falls ZIP code of 22066, with an average household income of $225,311.

The “wealthiest ZIP code” rankings are determined by factors like home values, net worth and disposable income.

Last year, Arlington as a whole ranked as the richest county in America by median family income and the seventh richest by median household income.

Map via unitedstateszipcodes.org

Arlington Falls in ‘Most Generous’ Rankings

By ARLnow.com

AFAC celebrates 25th anniversaryArlington has fallen in a ranking of “most generous online cities,” but remains near the top of the heap.

Arlington is the 7th most-generous locality (with a population over 100,000) in the U.S. according to new rankings from Blackbaud, a software company dealing in fundraising solutions for nonprofits.

Arlington residents made 72,031 chartitable online donations that were tracked by Blackbaud, for a total of $7.3 million. That’s $33,671 per 1,000 residents.

Washington, D.C. ranked as the fourth most generous city and Alexandria ranked second. In Alexandria, $47,192 was donated online per 1,000 residents D.C. averaged $38,172 donated per 1,000 residents.

The nation’s “most generous city” was Seattle, with $53,542 in donations per 1,000 residents.

Arlington ranked fourth on Blackbaud’s list last year. But Blackbaud spokeswoman Nicole McGougan said the company increased the survey size for its most recent rankings, which makes a direct comparison to last year’s rankings impossible.

“Comparing the data is like comparing apples and oranges,” McGougan said.

The top 10 “most generous online cities” on this year’s list are:

  1. Seattle, Wash.
  2. Alexandria, Va.
  3. Atlanta, Ga.
  4. Washington, D.C.
  5. Cambridge, Ma.
  6. Ann Arbor, Mich.
  7. Arlington, Va.
  8. Cincinnati, Ohio
  9. Bellevue, Wash.
  10. San Francisco, Calif.

Clarendon Named Washington’s ‘Best Neighborhood for Millennials’

By ARLnow.com

Two people talking on a Clarendon sidewalk (Flickr photo by Ddimick)Clarendon has been named the Washington, D.C. area’s “best neighborhood for millennials.”

The rankings were published by Niche.com, a website that provides information and analysis about colleges, K-12 schools and places. The website looked at factors like median rent, median income, the percentage of the population between 25 and 34 years old, and the percentage of the population with a bachelor’s degree or higher.

The D.C. area itself was named the third-best city for millennials, after New York City and Austin, Texas. Chicago and San Francisco followed, ranked fourth and fifth respectively.

Flickr pool photo by Ddimick

Arlington Food Truck Makes Yelp ‘Top 100’ List

By ARLnow.com
1/5

Arlington’s El Chilango food truck has made Yelp’s list of the “Top 100 Places to Eat” in the United States.

The list seeks to identify “the spots Yelpers have deemed the ultimate, try-before-you-die, food-coma-inducing, so-good-it-makes-you-want-to-slap-your-momma places to eat.” El Chilango was ranked No. 58, was the only eatery from Virginia on the list and one of only two from the D.C. area.

El Chilango serves tacos from a semi-permanent parking spot in the residential neighborhood of Radnor-Fort Myer Heights, in the area of 14th Street N. and N. Queen Street, near Route 50.

File photos

Arlington Named ’10th Unhappiest Place to Work’

By Ethan Rothstein

Aerial view of Rosslyn (Flickr pool photo by @ddimick)Arlington has been named the “10th unhappiest city to work” in the country, according to a new survey by career site CareerBliss.com.

Washington, D.C., comparatively, was named the second-happiest city to work in the country. Each city was evaluated by 10 factors, including “one’s relationship with the boss and co-workers, work environment, job resources, compensation, growth opportunities, company culture, company reputation, daily tasks, and control over the work done does on a daily basis,” according to Forbes.

Each factor was rated on a five-point scale by a survey of more than 20,000 employees. Washington D.C.’s 10 factors averaged to a score of 3.925, behind only San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif., which came in with a score of 3.93.

Arlington’s score was not listed — the list only gave scores of the top and bottom 5 cities — but the supposed unhappiest city to work in America, Cincinnati, Ohio, came in with 3.32. Pittsburgh, Pa., the fifth-unhappiest city, had a score of 3.58.

Flickr pool photo by @ddimick

Morning Poll: Least Attractive City in America?

By ARLnow.com

People walking in BallstonAccording to Travel + Leisure magazine, Washington, D.C. is the least attractive city in the country.

Slipping four places from last year, D.C. was judged to be the capital of ugly people.

“The locals came off as both unfriendly and not so stylish,” the magazine said. (San Francisco was ranked the most attractive city.)

Do you agree with Travel + Leisure’s assessment of Washington’s attractiveness? And which is more attractive, the District or Arlington?
 


 

Report: Arlington Has 10th Worst Drivers in U.S.

By ARLnow.com

Overturned car in CherrydaleArlington drivers are the 10th worst in the country, according to Allstate Insurance Company.

The company released its annual America’s Best Drivers Report this week and once again, Arlington is near the bottom. The county ranked 10th worst, with drivers going an average of 6.7 years between accidents. That means drivers here are 50 percent more likely to get in an accident than the national average.

Bad driving in the D.C. area isn’t just confined to Arlington, however. Alexandria ranked below Arlington as the 7th worst while Baltimore and the District ranked as No. 2 and 1 worst, respectively.

Arlington’s drivers seem to be getting worse over time, at least according to Allstate’s statistics. Last year, Arlington was ranked as 12th worst, and in 2011 the county was ranked 14th worst. In 2011, Arlington drivers went an average of 6.8 years between accidents.

The safest drivers in the country, meanwhile, reside in Fort Collins, Colo., where motorists go nearly 14 years between accidents on average. The national average is 10 years between accidents, according to Allstate.

Arlington Named No. 34 Meeting Destination in U.S.

By Ethan Rothstein

Rosslyn skyline at duskArlington County was named the No. 34 most-visited destination for meetings and conferences for the last year.

The ranking, from event management software provider Cvent, is based on meeting and event booking activity in the company’s system. Arlington fell eight spots from last year’s ranking of 26.

“Earning this ranking validates the significant effort that [Arlington Convention and Visitors Services] and Arlington hotels put into making the county an attractive choice for meetings, a critical part of our economy,” ACVS Director Emily Cassell said in a press release. “It also reflects Arlington’s appeal as a vibrant urban destination in the heart of the nation’s capital – one that offers the convenience of downtown D.C., but at hotel rates averaging up to 20 percent less.”

From the Arlington County press release:

Arlington generates more domestic visitor spending than any other county in Virginia: nearly $2.7 billion, or 13.1 percent of total visitor spending in the Commonwealth in 2011. The Arlington travel and tourism industry supports nearly 24,000 local jobs and generates more than $73 million in local tax receipts.

Cassell says a key factor in Arlington’s success is the close collaboration of ACVS, meeting planners and hotel representatives to provide a highly tailored event experience for attendees. Customized amenities such as on free on-site convention services and destination promotional materials help pique guests’ desire to experience Arlington’s national history and local flavor. Successful meetings influence repeat visitation, which Arlington Economic Development research shows increased 30 percent between 2007 and 2011.

Orlando, Fla., was named the top meeting and conference destination in the country for the second straight year, followed by Chicago and Las Vegas.

Alexandria dropped one spot from last year’s list to No. 41. Washington, D.C., was named the No. 7 meeting destination after being No. 2 in 2012. The activity was tracked from July 2012 to June 2013.

Local Nonprofits Make ‘Top-Rated’ List

By ARLnow.com

Nearly a dozen Arlington-based organizations have been recognized as “2012 Top-Rated Nonprofits” by the review website GreatNonprofits.

The nonprofits made the list by accumulating positive reviews from volunteers, donors and clients. A total of 1,386 U.S. nonprofits were listed this year. Among those based in Arlington:

Encore State & Studio Executive Director Sara Duke said the organization is “excited to be named a Top-Rated 2012 Nonprofit.”

“We are proud of our many accomplishments this year, a successful first season of our Encore Presents series, new programs including the Encore Show Choir, and over 10,000 audience members for our 2011/2012 season,” she said.

View More Stories