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Crystal City is a
unique place to live, especially for a senior citizen
or a person with a disability.
Overhead walkways are one way the
Crystal City is pedestrian friendly.
You can walk in cozy comfort from your apartment or condo in
underground tunnels to shopping, doctor's offices, restaurants and the
metrorail system.
In the "Underground", there are maps
showing the way. You can walk from 23rd Street, past the metro stop,
to 12th Street. Two high rise apartments connect directly to the
tunnels. There are 2 clusters of small shops (1 shown as the yellow
area in the enlarged circle). Shopping includes drug stores, news
stands, Radio Shack, a small hardware store, and small clothing
stores. There's a dry cleaner, opticians, and restaurants.
There's hotels connected to this tunnel system, so
out of town visitors can stay just a short walk away if that's most
convenient. The tunnel system runs about 11 blocks going north and
south, with lots of criss-cross tunnels running a block or two to the
east and west at different points. Lots of maps are on the walls to
help you get around. Security guards constantly keep the tunnel areas
safe.
The whole area is
very nicely landscaped. Different flowers are planted
to have colorful landscaping as much of the year as possible.
You're just one metro
stop away from the airport, yet noise from
airplanes is remarkable low. If you're indoors, you wouldn't know
you're just a short distance from the airport. You're also just one
rail stop from Pentagon City mall. Behind the mall (on the west side)
is a nice shopping center with a Harris Teeter grocery store.
Charles E. Smith had
a very innovative idea in Crystal City. If time management is
important to you, this could be a great place to live. You go to the
drugstore, or drop off your cleaning and be back home in minutes. You might not even need a car; you can do so much just
walking. Zipcar and FlexCar each have one car in a reserved space about
a block from the Crystal City Metro station.
Flexcar and Zipcar have reserved
spaces near the Metro station.
Other cool or useful
stuff includes:
a health club
US Patent Office
Devry University
3 banks and 2 credit unions
walking and biking trails
Kinko's/FedEx
Aurora Hills Library
hair salons
Almost all of this is
accessible without going outdoors, a great
convenience for the elderly or disabled.
Pentagon City mall is just one stop away
on the Metro.
In the summer, free concerts are given
in this small park. It's a nice place to have lunch on a warm sunny
day. The waterfalls makes a popular backdrop for wedding parties to
have photographs taken.
The area has a clean, modern feel
to it. The area is well landscaped, with
in season flowers in bloom much of the year.
Also, Arlington has
been extremely progressive in finding ways to use
mass transit in innovative ways to reduce pollution and increase
convenience. Some of their buses use clean fuels like compressed
natural gas (CNG). Crystal City is sort of a hub with VRE (Virginia
Railway Express, metro bus and rail, and bike trails serving the
community. There's a free bus at certain hours that goes in loop to
encourage people not to drive to lunch. So a lot of these people can
take mass transit to work, then use a convenient free bus to get to
their favorite restaurant.
The bike trails go by the airport, all
the way south to Mt. Vernon. To the north, they go into Georgetown and
along the canal by the Potomac river.
If this appeals to
you, you should visit Crystal City and see if it's your cup of tea.
Apartments in Northern Virginia
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