Field Experiences
Field Experience
One of the Country’s Biggest Successes in SmartGrowth – Winning Amazon HQ
Date: Saturday, May 4 | 1:00 – 5:30 pm ET
Registration: $55.00
Arlington, Virginia is a community that has been leading the country on SmartGrowth for more than half a century. Arlington has encountered tremendous growth and since 2016, and has consistently been ranked the #1 or #2 place in the country to live.
In 2017, Arlington’s generations of work on SmartGrowth led to one of the biggest economic development successes in the country – attracting Amazon’s second headquarters to the National Landing neighborhood.
This activity will include a walking tour, speakers, and more. You’ll hear from the Northern Virginia Association of REALTORS® and National Landing Business Improvement District about how National Landing and Northern Virginia are major destinations and hubs for walkability, multimodal transportation, nightlife, amenities, and more. Stay tuned for details on speakers and tour components in this fast-moving and engaging agenda.
© McDonald P. Mirabile / Moment / Getty Images
Note: This tour will include significant amounts of walking so weather-appropriate clothes and comfortable shoes are a must. Semi-casual attire is recommended.
Field Experience
Walking Tour: Historic Alleyways
Tour Dates:
Sunday, May 5 | 10:00 am – 12:00 pm ET
Tuesday, May 7 | 8:00 – 10:00 am ET
Registration: $10.00
Throughout DC’s history, alleyways have been a critical feature of neighborhood life. In the early twentieth century, DC’s hidden alleyways housed the majority of the city’s Black and immigrant populations, creating unique patterns of segregation. The grand residential blocks housed two distinct communities: White households lived in the street-facing homes and Black households occupied the same lots in interior alley houses hidden from the street. While city officials condemned life in the alleyways as dangerous, dirty, and diseased, they were in fact a place where communities sustained each other and provided security. This 90-minute walking tour, easily accessible from the Washington Convention Center, takes participants through the Blagden Alley/Naylor Court Historic District and reveals their secrets. Included in the price is a hardcover copy of Hidden Alleyways of Washington, DC: A History by Kim Prothro Williams, a local architectural historian and city planner.
