I am not going to tell you to Move to Alexandria....
Posted 04-24-2018 at 12:22 PM by patriciasharris
....but if you are like most people you will be mesmerized by this small City, more like a town to me and most likely decide to take the plunge.
If you are in search for the History of Alexandria the best place to find this information is the City of Alexandria's government own website. Which by the way has a lot more useful information including up and coming events. I have it bookmarked
We are about 153,000+ of us here, not that many if you compare it to DC with a population of almost 700,000, granted the District of Columbia is much larger. But being small is probably one of Alexandria's charm. If you are the type that likes to go out, you might end up start knowing or seeing the same people every now and then. Especially if you befriend City Councilmen and are part of their Social Media.
In essence, the Old Town part of Alexandria, the area by the Waterfront, is what people associate with Alexandria City.
The waterfront is going through a needed revitalization. What is called Robinson South - a complex of a luxury condo building, townhomes and retail is under construction now (2018), with the Indigo Hotel standing right next to it. It took the City a few years to approve this plan. I was one of its supporters, I believe it is a great addition to the City overall plan of adding more pedestrian friendly areas near the water, like the Waterfront park that is now being built where the Old Dominion Boathouse used to be. At the Intersection of King Street and the Potomac River.
We are still waiting for the Robinson North project to come alive ==again. Knowing how slow it takes for these projects to get approved it might be a few years from now, that's a shame.
As I was saying the quadrants I am referring to are organized by King Street (running east-west) and Washington St (running north-south). The edges are not exact it just gives you an overall idea, for more specifics you will need to go to the City' website. Click to see a map of the City of Alexandria
The south-east quadrant (roughly) is the Old Town proper. You will find charming historic houses that were once the homes of prominent wealthy Alexandrians. The north-east one is still part of Old Town with many historic homes as well, but with many new developments along the water that were built in the 60's.
The north-west is the Parker Grey area which housed many black residents at that time when Alexandria was founded. These homes are smaller and more affordable, though I am not sure what "affordable" means anymore.
The south-west quadrant hasn't evolved as much, including the Cemetery and a few very nice townhomes that attempted to start a high-end trend over there, though the majority of homes are brick duplexes.
Throughout the year you will find plenty of planned activities, trust me you won't be bored. From the King Street Art festival which happens every spring. The blocks along King Street from the Waterfront to Washington Street close to give room for tents with a large number of curated artists tents showcasing and selling their products. It happens one entire weekend once a year. We also have parades, like the St Patrick Day parade and the President's day parade, both are the delight of kids and their parents. Of course, there is also Last Night which happens December 31 ending with fireworks at the Masonic temple. That day many stores share their spaces with tons of scheduled activities which you can attend by just walking along and enjoying yourself. The light boat parade is a must and the Summer park concerts abound.
If all of this is not enough we have plenty of fabulous restaurants and bars in a very small radius so you can pick and choose at your heart's desire.
I am biassed of course, I live here. We are now starting to think about where to go when we retired (some day it will happen) but the more I think about it, Why would we move anywhere else? It is so nice here, the weather is not bad, it is minutes to the Reagan National Airport a bike ride to Washington DC and a few hours away to pastoral farms or scenic mountains. Ok, I convinced myself, I am staying.
There are many other neighborhoods and areas, like Del Ray, Potomac Yard, Rosemont, West End and others. I will leave those for another blog.
If you are in search for the History of Alexandria the best place to find this information is the City of Alexandria's government own website. Which by the way has a lot more useful information including up and coming events. I have it bookmarked
We are about 153,000+ of us here, not that many if you compare it to DC with a population of almost 700,000, granted the District of Columbia is much larger. But being small is probably one of Alexandria's charm. If you are the type that likes to go out, you might end up start knowing or seeing the same people every now and then. Especially if you befriend City Councilmen and are part of their Social Media.
In essence, the Old Town part of Alexandria, the area by the Waterfront, is what people associate with Alexandria City.
The waterfront is going through a needed revitalization. What is called Robinson South - a complex of a luxury condo building, townhomes and retail is under construction now (2018), with the Indigo Hotel standing right next to it. It took the City a few years to approve this plan. I was one of its supporters, I believe it is a great addition to the City overall plan of adding more pedestrian friendly areas near the water, like the Waterfront park that is now being built where the Old Dominion Boathouse used to be. At the Intersection of King Street and the Potomac River.
We are still waiting for the Robinson North project to come alive ==again. Knowing how slow it takes for these projects to get approved it might be a few years from now, that's a shame.
As I was saying the quadrants I am referring to are organized by King Street (running east-west) and Washington St (running north-south). The edges are not exact it just gives you an overall idea, for more specifics you will need to go to the City' website. Click to see a map of the City of Alexandria
The south-east quadrant (roughly) is the Old Town proper. You will find charming historic houses that were once the homes of prominent wealthy Alexandrians. The north-east one is still part of Old Town with many historic homes as well, but with many new developments along the water that were built in the 60's.
The north-west is the Parker Grey area which housed many black residents at that time when Alexandria was founded. These homes are smaller and more affordable, though I am not sure what "affordable" means anymore.
The south-west quadrant hasn't evolved as much, including the Cemetery and a few very nice townhomes that attempted to start a high-end trend over there, though the majority of homes are brick duplexes.
Throughout the year you will find plenty of planned activities, trust me you won't be bored. From the King Street Art festival which happens every spring. The blocks along King Street from the Waterfront to Washington Street close to give room for tents with a large number of curated artists tents showcasing and selling their products. It happens one entire weekend once a year. We also have parades, like the St Patrick Day parade and the President's day parade, both are the delight of kids and their parents. Of course, there is also Last Night which happens December 31 ending with fireworks at the Masonic temple. That day many stores share their spaces with tons of scheduled activities which you can attend by just walking along and enjoying yourself. The light boat parade is a must and the Summer park concerts abound.
If all of this is not enough we have plenty of fabulous restaurants and bars in a very small radius so you can pick and choose at your heart's desire.
I am biassed of course, I live here. We are now starting to think about where to go when we retired (some day it will happen) but the more I think about it, Why would we move anywhere else? It is so nice here, the weather is not bad, it is minutes to the Reagan National Airport a bike ride to Washington DC and a few hours away to pastoral farms or scenic mountains. Ok, I convinced myself, I am staying.
There are many other neighborhoods and areas, like Del Ray, Potomac Yard, Rosemont, West End and others. I will leave those for another blog.
