Classifying Virginia's Neighborhoods

Old Town Alexandria - from the Project for Public Spaces

What are we talking about when we use words like "urban," "rural," "traditional neighborhood," "suburban," etc?  While neighborhoods are all over the map in terms of density, urban form, and history, there are a few broad categories that most of Virginia's neighborhoods fit into.  Hopefully this typology will help you get a better picture of what those words mean and what planners see when they look at neighborhoods.

1. The Vertical City.

Examples: The Orange Line, Crystal City, (soon to be Tysons?)

While still less dense than most global cities, these areas are as high as you'll get in Virginia.  Vertical neighborhoods are usually too densely populated to be effectively served by automobile infrastructure and tend to grow up around heavy rail transit lines, like the Washington Metro, that allow large numbers of people easy mobility in the city.  While newer developments may provide expensive garages for residents to park their cars, a wide variety of daily needs, services, and entertainment can be had within walking distance or via transit.  Green space is rare and mostly shared.  It is probably difficult for families to raise children, but 20-somethings may love the range of entertainment options.

In Virginia, these areas are newer and very expensive, the result of extremely high pent-up demand squeezing itself into suburban infrastructure (often over the objections of surrounding neighborhoods).  Land use regulations keep the market from providing areas like these in most suburban municipalities, but some cities have embraced them as avenues for capturing huge property tax revenues and have begun to allow taller buildings and more units per acre.  Charlottesville has recently allowed sections of West Main Street to grow skyward, though still within carefully maintained limits - and not at a scale that will get it into this category anytime soon.  Virginia Beach is hoping to do the same around Town Center, but lacks the transit to support that growth.

 

If all of Virginia's 8 million residents lived at the density of the Orange Line, they would fit into an area roughly the size of Newport News and Hampton combined.

2. Traditional Urban

Examples: The Fan in Richmond, Old Town Alexandria

Neighborhoods like these formed the bread and butter of most cities prior to the 20^th century.  While these neighborhoods are not tall - most buildings are no more than a few stories - a dense street grid makes efficient use of the space.  It also allows a wide range of choices for reaching destinations, helping to disperse traffic.  Mixed use buildings are even more efficient, with first floors dedicated to retail and upper floors as offices or apartments.  Attached row homes predominate and streets are narrow.  Walking is easy due to the high connectivity, low traffic speed, and concentration of destinations.  Most goods and services are available within walking distance.  These neighborhoods often grew up along streetcar lines and can easily support transit.  Many residents may own cars, but car ownership isn’t absolutely necessary and many residents may choose not to own one because of the cost and inconvenience.  Parking is largely on-street, an important characteristic since parallel parking is significantly more space-efficient than off-street parking, provides “side friction” that keeps auto speeds down naturally, and serves as a protective barrier for pedestrians.  Backyards are small and front yards are nonexistent.  Green space is precious and used purposefully in pocket parks, boulevards, or public squares.

In Virginia, many of these areas fell into decay during the era of desegregation and rising automobile ownership.  Cities used federal urban renewal money to bulldoze large areas of this type of development, especially in cities like Norfolk and Richmond.  The areas that remain have recently become extremely popular across the country and have seen dramatic increases in property values, leading some to worry about gentrification.  Virginia really has only two large areas remaining that fit the bill – the Fan in Richmond and Old Town Alexandria.

 

Old Town Alexandria

 

The Fan

If all Virginians lived at the density of the Fan, the urbanized area would be approximately the size of Chesterfield County.

3. Traditional Neighborhood/Pre-War Suburbs

Examples: Ghent in Norfolk, Belmont in Charlottesville, Manchester in Richmond, Old Towne Portsmouth, Winchester Historic District, central Roanoke

The distinction between this category and the one before it is more of a continuum than a sharp line and has to do with density and the percentage of single-family detached homes (as opposed to row homes or apartment buildings).

You might think of these as what small towns and suburbs looked like before cars ruled the world.  These neighborhoods contain high concentrations of detached single-family homes with moderately-sized backyards and small front yards.  A tight street grid disperses traffic, makes walking easy, and uses space efficiently.  Mixed-use buildings along main streets provide most daily needs within walking distance.  Small multi-family apartment buildings are concentrated along main streets or scattered throughout in configurations that make them look like single-family homes.  Ideally, the mix of housing options allows for residents with a wide range of incomes, family structures, and ages.  Green space is still precious and used largely for public parks and plazas.

The New Urbanist (or Traditional Neighborhood Design) movement has focused on recreating this type of neighborhood, thanks to its versatility and attractiveness.  Traditional neighborhoods are car-compatible without being car-dominated.  Life is still possible on foot, though most residents probably own cars.  Virginia has numerous historic examples, as well as several new neighborhoods that have attempted to emulate this style.  We also have many older neighborhoods that could fit the bill (you could say they have "good bones"), but have been gutted due to population loss or tearing down of homes and conversion of home lots into side yards.

 

Charlottesville's Belmont - note the neighborhood's mini-downtown and scattered corner stores.  Belmont was originally a middle-class neighborhood and has a smaller housing stock.

 

East Beach under construction in Norfolk - this brand new neighborhood was built in a traditional neighborhood style, with interconnected streets, mixed use buildings, small front setbacks, and a mix of housing types.

 

Ghent in Norfolk.  Note the large single-family homes with commercial and apartment buildings along the main roads.

 

Winchester's Historic District

If all Virginian's lived at the density of Norfolk's Ghent, the city would fit into an area roughly the size of Richmond, Henrico County, Chesterfield County, Petersburg, and Charles City County.

4. Post-War/Inner-Ring Suburban

Examples: Annadale, Northeastern Fairfax County, Northeast Virginia Beach, Henrico County

Built in the three or four decades after World War II, these neighborhoods were at the forefront of America’s mass suburbanization.  Designed to be accessed primarily by car, these neighborhoods have winding and often disconnected streets that make walking difficult and that funnel all auto traffic onto large arterials.  These arterials are frequently congested (especially as development moves outward) and devoid of residents.  Businesses are concentrated along arterials in one-story, single-use strip centers, all of which provide adequate parking.  Multi-family apartment buildings or townhomes may be scattered throughout, but set back from main roads in configurations that allow plenty of off-street parking.  Parking lots and driveways for strip centers and townhome complexes may have almost the same footprint as the buildings they are associated with, lending the suburb its familiar sea-of-pavement feeling.  Inner-ring suburbs often support bus service, especially in poorer areas, but buses run infrequently and require public subsidy.

Most homes have backyards that are comparable to those of a traditional neighborhood, but with larger front yards and driveways for off-street parking.  Oddly-shaped lots and building placement leaves significant wasted (or “verdant”) green space – a sharp contrast with traditional neighborhoods. Sidewalks are neglected, but present and occasionally used.  Homes may be fairly small and aging.  In Northern Virginia, inner-ring suburbs still have sky-high property values due to the premium on homes close to DC.  Outside of Nothern Virginia, many inner-ring suburbs are struggling with declining property values and increased maintenance costs.

Many of these areas were originally built to hold a very homogenous populace - during the era of desegregation and white flight, some had homeowner's associations or private covenants that only allowed white residents.  However, in recent decades, they have become some of the most diverse in the state due to the affordability of their houses and the wide range of housing options that have squeezed themselves in over the years.  Many are magnets for immigrant communities.  Poverty rates have also risen in places like eastern Henrico County, a trend referred to by sociologists as “the suburbanization of poverty."  Increased interest in central urban areas may be helping to fuel this as poorer residents are displaced from inner-city areas.

 

Annandale

 

Henrico County

 

Northeast Virginia Beach

Images from Kempsville in Virginia Beach

If all Virginians lived in a city the density of Annandale, the city would take up this much of the state:

 

5. Low-density/Outer-Ring Suburban

Examples: parts of Loudoun County, Dale City, Stafford County, Hollymead (north Charlottesville), southern Chesapeake, parts of York County

Again, the distinction between inner- and outer-ring suburbs is more of a continuum than a sharp line.  Newer, outer suburbs are similar in most respects to their older counterparts.  Roads are even more winding and disconnected than in inner-ring suburbs and cul-de-sacs are frequent, concentrating traffic on large arterials that quickly become congested.  The difference is that this has been anticipated and the rights of way for the main arterials are often very wide to allow the road to expand to six, eight, or even ten lanes.  Many outer-ring suburbs are built near large commuter highways like I-95, I-66, US 29, or I-64.  Apartments and townhomes are built in homogenous clusters closer to the highway and strictly separated from single-family neighborhoods.  The most dramatic difference between inner- and outer-ring suburbs may be the average house size, which has increased steadily since the 1950’s.  Some of this increase may be due to regulations from municipalities, which are eager to ensure that the home values (and the incomes of the residents they attract) are high enough to support the sprawling infrastructure required.  You will almost never see a new outer suburb with single-family homes less than 2000 square feet.

Public buildings like schools and parks are also much larger and serve larger areas.  The smaller strip malls of inner-ring suburbs are replaced by enormous shopping complexes with big box stores like Target and Costco.  Residents who are already accustomed to getting in their cars for every trip of any kind are not put off by having to drive several miles to get to school, work, or a shopping center.

While parking in inner-ring strip malls is adequate most of the year, parking in these new shopping centers is scaled to match the highest conceivable demand – Black Friday for a big box store.  Newer suburbs may have six to eight off-street parking spaces for every vehicle in the city – equivalent to more than 3,000 square feet of pavement (not including roads) for every vehicle.  Car ownership is essentially mandatory for working adults.  These neighborhoods are often low on independent 20-somethings and elderly residents, who lose the ability to care for themselves as soon as they lose their drivers’ licenses.  They are also subject to strict income segregation, as the lack of housing options fills each subdivision with people of approximately the same socioeconomic status.  This concentration of wealth allows counties with large outer-ring suburbs to have excellent public school systems, which are in turn a draw for residents with children.

 

Dale City - note the dependence on I-95 and the heavy clustering of retail

 

Hollymead, Albemarle County

 

Stafford County - again note the dependence on I-95, the clustering of large retail outlets, and the strict separation of single family homes from multi-family units

Chesterfield County - single-family residential areas

 

Chesterfield - corresponding commercial and multi-family.  Note the main road that the development is built around.  It's been built with a wide right of way that's allowed it to become a massive ten-lane affair.

 Chesterfield - note the larger home sizes 

If all Virginians lived in neighborhoods like these, the urban area would cover a fifth of the state

6. Exurban

Examples: western Loudoun County, Goochland County, parts of Fauquier County

Exurbs are developments on the fringe of metropolitan areas and have a range of densities.  They have winding roads that are often integrated into long-existing rural roads.  Exurban developments are built to mimic aspects of rural life, with very large lots (an acre or more), stands of trees interspersed throughout, and subdivisions and streets named after farms or plantations.  Homes may be on septic and well water, rather than public systems.  Yet while developments may be interspersed with legacy farms, real agriculture is rare and usually on its way out, pushed out by high land prices and increasing conflict with residents. The primary distinction between an exurb and a true rural area is the exurb’s dependence on the urban economy.  True rural areas are built around agriculture, natural resource extraction, or limited local industry, and tend to be poorer than urban areas.  Exurbs, on the other hand, are some of the wealthiest parts of the state, and are populated with professionals working in nearby metropolitan areas.

While rural areas tend to provide a limited range of retail options in a more scattered form, exurbs are served by the same large, high-end shopping centers prominent in outer-ring suburbs.  Exurbanites may need to drive ten to fifteen minutes to do their shopping, but this seems normal when their commutes may be as much as an hour one-way.  Shopping centers can draw affluent customers from a wide area to provide a full range of goods and services.

 

Ivy, Albemarle County

 Loudoun County near Purcellville

Wexford Hills, James City County

This screen capture from a 3-d map of Virginia and Maryland shows density as height and median household income as color - with red being poorer and green being wealthier.  Exurbs are easy to spot - low density areas with high incomes at the fringe of the major metropolitan areas (including Charlottesville and Lynchburg on the lower right).