CPHD
Our Neighborhoods - Columbia Heights
Location
The Columbia Heights neighborhood, represented by the Columbia Heights Civic Association, is located in Central South Arlington, bounded on the North by Columbia Pike, on the West by Walter Reed Drive, on the East by S. Rolfe Street and on the South by 16th Street and property owned by the Army Navy Country Club.
The three primary advantages of living in our neighborhood, as noted by participants in our community survey, were:
- Convenience and access to a variety of shopping and retail establishments (39%).
- Proximity to Washington, D.C., and living close to the city (34%).
- Access to public transportation and major roads (27%).
Other advantages noted by residents included:
- Diversity of the population
- Safe neighborhood, on some streets
- Neighborhood/community feeling in some community
associations
Parks
There are 3 parks in Columbia Heights:
- Walter Reed Community Park. On the corner of Walter Reed and 16th Street, this park has a children’s playground and areas for tennis, basketball and soccer.
- Cleveland Park. Located on the corner of South Cleveland and 11th Street; this park could provide a unifying focal point for the single-family and condominium residents in the west end of the Neighborhood.
- Towers Park. Located at 801 South Scott Street, this county-owned and operated park is the only public space in the eastern portion of our civic association. This park is available to the residents of the high-rise apartments.
History
The Columbia Heights neighborhood contains two outstanding National Register Districts: Arlington Village and the Commons of Arlington (formerly known as Walter Reed Gardens ). These areas were listed on the National Register in April and May of 2003 respectively. The historical importance of these communities can be seen from both a period and architectural context. From 1936 through 1952 garden apartment and low rise apartment complexes were a dominant building type in Arlington County . The garden apartment developments were built for the growing influx of Federal employees who came first to work on the New Deal programs of the 1930's and the WWII and post war era. These projects offered unusual solid construction and a generous amount of open space never before used for working family housing. These projects were among the first FHA-insured developments and became prototypes for similar developments across the country.
Arlington Village
Gustave Ring purchased the fifty-three acres that would be developed into Arlington Village in 1939. This large tract was sited along Columbia Pike, which had been developed with gasoline stations, bus routes, and commercial buildings by 1939. Colonial Village , Ring's first large-scale rental project in Arlington County , was the first FHA-insured garden apartment development at the time of its construction in 1936. Ring's success and the Colonial Revival design of Colonial Village by architect Harvey Warwick, were repeated in Arlington Village . The ideals of the Garden City movement—to incorporate the natural contours of the land and to emphasize a natural setting—were embraced by Ring in his site plan for Arlington Village. The apartments are shaped around courts, the largest being the “H” court to the west of 13 th Street . The property is augmented by a swimming pool, pool house, and two tennis courts.
Commons of Arlington ( Walter Reed Gardens )
Walter Reed Gardens, known today as the Commons of Arlington, is an excellent example of the small-scale, garden apartment complexes constructed in Arlington both before and directly after World War II. Walter Reed Gardens , built in 1948, was designed to allow several buildings to be grouped together in a pleasing aesthetic plan intended to provide a more hospitable and healthier life for the occupants. Its Colonial Revival style and open court design is characteristic of the garden apartment complexes being funded by FHA-insured mortgages.
