Crystal City (Virginia)

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Crystal City
Crystal City View (2005)
Crystal City View (2005)
Location in Virginia
Crystal City (Virginia)
Crystal City
Crystal City
Basic data
Foundation : 1963
State : United States
State : Virginia
County : Arlington County
Coordinates : 38 ° 51 ′  N , 77 ° 3 ′  W Coordinates: 38 ° 51 ′  N , 77 ° 3 ′  W
Residents : 22,543 (as of 2010 )
Height : 16 m
Postal code : 22202
Area code : +1 703
GNIS ID : 2646878

Crystal City is a city in southeast Arlington County in the US state of Virginia, south of downtown Washington, DC Many office buildings and high-rises are connected by underground corridors. This allows you to go to shops, offices and apartments without leaving the underground areas. In this respect, Crystal City is partly an underground city .

Crystal City is home to many offices in the defense sector , the United States Department of Labor , the United States Marshals Service, and many Pentagon branch offices. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is located in the city .

geography

Crystal City is located on the Jefferson Davis Highway ( US Highway 1 ) south of the Pentagon and east of Pentagon City, and on the west side of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Of the many “urban villages” in Arlington County, only Crystal City is home to tall residential and office buildings, hotels, and many shops and restaurants. Shopping areas, offices and apartment entrances are connected by a network of connecting corridors below the city.

Crystal City has a Metro Washington station for blue and yellow trains, as well as the Crystal City (VRE) station on the Virginia Railway Express.

The urban planning for Crystal City was initially considered to be avant-garde due to the fact that the city blocks were delimited by main and secondary streets, as the footpaths were laid in tunnels. Since then, however, Crystal City has been remodeled into a more traditional-looking city, with restaurants at street level, making the streets look more like city streets than thoroughfare.

History of the city

Crystal Park 4, former US Airways headquarters in July 2009

Before development by the Charles E. Smith Co., the area consisted of industrial estates, junk yards and motels. From 1947 to 1963 there was a drive-in cinema at the intersection of Autobahn 1 and 20. Südstraße . The RF&P railway tracks were moved to the national airport to provide space for urban development.

Although the city is not a planned city , it developed in a similar way from 1963 onwards. The name "Crystal City" comes from the first building that was named Crystal House and had an expensive crystal chandelier in the lobby. Each later building was named Crystal (e.g. Crystal Gateway, Crystal Towers) and eventually the whole neighborhood. The architectural style and materials of the high-rise buildings are similar, most of the facades are made of speckled granite.

Crystal City's underground mall opened in September 1976. It was considered the "turn of the century shopping center". There were small shops with antique-looking lead-glass shop windows and cobblestone paths. Larger stores were the 1,100 m² Jelleff's women's fashion store, Larimer's gourmet grocery store and a larger pharmacy. Antiques and handicrafts were offered on an "antique avenue". At first there were 40 stores. An extension of 14,000 m² and 70 more shops, including the Crystal Palace Food Court, were planned.

On June 26, 2004, the addresses of many buildings were changed, some main streets were converted into two-way streets and building names (e.g. "Crystal Gateway 1") were removed. Even today, this can lead to confusion when looking for addresses.

economy

Crystal City with Rosslyn and Washington, DC in the background.

Crystal City currently has over 22,000 residents while around 60,000 work there every weekday.

The headquarters of the Mining Safety and Health Agency and the United States Marshals Service are in Crystal City. The EPA Environmental Protection Agency and the US Federal Administration are in the city, as are defense companies and Pentagon branches such as the Pentagon Renovation Program. The Warrior Transition Command and the Afghanistan Reconstruction Agency are also in Crystal City.

Until the merger with America West Airlines , US Airways had its headquarters in Crystal Park 4. Since 2005, the headquarters of the merged company has been in Tempe, Arizona , in Greater Phoenix.

Crystal City is home to several associations and technology companies, including the American Diabetes Association , American Public Power Association, Eastern Foundry, TechShop, and PBS .

Amazon.com plans to build the Amazon HQ2 in Crystal City - with around 25,000 employees. The new location also includes Pentagon City and Potomac Yard .

Web links

Commons : Crystal City  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Envisioning Crystal City as part of a larger community . Greater Greater Washington. May 14, 2009. Archived from the original on June 12, 2010. Retrieved October 26, 2009.
  2. ^ Pat Royse: Crystal Underground opens . The Washington Post , Sept. 30, 1976, p. VA 14
  3. ^ David A. Wheeler: Crystal City Name Changes (Address Changes) . Retrieved November 1, 2010.
  4. Linda Wheeler: Crystal City: Model of Convenience , Washington Post. March 25, 1995. Retrieved October 26, 2009. 
  5. ^ EL Wasson: Washington, DC: Threatened Crystal City closures appear derailed | The Real Deal | New York Real Estate News , Ny.therealdeal.com. December 1, 2007. Archived from the original on December 2, 2008. Retrieved July 16, 2009. 
  6. ^ US Airways to move headquarters to Tempe, Ariz., Early in 2006 , The Tribune , July 23, 2005
  7. Daniel J. Sernovitz: American Diabetes Association to shift headquarters from Alexandria to Crystal City . 20th January 2015.
  8. Drew Hansen: Tech incubator for government contractors opens in Crystal City . 17th December 2014.
  9. ^ The PBS No Downtime Move . Retrieved November 8, 2018.
  10. Jonathan O'Connell, Robert McCartney: Amazon in advanced talks about putting HQ2 in Northern Virginia, those close to process say . 5th November 2018.
  11. ^ Amazon Selects New York City and Northern Virginia for New Headquarters . Amazon. November 13, 2018. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  12. Laura Stevens, Keiko Morris: Amazon Picks New York City, Northern Virginia for Its HQ2 Locations . November 13, 2018. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  13. Amazon's Grand Search For 2nd Headquarters Ends With Split: NYC And DC Suburb . November 13, 2018. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  14. National Landing? Long Island City? This is where Amazon's headquarters are located . In: USA Today .