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Northern Virginia - Diverse and Exciting!
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Northern Virginia (NoVA) consists of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William Counties and the independent cities of Alexandria, Falls Church, Fairfax, Manassas and Manassas Park. It is part of the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Statistical area,the 4th-largest metropolitan area in the US. Northern Virginia is the most diverse (in terms of both ethnicities and nationalities represented) and highest-income region of Virginia.
For the "official" information from the Commonwealth of Virginia's "Virginia is for Lover's" site, follow this link.
Economy
While the Federal government is a major employer in Northern Virginia, in recent decades, Northern Virginia has become filled with technology companies, especially in the Dulles Technology Corridor. The best-known of these technology companies are Sprint/Nextel, Computer Associates, Oracle, Microsoft, and many technology providers to the Federal Government. This economic boom has attracted many people from outside the region, from all over the country and throughout the world.
The region has benefitted due to increased defense spending in the wake of the war on terror. Other large corporate employers include ExxonMobil, Micron, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), Electronic Data Ssytems (EDS), Lockheed Martin, Mitre and many other defense contractors.
Among the Federal agencies with offices in Northern Virginia, the Department of Defense, with it's large location at the Pentagon is probably the largest single agency. In addition, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) headquarters, Fort Myer, Fort Belvoir, Quantico Marine Corps Base, the US Patent and Trade Office, and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) are all located in Northern Virginia. All of this tends to shield Northern Virginia from the effects of all but the deepest of recessions.
Education
Fairfax County's nationally recognized public school system includes the Virginia Governor's school the Thomas Jefferson School for Science and Technology. James W. Robinson, Jr. Secondary School, the largest public school in the Commonwealth, is also located in Fairfax County. For more about Fairfax County Schools, visit www.fcps.edu, the district's website.
Although Northern Virginia contains a large portion of the Commonwealth's population, there are only a handful of colleges and universities in the region. The largest and most well-known is George Mason University, the second-largest public university in Virginia. Other higher education institutions include several branches of Northern Virginia Community College, and Marymount University. A relatively new addition to the roster of colleges and universities in the region is the University of Northern Virginia. In addition, the University of Virginia, Virginia Tech and Washington DC-based George Washington University all have satellite campus facilities in Northern VA. Richmond's Medical College of Virginia has a satellite campus in Fairfax at the INOVA healthcare system.
Culture
Northern Virginia is considered to be more cosmopolitan in its culture than the rest of Virginia. This can be attributed to the movement of people from the rest of the country to the area and its location near our nation's capital, Washington D.C.
Northern Virginia's population is ethnically diverse with significant numbers of immigrants. There are large numbers of restaurants, and international food of nearly any type is easy to find. Immigrants have established many shops and many in ethnic centers. Our culturally diverse population supports immigrants in all types of employment - as professionals, in the service professions and as blue-collar labor.
Due to the proximity to the capital, many Northern Virginians go to Washington D.C. for cultural at the Smithsonian museums, the Kennedy Center, sports outings and more. However, Northern Virginia also is home to several museums and performing art venues. The Wolf Trap National Park is the only National Park for the Performing Arts, located in Vienna, near Tysons's Corner. In addition, Nissan Pavilion hosts numerous concerts, as well as theatre and concerts at the Patriot Center of George Mason University. The Smithsonian museums' newest addition is the Udvar-Hazy center of the National Air and Space Museum, located adjacent to Dulles Airport.
The sites which attract the greatest numbers of visitors in addition to the performing arts centers and museums are the Civil War battlefields and historic areas such as Old Town Alexandria, which is noted for historic townhouses, restaurants, gift shops, artist studios, and cruise boats. The waterfront and outdoor recreational amenities such as biking and running trails (the Washington and Old Dominion Trail, which is the longest paved path in the U.S.; and trails along various stream beds are also popular), whitewater and sea kayaking, and rock climbing areas are focused along the Potomac River. Scenic Great Falls Park and historic Mount Vernon are especially noteworthy.
Shopping is plentiful from the large Tysons Corner Center and Tysons Galleria, to many other traditional enclosed malls in the counties of Northern Virginia. In addition, the Reston Town Center is a high-density mixed-use retail, commercial, and residential development located just off the 267 Toll Road in Reston Virginia. Several outlet malls are in the area as well, including Potomac Mills, located in Prince William County, which is one of the largest outlet malls in the region. And in Loudoun County, another outlet mall is Leesburg Corner Premium Outlets.
Since the mid-1990's, Loudoun County has become known as America's fastest-growing county, having grown by almost 50% from 2000 though 2005. Since the 2000 census, both Loudoun and Fairfax counties are top large counties by median household income.
Demographics:
Northern Virginia is home to people from diverse backgrounds, with significant numbers of immigrants from all parts of the world. The combined population of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William Counties and the independent cities of Alexandria, Falls Church, Fairfax, Manassas and Manassas Park is 2,055,014, which is 26.89% of Virginia's estimated population in 2006.
The racial/ethnic breakdown of the population of Northern Virginia is approximately as follows, as reported in the 2000 census:
"We're Not All From Here!" Of those born in the U.S. and living in the region's four largest counties their place of birth is:
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More Information About Our Northern Virginia
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Transportation
The area has two major airports, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) and Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD). While flights from the older National Airport are restricted for distance, frequency, and flight paths due to the proximity to federal facilities, Dulles is the number five in terms of aircraft movement, and also a hub for United Airline. .
Commuters are served by the rapid transit system known as Washington Metropololitan Area Transit Authority's METRO, a combination of above and below ground trains, and the Virginia Railway Express (VRE),a commuter railroad. METRO is the second-busiest subway system in the nation; only New York City's subway system carries more passengers. An extension to the METRO rail is planned, which will extend the system past Dulles Airport. Bus service is provided by WMATA's Metrobus, and many local jurisdictions also provide bus service. Parking lots at metrorail stations fill up very early in the morning, but are gradually being expanded. The VRE commuter trains have also seen increased ridership.
Major highways include interstates 95, 495, the Beltway (95/495) 395, and 66; In addition, major commuter routes include US routes 1, 29, and 50. and local routes the Fairfax County Parkway, the Prince William Parkway, the Dulles Toll Road and Greenway and Virginia Routes 7, 28, 120, 123, 193, 234, 236,544, 545, and 620, along with the George Washington Memorial Parkway. High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes are used for commuters and buses in I-66 and I-95/395. (Also see 'slugging') VDOT offers a great site with maps, construction plans and more.
Northern Virginia suffers from severe road congestion. The congestion consistently ranks with Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York City as one of the worst four areas in the nation. To alleviate gridlock, local governments encourage using Metrorail, HOV lanes, carpooling, and other forms of mass transportation. The conditions are only getting worse, however, as the population skyrockets. The roads are one of the biggest local issues. The current reconstruction of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge near Alexandria on the portion of the Capital Beltway which also carries Interstate 95 into Maryland (300,000 vehicles daily) will double the traffic lanes when completed in 2008. The complex Springfield 'mixing bowl', where I-95 joins the Capital Beltway is now seeing some relief as the massive interchange reconstruction was completed in 2007.
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