Ballston, Virginia
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Ballston is a neighborhood in Arlington County, Virginia and is home to a stop on the Orange Line of the Washington Metro.
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[edit] History
Formerly known as Parkington (when it was a shopping area typically visited by car), Ballston is located along the route of a trolley line that ran to Washington, D.C. It entered a period of decline in the 1960s and 1970s, but grew and changed considerably after Washington's Metro rail system opened the Ballston station.
[edit] Life in Ballston
Ballston is home to tall modern apartment complexes and condominiums, the Ballston Common Mall, and to many restaurants and bars, such as Carpool, Front Page and Bailey's. Ballston also boasts a number of parks, trails and open outdoor spaces and a number of people can be seen engaged in some sport on any given evening. These features as well as its proximity to Metro have led to many young adults calling Ballston home -- and have made Ballston a model of transit-oriented development and smart growth. Together with Arlington's other Metro communities, Ballston has become one of the "it" places for twenty-something professionals to live in the Greater DC area.
[edit] Commercial, government and educational activity
Ballston is also home to several U.S. government agencies and organizations including the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Office of Naval Research, as well as non-profit groups, such as The Nature Conservancy. Additionally, many government contractors and high tech companies have offices in Ballston such as CACI, SAIC, Qwest, Heuristic Solutions, and Plateau Systems.
Construction has begun on the Ballston Ice Skating Facility above the Ballston Common Mall's public parking garage, which will include two full-size rinks for both public use, and for the Washington Capitals to practice on. Both rinks will offer about 8,100 hours of ice skating. It will hold 1,200 seats and a conditioning center for the Capitals. It will also house the organization's front office staff.It will be finished and opened in November 2006. It is hoped it will bring more revenue for Ballston Mall, which was not a big money maker before the rink.
Ballston is also home to a satellite campus of Marymount University.
[edit] External links
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