Why I Love Arlington

by Niti

Of all the places and cities in the United States, Arlington is one of the greatest places to grow up. Whether you see Arlington as a city or town, it simply is a lovely and warm-hearted place to grow up in. I don’t have my license just yet but I will in the coming months, but even without it I am able to get from Point A to Point B without a great degree of difficulty. Never in my wildest dreams can I see myself living in a place without the Metro. It simply is one of the most wonderful things Arlington has to offer. It is a very inexpensive means of public transportation. Without having to bug my parents for ride somewhere I can just go to the Ballston metro and get Rosslyn, Courthouse or Clarendon. Not to mention, we have one of the easiest access to the nation’s capital, Washington D.C.

Speaking of all those sections of Arlington, I especially love how it is divided up. When you first enter the Ballston, it’s a place filled with gigantic buildings, a small mall and amazing restaurants. Although it isn’t the biggest mall it still has a few things that stand out. As an avid Washington Capitals fan, I love that fact that they practice right here in Arlington, at the Kettler Arena at Ballston Mall. During the hockey season I regularly attend their practice sessions and I unfortunately cannot attend all of their games. It’s nice to see some players after practice and what not. Besides the fact that it is the where the Washinton Capitals practice, it is a great place to hang out. Besides the ice rink at Pentagon which is open only during the winter, this is Arlington’s only ice arena. I was exhilarated when it first opened; delighted about the fact that we didn’t have to go down to some place in Alexandria. In addition to the ice arena, it has great restaurants such as Chipotle, P.F. Chang’s and countless others.

With Clarendon and Courthouse, although they may seem to be around the same place it in fact is completely different to an Arlington native. You can be assured that the places are different as each has its very own Metro stop! Rosslyn, along with the Pentagon area, offers great views of our national’s capital, especially at night. Rosslyn is one of my favorites place; it’s another place in Arlington that is filled with skyscrapers but it is also where Key Bridge is located. Key Bridge connects Rosslyn to Georgetown, a great place to go in D.C. Going down to Rosslyn and then to Georgetown is my favorite running route. It’s great to see all the people, cars, buildings, shops and restaurants while running.

The one other thing that always strikes me is that we are practically neighbors to the nation’s capital! With countless bridges connecting Arlington to D.C., we are very fortunate to live

right by. It’s great that if something big is happening in the political scope we can say it’s right near us. One of the greatest things was the fact was that during Obama’s inauguration, we were able to attend such a historic moment. If we had lived someplace else out to the west or something, it would have been highly unlikely that we could have been able to witness such an event. Besides that, it’s great that we can take part in such events such as the National Walk for Epilepsy, and the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. Adding on to that, we have easy access to great museums, and historic buildings such as the Lincoln Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial and countless others.

Although it may seem as if the only great thing about Arlington is the fact that we live next to D.C., it is just one of the reasons. I love the areas of Ballston, Rosslyn, the ice arena, the metro, the people, the food, the atmosphere and the fact that if you walk two or three blocks you have instant access to a Starbucks and not to forget all the people wearing brown flip flops!