Saturday, July 5, 2008

About The City of Alexandria, Virginia


The City of Alexandria offers many opportunities for outdoor recreation.  Walking and bike trails, swimming pools, a marina, off-leash dog run areas, playgrounds, sports fields, and trails along the Potomac, are all available here.  Cameron Run Refional Park offers (in-season) miniture golf, batting cages, picnic area, and water slde / water park.

Other activities offered also include bowling, a public skate board park,
and a public golf course is also nearby.

A large, multiple-theatre movie cinema and a wide range of dining opportunites, offering a large variety of authentic ethnic cuisines, for any price level, are available within easy access -- by car of public transportation.  

LOCATION

Alexandria is located in Northern Virginia on the west bank of the Potomac River  -- six miles below Washington D.C. and nine miles north of Mount Vernon.   The City encompasses 15.75 square miles at an average elevation of 30 feet above sea level.   Alexandria lies to the north of I-95 / I-485 (inside the beltway), on the Virginia side of the Wilson Bridge.

The City can be accessed via I-395 using either the Kings Street South; Seminary South/Alexandria; or Duke Street/Alexandria Exits. From I-95 / I-485, use either the Van Dorn Avenue North; Eisenhower Connection; Telegraph Road; or Route 1 North Exits.

Free parking is available in City areas outside of the Old Town / downtown area. Parking meters and parking garages are available throughout the Old Town / downtown area. Due to rush hour traffic limitations, street parking restrictions are strictly enforced.


BUSINESS

The City of Alexandria, Virginia is nationally recognized as one of the best places to live and do business on the east coast.  Alexandria is conveniently located inside the Beltway, just across the Potomac River from Washington, DC and minutes from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.  The City's robust business environment is fueled by stable economic drivers such as a large concentration of technology companies, the fourth-largest concentration of professional associations in the country, the United States Patent & Trademark Office, and a tourism industry that hosts nearly two million visitors a year.

     Population: 138,004
     Households: 66,889
     Median Family Income: $70,799
     Per Capita Income: $50,123
     Daytime Workforce: 95,000  (estimate based on Virginia Employment Commission figures, 2004)
             Source: ESRI Business Analyst, 2005


CLIMATE

Winters tender toward the milder side -- snows are generally mild, but ice storms occasionally occur during January and February. Average January temperature is 36 F.   Summers are generally humid from July through early September. An average July temperature is 80 F.  Spring and Fall temperatures fall in between and are usually delightful


LOTS of HISTORY

Much of present-day Alexandria was included in a 6,000-acre land grant from Sir William Berkeley, Governor of Virginia, which was awarded to Robert Howsing, an English ship captain, on October 21, 1669. This land overlapped a 700-acre patent that had previously been issued to Dame Margaret Brent in 1654.    View more of the City of Alexandria's History


CITY HALL  --  City of Alexandria, Virginia

The tall, steepled tower, which contrasts with the building's Second Empire-style massing and detailing, is a reconstruction of a tower designed by Benjamin H. Latrobe that was part of Alexandria's 1817 town hall. City Government General Information.   View more information about the history of the City of Alexandria's City Hall.

City of Alexandria, Virginia web site

Contact the Citizen Assistance Office at (703) 838-4800

Also see: 
                   Fort Ward Museum and Historic Site  (Civil War)
                   West End History, City of Alexandria, Virginia

City of Alexandria History     |     City Hall