2019-03-01 Money

MARCH 2019 MONEY.COM (^25)
147
GOOD AIR
DAYS IN D.C.
Choose your own
oasis (clockwise
from left):
Rooftop greenery in
downtown Portland,
Ore.; passengers
board the D.C. Metro;
a panoramic look at
Seattle’s Boundary
Hydroelectric Project.
Arlington County happens to be LEED-
certified as well. Just know that these
gems aren’t exactly under the radar, and
housing is starting to see pricing
pressures, according to AARP. If you’re
looking for a lower cost of living, you’ll
likely need to venture outside the
Beltway. Meanwhile, online retailer
Amazon.com last month selected
Arlington as the location of one of its new
corporate headquarters, with plans to
hire 25,000 employees there. Mitigating
the effects of this new business activity
might be a challenge for the region,
whose walkable communities may
become more congested with new
residents. Still, the D.C. area has charm
to spare.
1
WASHINGTON, D.C./ARLINGTON, VA.
The nation’s capital is routinely counted as a green city for
multiple reasons, but transportation is a highlight. The
Washington, D.C., Metro system is a standard-bearer in
convenient and clean public transportation. Nearly 15% of workers
age 16 or older in the D.C. and nearby Arlington areas take public
transit to work, which is three times as many as the national
average, according to the Census Bureau’s 2012–2016 American
Community Survey. The Beltway might be home to lots of hot air,
but at least it’s clean. Not a single day of the 365 tracked by the
Environmental Protection Agency’s Air Quality Index Report in
2017 was classified as unhealthy, and 147 were ranked as good. By
contrast, there were only 38 good air days in Los Angeles in 2017,
and air quality was unhealthy for the same number.
If D.C. is too congested for you, Northern Virginia offers a
green oasis across the Potomac River. Both Arlington and
Alexandria also rank among AARP’s most livable cities, lauded
WA for many of the same positives as D.C., but in a midsize package.
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