Arlington Designated As 'Platinum-Level' Walk Friendly Community

ARLINGTON, VA — Arlington County has been named one of five Walk Friendly Platinum Communities in the U.S. in 2022, joining New York City, Seattle, Portland and San Francisco.

The ranking comes from the Walk Friendly Communities initiative of the University of North Carolina’s Highway Safety Research Center. This is the first time Arlington has achieved the platinum-level status from WFC after receiving a gold-level rating in 2010 and once again in 2015.

According to WFC, the designation reflects Arlington’s success “in transit-oriented planning, remarkable promotion and outreach, and educational offerings for staff and residents.”

“Being recognized with a platinum rating by Walk Friendly Communities highlights Arlington’s ongoing commitment to increasing walkability throughout our neighborhoods,” Arlington County Board Chair Katie Cristol said in a statement Wednesday.

Arlington has 527 miles of sidewalks, more than 50 miles of paved, multi-use trails and 14.5 miles of hiking/natural trails. The county’s Master Transportation Plan includes a Pedestrian Element that calls for integrating growth around public transit lines, with a special emphasis on sidewalks and multi-use trails.

Among its transportation outreach services, the county’s WalkArlington program offers resources and events to encourage foot travel as a healthy way to commute around and explore Arlington. The county offers more than two dozen Walkabout map tours developed for discovering Arlington’s neighborhoods as well as their unique features and histories.

The county has an all-volunteer Pedestrian Advisory Committee that proposes ways to make Arlington more walkable through policy and infrastructure changes.

The county's Vision Zero safety initiative seeks to ensure that everyone traveling across Arlington arrives safely at their destination. In the first year of Vision Zero, almost 240 crosswalks were updated to display high visibility markings, while speed limit zones around 13 schools were reduced to 20 miles per hour to protect walkers.