My understanding is that Arlington, VA is accually a county. But when you look on population surveys and road maps, it tends to show up as a city. It is smaller and more dense than than the average Virginia county (perhaps the smallest and densest) Are they a special county, somehow more city-like? I’m not sure you can tell by their political structure because in Virginia, cities are not part of counties, and cities have their own courts and offices just like counties do (maybe their are subtle differences).
Anybody got the scoop on my favorite maybe non-city?
Trivia: Crystal City, Rosylyn, and Pentagon City are not really cities, but rather are neighborhoods in Arlington.
Arlington is both a city and a county, the same as Fairfax. Parking enforcement vehicles have “City of Arlington” on the side. You are correct about Rosslyn, Crystal City, and Pentagon City- When I lived in Rosslyn my mailing address was Arlington, VA.
Most larger Virginia cities, and even some smaller ones, are legally independent of the counties they are physically located “in” and are not jurisdictionally part of the county. There are a couple of other examples around the country, such as St. Louis, but Virginia has the majority of them. This is not to be confused with the coterminous city-county such as Jacksonville/Duval Co., FL and Nashville/something-or-other-county, TN.
I should have given a clearer example. If I get a ticket anywhere in Fairfax County, I need to go to the Fairfax County Courthouse in the city of Fairfax. Likewise, if I get a ticket in the city of Fairfax, I need to go to the same Fairfax County Courthouse. If they’re two separate entities, why do they hav the same courthouse?
*Mojo: Arlington is both a city and a county, the same as Fairfax. Parking enforcement vehicles have “City of Arlington” on the side. You are correct about Rosslyn, Crystal City, and Pentagon City- When I lived in Rosslyn my mailing address was Arlington, VA. *
*SterlingNorth: Correct Arlington is simutaneously a city and a county. *
Wrongo to both of you. Arlington is a county, not a city at all. No part of it is incorporated. Crystal City, Pentagon City, and Rosslyn are frankly just neighborhood names, like Georgetown, Harlem, or Watts (LA).
Granted, Arlington is as small and dense as a city. But until the 1970’s it still had quite a bit of rural area.
As to mail addresses: the “city” part of a mailing address doesn’t mean an incorporated city. It is just to set it apart from the “state” part of the address. Within Arlington, only Ft. Myer (22211) addresses use a “city” other than Arlington.
BTW, there is a City of Fairfax and County of Fairfax. Both are separate entities.
to those of you saying that Arlington is both City and County: I point you to the Arlington County web page. http://www.co.arlington.va.us/
And to those saying the City of Fairfax is both City and County: The City of Fairfax web page www.ci.fairfax.va.us says that Fairfax is in fact independent of the county. It also says that children in the city of Fairfax go to Fairfax County schools because of a contractual agreement. I assume the courts must be under some similar contract, though I didn’t find any mention of it. (didn’t read the whole site either.)
I still wonder though, since so many people think of Arlington as a city: Does it have any special city like status within the state? Or really, is there any difference in status between a city and a county in Virginia?
I stand corrected. Technically, the city of Fairfax is not in Fairfax County. Technically, Arlington is not a city. Technically, Virginia is not a state.
And I was drunk, high, and hallucinating when I said I saw “City of Arlington” on the vehicles.
Try explaining to a Fairfax County cop that he’s out of his jurisdiction when he pulls you over in the city of Fairfax.
Arlington County was originally part of Fairfax County. It was created, as Alexandria County, when it became part of the District of Columbia, along with a bigger chunk of Maryland. (The U.S. constitution provides for an up-to-ten-mile-square national capital district). Eventually Congress decided it didn’t need any land south of the Potomac River, so Alexandria County was returned to Virgina, and it remained separate from Fairfax County. The name was later changed to Arlington, to avoid confusion with the adjacent City of Alexandria.
The whole county is only 26 miles in area. We were taught that in the 1920s the Clarendon section of the county tried to incorporate, but the judge ruled that the county didn’t need to be subdivided into any more jurisdictions, so no towns or cities have ever been created. The whole county could become as a city–studies on this issue are done every few years. But, as I’ve heard it, there is an economic incentive to remain a county, since cities are more responsible for paying for state road upkeep than counties.
Arlington doesn’t have a county seat. Most maps I’ve seen put a “county seat” star where the county courthouse is located. Arlington Cemetary (including the Kennedy grave) and the Pentagon are the best known Arlington sites. USA Today is also headquatered there.
Or just maybe Viriginia has a rule similar to California’s which allows any peace officer to apprehend any violator anywhere in the state.
And yes, Virginia is a state and one of the 50 states comprising the United States of America. What they choose to call themselves, however, is what they choose to call themselves.
[attempt to use search function]Wasn’t this already covered on by Cecil?[/attempt to use search function]
I’m from Virginia, and, actually, I don’t think a Fairfax Co. cop CAN pull you over in the City of Fairfax, or vice versa. They’re separate jurisdictions.
As for Virginia’s statehood, I don’t know quite what the difference is (6 of one, half a doz. of the other), but VA is one of the few commonwealths in the country–not sure if that “technically” means it’s not a state, though.
To broaden AWB’s comment on mailing addresses, they have no direct relation to municipality limits whatsover. You could live in town A and have your mail delivered by the post office in town B and vica-versa. New York and Los Angeles each have three post offices. There are untold other cases of one post office serving several incorporated towns. And a good number of post offices serve no town but simply the neighboring farm land.
*putrid: To broaden AWB’s comment on mailing addresses, they have no direct relation to municipality limits whatsover. You could live in town A and have your mail delivered by the post office in town B and vica-versa. New York and Los Angeles each have three post offices. There are untold other cases of one post office serving several incorporated towns. And a good number of post offices serve no town but simply the neighboring farm land. *
Thanx for explaining it better, Pute.
To make matters more confusing in Virginia. I live in Fairfax county, about 1/2 mile from the Alexandria City line. My mailing address in Alexandria, because the ZIP code I live in is partway in Alexandria and partway in Fairfax Co. Not too confusing.
But then there two ZIP codes south of Alexandria and completely in Fairfax Co. whose mailing “city” is still Alexandria. It was only just recently, the USPS decided that it is now permissable to use the branch name for the mailing “city”: Engleside (22309) and Community (22306).
Once I moved to a new townhouse in 22306. The office of the community (in one of the model homes) had a painted sign listing the ammenities of the community, including a bus stop for Metro buses and DASH buses. But DASH buses are the City of Alexandria’s. I pointed this out to the office manager, and she said, "But I see DASH buses pass here all the time.
“Are they white with yellow & red stripes?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“Those are Fairfax Connector buses. DASH is only in the city of Alexandria. We’re 6 miles from there.” She got a little ashen, realizing she’d paid big bucks for a painted sign that was wrong.
