Ballston is closer to urban than it is suburban. It has its own mini skyline. The Ballston community is filled with high-rise office buildings, apartment buildings, condominiums, street-level retail, and small pockets of single-family houses. The few notable neighborhoods include Arlington Forest, Buckingham, Boulevard Manor, and Bluemont.

The transformation into Ballston Quarter is complete. There is a mix of regional, homegrown businesses and boutique retailers, and chains with an emphasis on fun. This thoughtful design and selection of storefronts is exactly what makes the Arlington area unique. Ballston is also home to the Kettler Capitals Iceplex, where the Washington Capitals practice. Most weekdays there’s a great selection of food trucks just outside Ballston Metro Station.

Ballston is a business hub for several United States government agencies and university offices such as Marymount University, Virginia Tech research center, and George Washington University graduate education center.

If you pass the corner of Glebe and Wilson Blvd you may notice a Ballston landmark – the signature blue diamond canopy and windows of the old Bob Peck Chevy showroom. This is an example of the classic Googie architecture and just one indication of how Ballston has managed to blend past and present.