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CAMPUS GUIDE

About the Region

NORTHERN VIRGINIA

Northern Virginia offers Janelia Farm employees the amenities of an urban environment with a lower cost of living and a shorter commute than from Washington. Arlington, Alexandria, and Falls Church are minutes away from downtown D.C. by car or Metrorail, and offer pedestrian-friendly, multicultural neighborhoods with shopping, dining, and other services conveniently located near residential areas. Closer to Janelia Farm is Fairfax County, an expansive region with a population that exceeds that of seven states. Throughout Northern Virginia, attractive, tree-lined neighborhoods are inhabited by residents with a strong sense of community involvement.

The Northern Virginia area is proud of its excellent public school systems and boasts other services, such as police, fire, and rescue departments, that are among the nation's finest. The area also caters to virtually any shopping need, with large centers, including Tysons Corner Center in McLean and the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City in Arlington, offering major department stores such as Macy's, Nordstrom, and Bloomingdales and hundreds of other department and specialty stores.

The area is full of public parks, ranging from wide-open spaces to hidden havens - picnic spots, tennis courts, soccer fields, and swing sets are usually somewhere nearby. There is also an extensive trail system, including the 18-mile Mount Vernon Trail, which follows the Potomac River from Rossyln, Virginia, to George Washington's estate at Mount Vernon. The Mount Vernon trail connects with the Washington and Old Dominion Trail, which passes through Northern Virginia along its 45-mile route.

Northern Virginia is home to several unique arts venues. Wolf Trap, a national park for the performing arts located on 100 acres of farmland in Vienna, Virginia, presents dance, music, and theater performances. During the summer, many of these are staged in its majestic outdoor Filene Center, where audience members can picnic on the lawn during the performance. A separate Theater-in-the-Woods hosts puppet shows, storytelling, and other children's performances. Wolf Trap's educational program includes the preschool Institute for Early Learning through the Arts, an internship program for college students, and master classes in dance, musical theater, opera, folk, jazz, pop, and classical music. The Torpedo Factory Art Center, on the waterfront in Alexandria, houses six galleries and 84 working studios where visitors can watch painters, sculptors, photographers, jewelry makers, and other artists at work. The Torpedo Factory also offers art classes for children and adults.