Our Mission

The Langston Boulevard Alliance (LBA) - formerly Lee Highway Alliance - is a citizen's initiative and non-profit that was formed in 2013 with the goal of creating a joint community vision for an economically vibrant, equitable, tree-lined, walkable, sustainable, and attractive corridor – one that benefits both residents and businesses.

Our Work

Small Business Support
LBA strongly supports local businesses along Langston Boulevard. LBA spent much of its time supporting local businesses throughout COVID-19 through campaigns, building webpages, social media, and maintaining regular communication with business owners. In 2020, LBA launched "Loving Local" a local awareness and social media campaign to encourage shopping, dining, and other activities along the Langston Corridor. The LBA Board of Directors even took a pledge to look to the Langston Corridor before going elsewhere for their everyday needs. LBA encourages their 17 stakeholder neighborhoods to do the same and support the corridor's local businesses, some of which are heritage businesses (operating for 25 years or more).

Advocacy
Langston Boulevard has not been re-planned in over 60 years. As the corridor undergoes a planning process with Arlington County, LBA is working to ensure the community is heard and its vision is realized. In partnership with County planning staff, LBA has hosted bi-weekly Open Studios to provide the public a chance to voice concerns and ask questions, as well as community workshops and educational forums to ensure the public is kept up-to-date on Plan Langston Boulevard.

Renaming
Beginning in fall of 2020, LBA organized and ran a successful process to rename what was formerly known as Lee Highway. The desire to rename the corridor was built from a desire to realize the years-long grassroots community effort to create a welcoming Main Street by removing the word "Highway" and to begin to reconcile the painful racial history many in our community have experienced by removing the name "Lee." LBA assembled a Working Group of 25 community members, received over 200 name suggestions from the public, and over 3,000 responses from a survey on the Working Group's top 20 names. On July 17, 2021 the Arlington County Board voted to replace the name "Lee Highway" with "Langston Boulevard," the Working Group's preferred name choice, honoring the abolitionist, attorney, educator, and first Black Congressman from Virginia, John M. Langston.

Community Building
LBA supports and/or hosts several events each year to bring the community together, including Bike to Work Day pit stops, Holiday Markets, Oktoberfest at the Marymount Farmers Market, and Light the Night at Woodstock Park.

Placemaking
LBA strives to create a sense of community through a variety of programs, including supporting public art projects and community events, as well as participating in various working groups to ensure the community's vision is realized in the design of public facilities. In the spring of 2020, LBA partnered with Cowboy Cafe, Dominion Lighting, Potomac Paint, and artist Mas Paz to create a vibrant mural and new outdoor seating space in the Cafe's old parking lot. In 2019, LBA served as the project manager for a new mural at Langston Boulevard's busiest intersection and advocated for the improved streetscape and landscaping of Fire Station 8. 

Education
Each year, LBA hosts a variety of public educational forums and strives to keep the community informed and educated on developments along the corridor. In 2020, LBA launched a brand new educational program at Dorothy Hamm Middle School, called "Make No Small Plans" which teaches local 7th grade students how urban planning and civic engagement can meet the needs of citizens. LBA has also launched a series of Placemaking Salons to connect creative people through collaborative conversations and creative presentations.

Guiding Principles

1
Establish A Welcoming, Vibrant, and Attractive Corridor of Neighborhood Places

Design spaces to strengthen and respect existing neighborhoods and create improved identities through a series of distinctive mixed use activity centers.  Welcoming gateways and way-finding/signage will enhance the sense of arrival and promote easy navigation of the corridor.  Improve landscaping, the tree canopy (shaded sidewalks), lighting, and underground utilities.​​

2
Provide Complete Streets That Are Safe for Everyone: Walking, Biking, Riding, Driving

Design and operate the corridor to enable safe access for all users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders, and motorists of all ages; widen sidewalks and make it easier to cross the highway and connect to neighborhoods; encourage safe bicycling through facilities and continuous lanes (where possible the length of the corridor) and links to neighborhoods; enhance transportation services; provide sufficient on-street and off-street parking.​

3
Enhance Character Through Open Spaces and Gathering Places

Increase and improve parks, plazas, and other open spaces; add amenities such as public art, seating, special paving, water features, and landscaping to encourage community interaction.​​​​

4
Develop a Low to Medium Density Mixed Use Character

Plan for vibrant, attractive mixed use activity centers (within existing commercial areas) with generally low/medium building heights tapering to adjacent neighborhoods; encourage creative architecture that contributes to the distinctive identities and market flexibility.​

5
Encourage Economic Vitality and Sustainability

Identify the corridor as an innovative place to establish businesses with a streamlined approvals process; maintain existing and attract new community serving businesses, small and large; encourage local business incubators; engage commercial and institutional partners to create destination environments with mixed uses that build market identity and energize the economy.​

6
Encourage a Range of Housing Choices and Staying In Place

Maintain stable residential; encourage a range of new housing options that are affordable serving all ages to meet the housing needs of families, students, and older adults who wish to stay in place throughout life; encourage living closer to transit, jobs, shopping, services, and universities.

7
Promote Environmental Sustainability & Conservation

Transform the corridor into a ‘green main street’ - encourage innovative methods of environmental conservation.

9
Maintenance and Promotion  

​Develop an on-going institutional framework to maintain and promote the Lee corridor, including a public private partnership community partnership to continue the dialogue and realize the vision.

8
Encourage and Support Historic Preservation  

Retain the depth of character. Identify and support preservation of historic resources that increases public understanding and appreciation for the corridor’s architectural and cultural history. Respect Arlington’s past.​