Daytime Safety, Dining Satisfaction Among Rosslyn's Key Strengths: Survey

ARLINGTON, VA — Safety, cleanliness and a diverse range of amenities are just some of the key strengths that the Rosslyn community has to offer, according to the results of a recent survey released by the Rosslyn Business Improvement District.

"The Perception Survey is a wonderful opportunity to hear directly from our incredible community and allows us to build on our strengths while further enhancing the quality of life for our residents and employees," said Mary-Claire Burick, president of the Rosslyn BID. "It's encouraging that over the years, we've seen consistent improvement across categories, including overall engagement and advocacy of Rosslyn."

A total of 1,093 professionals, businesses, and residents of Rosslyn took part in the online survey conducted through SurveyMonkey. Key findings included:

• More than 65 percent of residents recommend living in the neighborhood
• 91 percent of respondents indicated they feel safe during the daytime
• 86 percent of respondents cited the neighborhood’s cleanliness
• 89 percent of survey participants cited dining satisfaction as a major strength of the neighborhood

These insights will inform the BID’s strategic priorities for 2026, aligning with the needs of Rosslyn’s 16,000 residents and 25,000 employees. Patch reached out to Burick for more details and these are her responses.

Why did the BID decide to do this survey?

The BID is always looking for ways to remain responsive and ensure we’re providing the most
desired experience to our residents and employees. We completed the last survey in 2018, and with so much change in Rosslyn since then, we wanted updated feedback to guide our strategy
moving forward. As a data-driven organization, the Rosslyn BID undertook this survey to better
understand how key audiences perceive Rosslyn and to identify opportunities to strengthen
engagement, visitation and investment.

What information in the survey stood out to you most?

We’re seeing a clear shift from Rosslyn being viewed solely as a business district to the area
being recognized as a vibrant, mixed-use community. Residents are our strongest promoters, rating Rosslyn highly for safety, parks and walkability, reinforcing our evolution into a 24/7 neighborhood.

We were also pleased to see that the overall perception of Rosslyn has continued to trend in a
positive direction. In 2018, respondents used phrases like “boring” and “growing” to describe
Rosslyn. In this year’s survey, words like “fun” and “safe” were used. These results shine a light
that our continued effort to make Rosslyn a better place to live, work, and visit is paying
dividends in how people view the neighborhood.

Were there any responses that surprised you? If so, what were they?

The response that surprised us the most was the high percentage of employees who are in the
office in Rosslyn five days a week. Given broader hybrid work trends, we anticipated more of a
mix when it comes to how organizations were approaching re-entering their workforce to
physical offices.

The number of employees in Rosslyn during the week reinforces our commitment to serving this
population and to ensuring that they view Rosslyn as a great place to work.

Were there any responses that didn't surprise you and helped to support an issue
(positive or negative) that the BID was already aware of?

Continued demand for more parks, gathering spaces and visual enhancements were top of
mind for respondents. This reinforces the importance of our investments in public space
activations, placemaking and projects like our newly installed NOW pop-up park. Feedback also confirmed a sense of belonging and community-building events are still of value to our key stakeholders.

Additionally, programs like the BID’s Safety Rangers and Ambassadors are well-regarded, and
those familiar with the BID’s work report higher satisfaction overall, underscoring the value of
our continued outreach and communication.

How will the survey responses inform the BID's work going forward?

We’ve already begun incorporating this feedback into our plans. Recognizing the community
desire for more parks and gathering spaces, we unveiled the NOW, a first-of-its-kind pop-up
park. In partnership with Yellowstone Landscape and Monday Properties, we transformed an
underutilized terrace at 1401 Wilson Blvd. into a versatile destination to connect, learn and play.
The survey results show strong awareness of the BID, specifically events, our clean and safe
teams and our social media presence. We’ll continue to build on these areas while identifying
areas to deepen our engagement. This reinforces our strategy to prioritize quality of life
services, which the community places high value on and is a key source of neighborhood pride.

What do you see as the number one challenge facing businesses, as well as residents in
Rosslyn? How will the BID address that challenge?

Parking and curbside congestion remain a challenge — people in the neighborhood value access and mobility, but idling traffic creates friction. This is an opportunity to partner more with our stakeholders to explore solutions. In the interim, the BID has rolled-out a curbside management pilot with Safety Rangers and off-duty ACPD officers to improve weekday traffic flow, enforce no-parking zones, and support safer pick-up and drop-off operations.