Background:

Arlington County, Virginia is one of the most highly-acclaimed leaders of Smart Growth in the world, with its Rosslyn-Ballston corridor and Pentagon City-Crystal City corridors being models for other cities of how to create vibrant and eco-friendly, transit-oriented communities.  With a steady influx of government, defense industry, and high-tech companies making their homes in Arlington, combined with a mandate to maintain an excellent quality of life, a visual means for developers to navigate Arlington is a top priority.

The Challenge:

Arlington Economic Development needed a fast, flexible, and future-proof solution to allow land-use developers, real-estate professionals, and concerned public to be able to browse the city of Arlington by land use and neighborhood, giving a dynamic & crystal-clear picture of the city.  Existing static maps were already in-use on their website, but AED needed a solution which could be economical and fast-to-implement, but yet offer a flexible range of viewing options, from neighborhood road map to full-3D.   

The Solution:

Webworld Technologies fashioned a solution for Arlington County using Bing Maps, ColdFusion and KML, creating a solution that not only met all of their requirements, but exceeded them to provide a truly future-proof solution.  

The new Arlington Zoning Map uses a KML-driven map which, powered by Arlington County’s internal GIS zoning data, allowing one an easy way to search for in-depth information on any of Arlington’s principal buildings. 

The solution allows viewing in 2D, 3D or Bird’s Eye modes, giving extreme flexibility. 

Also, due to the solution based on the open KML standard, Arlington’s zoning data can also be viewed now on any KML-enabled platform, enabling any future development using Microsoft's 3D mapping platform, Google Earth, or other handheld devices - giving Arlington Economic Development a broad variety of presentation and potential mobile device options.