[nabs-l] Navigating D.C. and Arlington, VA

Arielle Silverman arielle71 at gmail.com
Mon Apr 27 20:22:26 UTC 2015


Hi Zach. I do not know DC well, but I have successfully learned to
navigate Melbourne Australia, Boulder Colorado, and Seattle
Washington. It can be very intimidating to try to learn an entire city
metropolis. I would suggest, instead, just focusing on learning your
immediate neighborhood and the routes you will be taking most often,
and then venturing out further as you become more confident.
Especially since you will only be there for the summer, you shouldn't
need to learn the entire city at once. You can start by exploring your
route from home to work, from work to the Capitol building, from home
to a nearby grocery store and from home to a couple of restaurants you
might frequent. Metro most likely has some kind of online system where
you can look up the routes you will need to get from home to work.
Then your O&M, or one of us who lives in DC, can walk you through the
route once or twice so you feel comfortable with it. If you have a
smart phone, there are a number of inexpensive GPS apps that might be
helpful aids as well. I found the site
www.yelp.com
excellent for identifying good restaurants and services (such as
hairdressers or dry cleaners. Generally though, once you feel
confident with the routes you take the most, you will probably find
that learning the rest of the city is easier than it seemed at first.
Best of luck and congratulations on the internship!
Best, Arielle

On 4/27/15, Cindy Bennett via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hi Zach,
>
> I am not savvy with the D.C. area, but as Derek has already offered to
> assist you, there are a lot of NFB members who live in the vicinity.
> If you want to connect with more people than who reply here, feel free
> to get in touch with me off list as I have several friends in the D.C.
> area.
>
> I think that planning ahead is wise. One thing you could research are
> smartphone apps relevant to the area. For example, I think the train
> system has an app. Plus, rideshare services like Uber and Lyft are
> available in D.C. You can look for happy hour apps to learn of deals
> in the area of where you live. I would also recommend learning the
> grid formation of the city (I believe their are 4 quadrants), the
> conventions of streets versus avenues, and what the prefixes and
> suffixes such as north, southeast, etc. can tell you about an address.
> Finally, I would ask questions like which side of streets even and odd
> addresses are on and how long blocks are. For reference, when I lived
> in Minneapolis, I learned that avenues run north and south, streets
> east and west. A south suffix meant avenues ran south from downtown. I
> learned that running north and south along the avenues, addresses
> ended in digits 1 to 30 whereas the shorter east to west blocks
> generally contained addresses ending in the digits 1 to 15.
>
> I think that picking up little things like this before you go will
> help you to get a high level idea of where an address is that you are
> trying to find. It is also very useful to know this information when
> using cabs as disappointingly, many drivers do not know practical
> things like the city's address system.
>
> That said, use your unfamiliarity to your advantage. I think it will
> provide you an easy conversation starter at work and in coffee shops
> and bars near your apartment. Locals love to talk about what's good,
> and your coworkers will love any excuse to take a coffee break or go
> for a drink after work.
>
> I'm sorry that I couldn't provide more relevant information but hope
> this gets you started!
>
> Cindy
>
> On 4/27/15, Manners, Derek via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> Hey there, my name is Derek Manners and I lived in Arlington last year
>> and
>> worked at the department of the defense and am living in DC this year and
>> working in DC may 18-Agust 1st.  I'd be happy to show you around and or
>> answer any questions.  My cell is 903-271-6494.  Do you have any specific
>> questions?
>>
>> Best wishes
>> Derek Manners
>> 1st Vice President MASSABS
>> Board Member and NABS Fundraising Chair
>>
>> On Mon, Apr 27, 2015 at 1:45 PM, Zach Mason via nabs-l
>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Hello
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Been on the list before about housing, now asking for advice.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I've been accepted to a summer internship with the National Association
>>> of
>>> State Departments of Agriculture. I'm kind of late in asking this, but
>>> how
>>> long does it take to orient a country bumpkin to living in D.C. and
>>> working
>>> in an office in Arlington Virginia? My life is a long history of jumping
>>> into things without comprehensive preparation, but it really just hit me
>>> this morning how I've been living in the sticks for the past two years
>>> without any real opportunity to use mobility skills.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I received 14 wk of independent living training at the Carroll Center
>>> for
>>> the Blind in 2013, and have lived and worked independently at Purdue
>>> University for 8 wk during a summer internship. However, for the past
>>> two
>>> years I've worked on a dairy farm in northern New Hampshire where the
>>> ownership require I use sighted assistance whenever crossing. (Not that
>>> sighted assistance equals safety) I've had more than one instance when
>>> ears
>>> trumped eyes. And as for working around animals . I could tell some
>>> stories.
>>> (Exasperated face)
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> But I digress. I've taken some preliminary steps, hired an O&M
>>> instructor,
>>> contacted METRO and a METRO O&M instructor, had JAWS and Openbook
>>> installed
>>> at my work computer in the Arlington office, and bought my apartment. I
>>> planned a wk of orientation, both to the work and for O&M, but am not
>>> sure
>>> it's enough. Part of my job is attending public hearings at the Capitol,
>>> sometimes remotely, sometimes in person; and finding a strange place in
>>> a
>>> strange city scares me. I've been to D.C. before, and the traffic
>>> environment intimidates me.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Words of wisdom, encouragement, and prayers are all welcome. (Smiling
>>> face)
>>> Anyone in Arlington/D.C. area is also welcome to try to get in touch and
>>> get
>>> together between May 18-Aug. 15.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Zac
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Zachary Mason
>>>
>>> Assistant Shepherd and Young Stock Manager
>>>
>>> Northwinds Farm
>>>
>>> (603) 922-8377 Work
>>>
>>> (603) 991-6747 Cell
>>>
>>>  <mailto:zmason at northwindsfarm@gmail.com>
>>> zmason at northwindsfarm@gmail.com
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> 806 U.S. Route 3
>>>
>>> North Stratford, NH 03590
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>
>
> --
> Cindy Bennett
> 1st Year Ph.D. Student, University of Washington
> Human Centered Design and Engineering
>
> Treasurer of the National Federation of the Blind of Washington
> an Affiliate of the National Federation of the Blind
>
> clb5590 at gmail.com
>
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