Private Parks in Crystal City

Update: John Stossel on How the Private Sector Can Save Public Parks
touches on similar issues in this post.  Stossel is always a good read.  Here is some video on the topic:

YouTube link.

In the libertarian world of 2030s Virginia in general and Crystal City in specific, private parks are the norm.  They are open to the public 24/7, clean and safe. Public parks are where one goes to have trouble find them. Below are some of the privately owned parks as they look in the 2010s.

In the early part of the 21st century, free movies are shown in this private park (always open to the public). The tradition continues into the future and Suki enjoys classic movies here in the 2030s. This park is on the 1900 block of Ball Street, Arlington, VA, 22202.

Bocci Park in 2030s Crystal City, 23rd & Crystal Drive South, Arlington, VA, 22202.

A better view of the boccie green near Jung and Suki's offices.

A park that Suki enjoys in the first Suki series. She walks past this park between her apartment and work at her mother's office. Her favorite park in the neighborhood and Suki hopes to have her wedding ceremony here some day.

2200 Block of Crystal Drive, next to Chipotle on Crystal Drive where Suki and Jung initiate their plot to get John to pay attention to Suki.
The park is privately owned by the same firm that owns the surrounding buildings. Much cleaner and safer than any of the public parks that remain in the area.

Another view of the park on the 2200 Block, Crystal Drive South, Arlington, VA, 22202.

12th Street Park:
In the 2030s, this is the only private park in Crystal City that is not considered safe. The developer on the south side tries to keep it guarded, but the developer on the north side continues to make it accessible, rather than providing recreation space on the north end.
Outdoor sales of what was considered contraband and vice in earlier decades is rampant, but just a lure for thieves.

In Suki I, this is the park where Suki relaxes and sips coffee before her Archery competition.
View is from the north end of the park.

In Suki I, this is the park where Suki relaxes and sips coffee before her Archery competition.
View is from the south end of the park.

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Vintage Crystal in Crystal City

A new event in the 2000s and '10s, Vintage Crystal continues into the 2030s of Suki and John's world.

The Crystal City Business Improvement District (BID) is turning up the heat with the return of the flavor-filled fourth annual Vintage Crystal. The spice is back with more wines, food, music and dancing. Building on last year’s Latin-themed success, Crystal City will once again be serving up tasty tapas, tempting tequila, and a ton of fun.

This is what I call a Libertarian neighborhood party. Everything is on private property and the local businesses provide all of the entertainment.  If I mention this in any of the Suki series books, the security will be privately contracted and professional in the 2030s, rather than the arrangement Arlington County is involved in as pictured.

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Suki's Crystal City Apartment: Crystal Drive, Arlington, VA, 22202

Suki's apartment appears in most of the books.  Located near the intersection of 15th Street South and Crystal Drive, in Crystal City, Arlington, VA 22202.

View Suki's World in Suki I; Suki II: Sunshine Returns; Suki III; Suki IV; Suki V and Suki: Fan Fiction in a larger map

In the original series (Suki I, Suki II: Sunshine Returns, Suki III: Never Let Us End and Suki IV: Finally A Vacation) her apartment was decorated with furniture, mostly cherry, that she customized herself with ornate carvings.

In Suki With A Twist, everything is store bought of the finest quality available in the 2030s.

Suki and John's first night together is in Suki's apartment, in Suki I.  In Suki II: Sunshine Returns, almost everything happens in Suki's apartment from the point John rescues Suki from Sunshine.  Much of Suki III: Never Let Us End happens in her apartment too.

Suki's apartment is at this intersection in both series. A previous apartment of John's, from the first series, is near here too.
Suki's apartment faces the river and airport, to the right of the shot. In the Suki With A Twist series, Suki keeps her import sports car collection in the underground parking garage.
In both series, the buildings on the west side of Crystal Drive (left side of shot) are much taller. In Suki With A Twist a covered pedestrian overpass crosses Crystal Drive, connecting the apartment buildings to The Underground.

Mentioned in the first series, occasionally there are protests in Suki's neighborhood by people from Washington, DC and Maryland.  In the 2030s, Virginia requires people to be financially liable for damage they cause, especially while driving.  When a DC or MD motorist loses their home the usual activists arrive in force to protest the "plantation mentality" of Virginians.  These protests resemble this video (shot in DC, 2010, near one of John and Suki's favorite restaurants):

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