Reagan National (DCA) is much closer to Washington, D.C. At roughly 4 miles from downtown, it sits just across the Potomac River in Arlington, Virginia. Dulles (IAD) is about 26 to 27 miles west of the city in Loudoun and Fairfax counties. Reagan wins on distance, every time.
In brief
Reagan National (DCA) is much closer to Washington, D.C. At roughly 4 miles from downtown, it sits just across the Potomac River in Arlington, Virginia. Dulles (IAD) is about 26 to 27 miles west of the city in Loudoun and Fairfax counties. Reagan wins on distance, every time.
The numbers
Reagan National is approximately 4 miles from downtown Washington, while Dulles is about 26 miles away. That gap is not a rounding difference. It shapes everything from how you get to the airport to how early you need to leave your hotel.
Reagan is the closest commercial airport to downtown Washington, D.C. It sits just across the Potomac River in Arlington, Virginia, about a 4-mile drive from the White House. Dulles, by contrast, is 26 miles west of downtown, in Loudoun and Fairfax counties in Northern Virginia.
Getting there: car and rideshare
The drive from Reagan to downtown takes 10 to 15 minutes with no traffic, compared to 35 to 50 minutes from Dulles. Traffic is a real factor at Reagan, especially near Terminal B/C, and rush hour on the George Washington Parkway can slow things down. Mid-day arrivals and departures are usually smooth.
Rideshare costs reflect the mileage gap sharply. An average Uber from Reagan runs about $16; from Dulles, closer to $43. Standard Uber service from Dulles can run $57 to $59, and prices climb during peak times.
Getting there: Metro
Reagan has had its own Metro station for decades. Washington Reagan National Airport has its own Metro station, reachable via walkways from Terminal B and C. From Terminal A, a free airport shuttle bus connects to the station. Trains depart every 15 minutes, and the ride into the city takes about 16 minutes.
Dulles got its Metro station much later. The 23.1-mile Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project, connecting the airport with downtown Washington D.C., opened in November 2022. The $6.01 billion project now operates as the Silver Line. A direct Silver Line train runs from Dulles to Farragut West, departing every 15 minutes and taking about 46 minutes.
The flight trade-off
Proximity to the city comes with a catch at Reagan. Flights to and from Reagan are restricted by a federal perimeter rule that limits nonstop flights to a 1,250-mile distance unless granted a specific exemption by law. The perimeter rule was first introduced in January 1966. The idea was that longer flights would operate from Dulles while smaller aircraft flew out of Reagan, reducing noise for residents.
The perimeter rule limits nonstop flights from Reagan to destinations within 1,250 miles, roughly as far west as Kansas and Nebraska, and as far north as Quebec and Newfoundland. A handful of congressional exemptions have added beyond-perimeter routes. At Reagan National, most nonstop flights are limited to a range of 1,250 miles, though exemptions have allowed flights to and from about 10 cities beyond that limit, such as Denver and Seattle.
Dulles is home to most of the international flights in the region. Reagan is nominally a domestic airport and only receives international flights from airports with U.S. border pre-clearance facilities, which are treated like domestic flights. So if you're flying to London or Tokyo, Dulles is your airport regardless of where you're staying.
Bottom line
For most trips into Washington proper, Reagan is the practical choice. Four miles versus 26 miles is a 20-minute Metro ride versus a 46-minute one, and a $16 rideshare versus a $43-plus fare. The calculus only flips if your destination is in Northern Virginia closer to Dulles, your airline only serves Dulles, or you're on an international itinerary. Silver Line Phase 2 opened on November 15, 2022, with a ribbon-cutting that included U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, which means Dulles is more accessible than it was even a few years ago. But Reagan's location, across the river from the National Mall, is hard to beat for a downtown DC trip.
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CAN I KICK IT? screens New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument, on Aug. 22. (Courtesy SHAOLIN JAZZ)
The live-cinema series CAN I KICK IT? returns to the National Mall this month with what its producers are calling the "Gangsters on the Mall" chapter of their free outdoor summer run. On Saturday, August 22, the SHAOLIN JAZZ production brings the 1991 crime classic New Jack City to the Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument for a night of film, music, and community under the DC summer sky.
What sets the event apart is the sound. As the film plays, DJ 2-Tone Jones builds an original score in real time, reimagining one of the most iconic crime movies of the ’90s through hip-hop, soul, funk, and more. It is less a movie screening than a live performance built around the film.
The details:
Film: New Jack City (1991), with a live soundtrack by DJ 2-Tone Jones
When: Saturday, August 22 — seating opens at 7:30 p.m. (bring lawn chairs and blankets); film begins at 8:30 p.m.
Where: Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument, Independence Ave SW & 15th St NW
A parking note from the organizers: expect road closures and restricted parking east of 14th Street NW due to a separate race event in the District. Roads west of 14th Street NW will be accessible and available for parking.
New Jack City is the second of three screenings in this year’s free CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series, which opened with Black Panther at Skyland Town Center and concludes with Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial on September 5. Produced by the Washington, DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, the series has presented more than 150 live cinematic experiences at venues across the country, from Lincoln Center to SXSW.
"I wanted to be able to tell good stories with substance and remove the ‘ego’ out of the art," said Andrew Huang during a recent interview. Now, he’s building his career at the intersection of discipline, creativity and innovation.
Andrew Huang, founder of New Place Studios. (Courtesy photo)
As a Chinese American, Huang was reared with a deep respect for hard work, consistency and excellence. He describes his childhood as "not so affluent" and later attended college to hone his passion for videography. "In college I tried to do something I loved, which was video, but along the way I knew that I had to find a job. And so I thought, ‘what was the low hanging fruit to get to that stable 9 to 5 job?,’" he stated.
Later in life, Huang found himself working for corporations where his creativity was often limited, eventually leading to burnout. "I worked in a corporation for a long time and there were a lot of missing pieces. I wanted to fill in gaps missing in corporate video production," said Huang.
He later described how his upbringing and a mindset of "survival" led him toward a corporate career. However, his desire for balance and authentic storytelling ultimately pushed him to take the entrepreneurial leap.
"I founded a new place where you can create video and film with ‘substance and style,’" said Huang. His desire for work-life balance and passion for storytelling naturally evolved into a small business based in Virginia. With the launch of New Place Studios, the entrepreneur quickly found himself reconnecting with the values that would become the foundation of everything he creates behind the camera.
Huang said being a business owner has allowed him to first embrace himself. While others may see video as simply capturing moments, he sees it as a way to preserve stories that inspire, connect and leave a lasting imprint.
By combining cinematic visuals with cutting-edge production techniques and a keen understanding of branding, Huang helps organizations and individuals communicate their vision with purpose. He said understanding a client’s "why" serves as the compass for delivering the services they need.
One benefit of working with a small business, he said, is that clients get to see the production process unfold through a micro lens while working with the same faces throughout the entire project. "The work feels personal," said Huang.
Huang does not regret leaving behind the flash-over-substance mentality and corporate hustle culture. That does not mean the Asian American entrepreneur has been without challenges in the industry. "It’s relatively hard to find other Asian American creatives or people who would want to work with me in the DMV," said Huang.
He identifies the industry culture in which everyone is trying to blend in, creatives may fear displaying their Asian identity and some feel pressure to adopt an American corporate persona. He also points to what he describes as a level of gatekeeping within the industry. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2024 statistics, Asian American and Pacific Islander entrepreneurs own more than 3 million businesses and employ 5.2 million people in the United States.
After tapping into organizations such as SCORE, which offers free small business mentorship, New Place Studios has become a trusted creative partner throughout the DMV (Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia). The company produces a range of creative services, including commercials, corporate branding, documentaries, film, 2D animation, motion graphics and photography.
For Huang, entrepreneurship has become more than a departure from corporate life. It has given him the freedom to create with intention, build meaningful connections and tell stories that go beyond the surface.
The 2026 CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
For three Saturdays this summer, some of Washington’s most familiar public spaces will do something they rarely do after dark: fill up with blankets, lawn chairs, and the sound of a movie being scored live, in real time. CAN I KICK IT?, the traveling “live cinema” series produced by the DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, is bringing a free outdoor run to the city — pairing three era-defining films with an original soundtrack performed on the spot by DJ 2-Tone Jones.
The premise is what sets it apart from a normal screening in the park. Rather than simply pressing play, 2-Tone Jones builds a score as the film unfolds, pulling from hip-hop, soul, funk, jazz, rock, electronic music, and sounds from around the world. The result, the organizers say, is less a movie night than a one-time performance — the same film you know, wired to a soundtrack you have never heard and will not hear again. Guest DJs warm up the crowd starting at 7:30 PM before each 8:30 PM screening.
The 2026 outdoor schedule
All three events are free and open to the public.
Saturday, August 8 — Black Panther at Skyland Town Center. A pop-up marketplace and community activities kick off the evening; guest DJs at 7:30 PM, film at 8:30 PM. Marvel’s superhero epic gets a one-night-only live score in Southeast DC.
Saturday, August 22 — New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument. Seating begins at 7:30 PM; the film starts at 8:30 PM. The 1991 crime drama plays out at the foot of one of the country’s most recognizable landmarks.
Saturday, September 5 — Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial. Seating at 7:30 PM; film at 8:30 PM. The series closes with Brian De Palma’s crime saga against the backdrop of the Memorial, scored live from start to finish.
First up: Black Panther at Skyland Town Center on August 8. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
A DC company with a national footprint
SHAOLIN JAZZ describes itself as a Washington-based arts company working at the intersection of music, film, art, and culture, and CAN I KICK IT? is its signature production. According to the organizers, the series has staged more than 150 live cinematic experiences around the country — at performing arts centers, museums, festivals, and cultural institutions including Lincoln Center in New York, SXSW, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Republic Square in Austin, the Tacoma Armory, and The Cary Theater.
“CAN I KICK IT? has always been about creating a shared experience,” said Gerald Watson, co-founder of SHAOLIN JAZZ. “When you combine iconic films with live music in public spaces, something special happens. People aren’t just watching a movie — they’re experiencing it together. That’s what makes these nights so memorable.”
Cinema as a community event
The DC run lands as cities across the country look for new ways to activate public space through arts and culture — and this series is a straightforward pitch for how to do it: take a landmark everyone already knows, add a film everyone has an opinion about, and let a live soundtrack turn the evening into something neighbors experience shoulder to shoulder. Families, film buffs, and music fans are all invited, and admission won’t cost a thing.
The CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series runs August 8, August 22, and September 5. All events are free; check SHAOLIN JAZZ (shaolinjazz.com) for the latest details and any weather updates before heading out.
