You may have seen the IBM ads on TV talking about “building a smarter planet.” Those ads reference the company’s Smarter Cities Challenge, which seeks to award 50 cities (or counties) in North America with $250,000 to $400,000 in free technology and consulting services to solve a key problem facing each locality.
The company is now hoping that Arlington applies to the program.
“There could be a number of ways for IBM to help in Arlington, from traffic problems to Metro efficiency and safety,” said IBM rep Max Luckey. “The IBM grant could help fund new infrastructure improvements, streamline administration costs, or even help with projects like the Rosslyn Gateway Park redevelopment.”
The solutions provided by IBM are data and technology-driven, but such solutions can be applied to most problems facing local governments, we’re told. Better citizen engagement and improved delivery of services are two other examples of ways in which the Challenge can help.
The deadline for applying to the program is Dec. 31.
If you ran the county government, what problem would you try to solve?
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I thought this was an intriguing question. Not sure it’s sexy enough for IBM, but some data analysis could help better craft the snow removal ordinance.
Technology-wise? I’d like to see a centralized traffic management system that assesses traffic conditions and modifies stoplight sequences in real time to help alleviate congestion.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to grab some popcorn. this should be a good thread.
Count me in for the popcorn as well.
Barry has a good proposal for traffic management since Arlington is facing traffic assaults on various fronts. Certainly, the clogged Washington Blvd – fed by a widdened 66 – could benefit from such technology. Google recently experimented with a high tech driverless car that traveled 100s of thousands of miles. Would be interested to see how such a car did on Arlington streets? Why not push the high tech ante on traffic management in Arlington? At the same time, the County is pushing “car free diets” and many people are now moving to Arlington to live in neighborhoods such as the South of Courthouse, SoCo, neighborhood to avoid driving altogether.
— SoCo, the neighborhood triangle: N. 10th, Wash&Arl blvds—
I would invest it in helping the various Civic Associations reach out to the wayward souls who can’t seem to identify where they live, and instead resort to making things up.
Interesting the posters who will not comment positively and substantively, and even want to control what “monikers” other posters use.
Why do you keep pushing this ridiculous moniker?
+1000
Hey, he made it up himself and he’s proud of it.
This person is obviously completely insane.
I would use eminent domain to take over a certain neighborhood at 10th St and Washington and Arlington Blvds and build a giant parking lot around a hot chocolate/psychiatry stand. That way people could either get cocoa or be loco in SoCo.
I’d like to see a web based meathod of community engagement. I’m really proud of how much the county involves the citizens on issues, but who has time to go to a working session at 2pm on a weekday?
We already have that and it is monitored by local governmemt.
http://www.seeclickfix.com
I meant a way to get involved in the various community advisory groups, boards, and panels that provide input into the county’s planning and stratigic vision, not simply a tool to report that a homeless person has annoyed you by existing.
Give up now. Your input doesn’t matter to the Board. They do what they want whether individuals or neighborhoods oppose whatever it is they want to do. Look at what they did to the neighborhood surrounding the Baptist church and building the highrise (for affordable units the developer had to go from 6 to 10 stories next to single family homes) and the “accessory dwelling issue.” Every neighborhood in Arlington opposed it and yet the Board passed the provision anyway.
In Sept I was speaking about the Clarendon Baptist Church project as you do here and very upset. Taking an ALRI (ARL LEARNING IN RETIREMENT) course on Affordable Housing was an eyeopener! Hearing the advantages that affordable housing provides Arlington made sense to me! This evening Cty Manager Barbara Donnellan too, spoke of the need to have enough affordable housing to provide diversity of cultures, ethnic backgrounds, etc. but also diversity of workers in the schools, fire department, car repair, hotel staff, etc. Our businesses need workers here in order to succeed: driving in from the suburbs is not fun and those who can switch to a job near their home will, instead of coming to an Arlington business. We have to build housing affordable for all levels of incomes.
Actually it does. I’m one of the people who think (as Jjbug does) that maintaining affordable housing is incredibly important. Also, the church wanted the development. I can’t imagine why we would want high density within a 1/4 mile of a metro station. That doesn’t make any sense at all (sarcasm).
I have had it up to here with affordable housing, diversity, and culture-ism. We have been over run by this stuff. Arlington WAS diverse, we had cultural events…now it seems the only ones that matters are those who DO NOT wish to be part of the community. We have become a sanctuary community, crime is up, we have “dumbed” down the educational system, our taxes keep going up…and all we get is MORE “affordable” housing. Oh, please, do not give me this bull about property values sliding. Sure, we have taken a hit…but it is about time the County stops spending money! First place to start is to get rid of all the freeloaders!
Your comment about community engagement is intriguing. Any chance we could talk further? I’m a county employee in Economic Development. Call 703-228-0840. Thanks.
Multiple ED-209′s patrolling the streets for aggressive panhandlers.
Agree
Hear, hear.
Not just traffic OR Metro OR ART Bus OR streetcar, but a total transportation analysis.
+1.
+1
BUT I would like it to be based on what people DO not on how the County wants us to DO.
eg — I need a semi-direct bus between my house and work, not three buses.
I salute that. The whole “transportation” system in Arlington has been patchwork and piecemeal for as long as I can remember — back to the embarassing days when buses were routed so that very few ran the whole length of Glebe Road, for fear of “the element” getting into North Arlington.
Since I lived in a pocket of modest houses in North Arlington when I was younger, before everything up there was incredibly expensive, it was easier for me to walk four miles to (then) Parkington than wait for a rare-as-white-squirrels bus.
It’s a little less silly now but I do not get a sense of coherent transportation planning, more transportation manipulation.
the glebe road bus is still insane. just how many side jaunts it has to take just to get to crystal city. i can walk almost as fast.
I agree with increasing community input on current and planned County initiatives via the web. My experience with trying to contact the County on snow removal last year would lend itself to web based solutions. Snow-maggedon was a clear invitation for the County to push out more timely information to residents more effectively than what was available via the local media.
Wegmans! Whole Foods is great and all, but expensive – and Trader Joes will be a nice addition. But Wegmans has the absolute best prices and food selection! There are plenty of empty lots along Wilson and Clarendon Blvd to make this happen.
This doesn’t go with the comment thread – but just thought I’d throw it out there
Rochester-based Wegmans only opens 2-3 stores per year. Their stores require considerably more square footage than could be accommodated by the few, not “plenty of”, vacant lots in the Wilson and Clarendon Corridor. There are already plans for these lots anyways. With Trader Joes (approved by the County Board last nite), it is highly unlikely that a new grocery store will move into this corridor. There will be space in the new Pershing Dr. center being built, former Lee Center, in the SoCo neighborhood for a smaller unnamed grocery the size of a Trader Joe’s.
- South of Courthouse, SoCo, the triangle neighborhood: N. 10th, Wash&Arl blvds–
Wegmans at the site of the old Taco Bell/Dremo’s would be fabulous!
yes please!
Wegmans could consolidate land and cover all of SOCO. I bet we’d know where SoCo was then. And care.
I’d like a way to prevent rude and insulting comments from being posted on this blog.
Whoa! Easy… We only have $500k to work with, here.
since you are tailing on my comment I assume something about what I said is rude and insulting. I’ve looked it over and don’t see anything. Just because you don’t agree doesn’t mean it is rude or insulting. and the addition of the emoticon should assist readers in understanding it is intended to be humor.
I have sent objectionable postings to ARLNOW via their CONTACT US listing and ARLNOW has been excellent about removing things that are truly objectionable.
“Take it Down a Notch” is right on about rude and insulting comments being posted on this particular discussion and site. It is usually the same posters who resort to this language in discussion after discussion with the intention of squelching any posters who do not agree with them, i.e. they want to hold the discussion captive.
—SoCo, the triangle neighborhood bounded by N. 10th St, Wash&Arl blvds—
i agree that there is some bullying going on.
but i do think a great land assemblage could be done to accommodate Wegmans.
WTF is SoCO?
You are talking about Lyon Park, stop it with this nonsense.
MAYBE Ashton Heights, depending on where exactly you go, but yes, Lyon Park.
One more vote to end the SoCo nonsense…. it’s completely ridiculous!
Also, in addition to this being an already, formally established neighborhood of Lyon Park, Lyon Park is a sub community of Clarendon, NOT Courthouse.
The boundaries of the civic associations comprising the Clarendon Alliance association (i.e. Ashton Heights, Clarendon-Courthouse, Lyon Park and Lyon Village, and bounded by Lee Highway, Veitch Street, Wilson Boulevard, Arlington Boulevard, Glebe Road, Wilson Boulevard, and Kirkwood Street)
Arlington County’s Courthouse Sector Plan includes the area bounded by Wilson Boulevard, Cleveland Street, Fairfax Drive, Arlington Boulevard and Courthouse Road.
+1 I agree w/ Wat, the area described is part of Clarendon.
More transparency in spending.
I agree but it won’t happen, they know we would not be happy.
absolutely! +1000
How about an online maps of bike thefts?
I doubt many “illegals” can afford to live in Arlington.
They do, they have several families in one apartment and the west end of the pike is not that expensive. Why do you think the county is doing this, they have made it known they are safe in the county.
+1000
And I truly feel sorry for all of the families that are being led on by Arlington County into thinking that the laws of this nation don’t apply to them. They may have it good for now, but there’s nothing but sorrow in their future. The Criminal Alien situation has reached critical mass, and is no longer going to be tolerated.
“The Obama administration deported a record number of illegal immigrants in the 2010 fiscal year, according to figures released Wednesday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Of the 392,862 deportations from October 2009 through September of this year, about half were illegal immigrants with criminal records. The total was about 3,000 more deportations than the record set in the previous year.”
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/oct/06/nation/la-na-illegal-immigration-20101007
So 150,000+ folks that were not here to cause trouble, just to work were deported. Why? Because as a Nation we only issue 10,000 work visas a year for those folks! Anyone else see the problem?!?!?!?!
“Not here to cause trouble?”
How do you call infiltrating the borders of a sovreign nation and promoting crime, disease, and poverty not “causing trouble?”
They’ve not yet begun to get what they deserve, but I believe the time is soon at hand…
Yeah, the girl who cleaned the last hotel room you were in is in this country to promote crime, disease and poverty.
This reinforces the belief, underreported by the media, that a remarkable amount of good government has been implemented under the Obama Administration.
I forget who said it first, but I am reminded of the adage, “Democrats can’t win elections; Republicans can’t run government.”
On their own you are so correct. But I know of a few “Group Houses” and apartments in Westover with 20 plus folks that I doubt have proper work visas. Nothing I am worried about so far. All seem to just want to work hard during the week, play soccer and go home when they have a nice nest egg. But don’t think that they are not here.
We really do need more visas issued for unskilled labor coming from Mexico and Central America. 10,000 visas for unskilled workers a year total from all nations will NEVER fulfill our needs, and that means there will always be the incentive for them to sneak in rather than crossing at border stations to be counted and to pay taxes.
Looks like the county didn’t like my first post about the illegals, its gone.
Jane – I think it is up top…or just repost it.
On their own you are so correct. But I know of a few “Group Houses” and apartments in Westover with 20 plus folks that I doubt have proper work visas. Nothing I am worried about so far. All seem to just want to work hard during the week, play soccer and go home when they have a nice nest egg. But don’t think that they are not here.
We really do need more visas issued for unskilled labor coming from Mexico and Central America. 10,000 visas for unskilled workers a year total from all nations will NEVER fulfill our needs, and that means there will always be the incentive for them to sneak in rather than crossing at border stations to be counted and to pay taxes.
With 10% unemployment and a lot of people having no viable job skills anyway, this problem can be solved pretty quickly when folks are faced with being homeless and hungry or working unskilled jobs that might be below them but are better than starving.
You would think, but the guy who lost his job as an engineer ain’t likly to take a job cleaning hotel rooms or laying cement. Just the way it is.
The illegals don’t “go home” when they have a nice nest egg. They send money for their relatives to come here or have an “anchor” baby.
+1
Improve the County Fitness Centers Operating Hours
There is only one fitness center, TJ, that opens before 8am on weekdays. It opens at 6:30am, but that is way too late if you have to get to work by 8am and have a long commute. What’s the point of the “Fit Arlington” initiative if we can’t get in for a morning workout? I would like to see TJ open at 6am or earlier each weekday.
Why should the County spend taxpayer dollars to duplicate services already provided by private enterprise? Gold’s opens at 5 and they have four Arlington locations. If you Google gyms and health clubs in Arlington, you get a pageful. One of the constant refrains on this site is the spending of county taxpayer dollars on luxuries and nice-to-haves, and the tax rates necessary to support such spending.
On the gyms, I have to agree with you. The private sector has that covered at an affordable price even. What we could use though are more indoor pools, a need that the private sector has not fulfilled. Head to any of the County HS Pools after work and they are filled with swim team practice or kids swim lessons, both VERY worthy activities, but still need something for us in the 20-50 crowd to be able to train/swim laps in. The private clubs that do offer 25M pools have huge initiation fees and some even have selective waitlists.
The new LA Fitness in Arlington has a pool, no contracts and a tiny initiation fee. The private sector is taking this need on just fine.
Sounds good! Where is that located? 25 meter pool?
Glebe and Route 1. After shopping around, it is by far the best gym deal in the county.
Long Bridge park, currently under construction and still several years out, will have an aquatics and fitness center.
If the county were thinking of creating new gyms, I would agree with you. But since they already have them, it is really frustrating that they are not being fully utilized. Plus, TJ is really affordable and it is closer to my home than any private gym.
That is practically Alexandria.
Hope they build one up here in the depraved NorthWest end of the County. 
i would like:
- the streets paved properly. no more slurry seal in residential areas.
- potholes repaired properly. (why can’t some potholes EVER get permanently fixed?)
-allow neighborhoods to put in 4-way and 3-way stops instead of over priced traffic circles, which are just political pork.
- Arlington accept it is a CITY and act like one — more density, more transit, more retail that works, more things at night
- The County Board add TWO NEW MEMBERS taking the total to SEVEN so that we actually have some honest and useful discussion on policy.
- Arlington accept that it snows EVERY SINGLE YEAR and actually remove snow from the streets in a timely, efficient and sensible manner
- Arlington be 100% 5G WIFI so we can all get rid of Verizon and Comcast.
- Then we would be true first class, imho.
Sounds like a good plan to me. Maybe you should run for County Board yourself!
Slurry seal is more cost effective and provides a surface that is better than traditional surfaces.
I have reported several long lasting potholes to the county and they all were permanently fixed.
I hate traffic circles but would like some evidence from you that they are political pork.
Many Arlington residents object to the ever increasing density and the problems it brings. The county has always balanced growth with sensitivity towards it’s residents who don’t want more density in their neighborhoods. More density has come over the past few years and more will come in time along with both the benefits and problems but there is no need to rush.
We don’t need more members on the county board. You are entitled to your opinion but an objective review would show that for the most part, we do have honest and useful policy discussion most of the time. That is why the county board members continue to win elections.
Climate change means more severe weather but last year was an outlier. It would not be cost-effective to invest in more snow removal resources as those resources would be wasted most years.
Pay the county employees more so they are not the lowest paid around, hopefully improving morale and increasing productivity.
Create a revitalization plan for S Four Mile Run Dr. between Shirlington Road and S. George Mason. That area has so much untapped potential. Some of those warehouse buildings would make great restaurants.
that’d be nice.
Why? It is a light industrial commercial area! One of only a hand full left in Arlington. That is what Shirlington was re-designed for…we have enough places to eat in Arlington.
1) CLARENDON-COURTHOUSE BUM ROUND-UP!
2) Pursue, capture, detain, and deport all Criminal Aliens from our communities.
I have to agree on this one, but take it a step farther and say we need better police patrols in the county. The number of assaults in the Wed crime report seem to increase each week and get more violent. The county needs to get more officers out of cars and on foot/bike patrols in the heavily used Rosslyn-Ballston areas, and more car patrols with community policing on the south side.
+1000
What we honestly need is a completely new police force that understands Community Policing. ACPD only operates in the passive/reactive mode, and that happens to work fairly well in a nice place like this, but criminals are starting to realize they can do as they wish and *may* pay a price for it later, and also that they have friends on the county board.
Afterthought- ACPD can in fact be very proactive when it comes to sticker policing and other revenue generating activities, it’s the criminal enforcement that they fail at.
AMEN
How about driverless metro trains? I know other countries have fully automated metro systems. I guess the metro union wouldn’t be too happy about that…
They couldn’t make it work safely before the rash of accidents… certainly won’t work now. Not at least until a lot of issues are corrected in metro as a whole.
you realize the metro crash last year was because the Metro’s automated system didn’t work properly
I like the total transportation analysis idea.
How about analyses on:
- ways to reduce energy use for the county and its residents
- ways to make metro profitable and thereby more reliable & safe as a result
- composting on a large scale so everyone could participate, even if they don’t want to harvest the byproduct soil
- ways to increase/incentivize biking to work programs (which also help with traffic, energy use, and obesity/health issues and costs)
Be like 90% of the rest of the Commonwealth and drop the car decal.
Doubt if you will see that anytime soon. The decals were a receipt for the payment of your County Personal Property taxes on the vehicle. When the Treasurer switched to a passive payment system, send out the decals with the tax bill, this all changed. The decal no longer was your “receipt of payment”. It in essence became an ADDITIONAL TAX on your vehicle.
And Arlington is NOT about to give any revenue producing items. Free Zone parking has evolved into another TAX. If you can not get a place to your vehicle (PP TAX + DECAL TAX) park in front of your house (RE TAX)and request zone parking…you get it plus a bill for the privilege to park in front of your own home…yet another TAX! Oh, but we are keeping the tax rate down, duh!
Cameras on all cop cars and county vehicles that track license plates and catch car tax (ahem: “Personal Property” tax) violators in the County. And I’m not just talking about those in pricey condos in Rosslyn-Ballston.
Or you could just hold a bake sale in the Weenie Beenie Parking lot! I have a great Tres Leches recipe…
No offense cupcake, but that’s an asstacular idea!
I will have you know I garage park mine in a pricey condo but I pay the tax, I do however refuse to put on a front license plate.
The biggest problem in Arlington? Attitudes.
Get rid of the ridiculous neighborhood conservation program and simply fix curbs/streets/lights like a government is supposed to. Don’t leave those decisions to who knows how to game the system & squeakiest wheels.
Call it TriBe10 instead of SoCo.
Kick out the liberals
AMEN to that!
Kick out the liberals.
take out the bus lanes. they slow down traffic.
bike lanes too.
Make Military Road 4 lanes again.
You don’t make anything better by adding 40 million Mexicans to it, do you? I’m JUST sayin…
You don’t make anything better by adding 40 million Mexicans to it, do you? I’m JUST sayin’…
Come on folks back on point – spend grant money – on technology.
I would say County wide Wifi. If Verizon and comcast prevent that –
the transportation coordinations and optimizations for all modes. Unless they are proposing something different for the Columbia Pike trolley than I was familiar with in Media PA as a kid, you are gonna need it keep non-trolley traffic moving in that area.
Max Luckey sounds like a dog’s name.
My vote goes to IBM improving on the “NextBus” concept in Arlington for Metro and ART buses. The current NextBus system is a good start, but better data and more bus stop displays could make the bus an easier, more convenient, and more appealing option.
Two things:
A bike tax to pay for all of the lane lining along roads that are adjacent to existing bike paths.
Video on all crosswalks with automated monitoring to identify vehicle crosswalk violators. The County could actually give out some of those $400 fines that they authorized a few years ago. Of course they would have to increase the Sheriff’s and parking compliance budget to pay their fines in CC.
STREETS:
– Time traffic lights for continuousmovement when driving at speed limit, and continually remind drivers of this (no point in speeding when a light turns green; ssave gas and wear and tear on your car by driving at the speed limit) in various ways.
– Allow residents on secondary streets, with the concurrence of 70% of the residents, to implement one or more measures (from an approved menu) to minimize “drive through” traffic. Goal: Vehicles on secondary streets would be only those of residents, guests and service vehicles (business and government).
Public Schools:
Transparency, accountability and the use of extant research to improve outcomes.
Transparency: Full reporting of achievement test scores by individual (of course, without names of pupils) along with predicted scores (based on listed IQ test score) and achievement gain obtained and predicted. Explanations when scores are missing or are incomplete. Then, this data by class, then by school.
Accountability: Percentages (and characteristics) of those who achieved what was predicted, achieved better than predicted, and achieved less than predicted, by individual, class and school.
Use of extant research:
One example: Adolescents get sleepy later and need more sleep, so the start times of school for them should FULLY reflect this. When this research finding is implemented, attentiveness increases (especially in the first class), and more important, grades and achievement scores meaningfully improve.
Another example: NIH research has identified the most effective way to teach reading.
Another example: Interventions for children of disadvantaged children have with dismal consistency found little or no increases in educational achievement, and when there have been increases, these benefits were soon lost. Don’t give up on these children. NIH research and an educational intervention evaluation points the way to an intervention that has trnasformative effects. The intervention: In-home visitation for 20 hrs/wk. between age 8 mos and 3 years for verbal interactions with the little one. This immersion in words develops vocabulary, and vocabulary correlates better than .9 with verbal intelligence (IQ). (In-home vitiations also significantly reduces child abuse and neglect.) When this intervention was evaluated for effects at 4th grade: Average IQs, 100; educational achievement, at grade level. That’s a transformative effect for these young people and for our country. How to pay for this? Slash the other programs — research shows that they don’t work.
((Reference for the early childhood transformative intervention: Betty Hart and Todd Risley, Meaningful Differences.)
We need to think smart (learn the research findings) and then act smart (implement the research with fidelity to the science) so that finite tax dollars don’t buy gestures but buy what really pay offs.
Some questions.
Why is a citizen asking the ARLCoPSs to implement strong research findings? Shouldn’t the educational professionals be know about such research? Shouldn’t these professionals be striving to implement this research with fidelity to the science?
I’m sure that everything in Arlington could be improved, but it should be said that some things are already outstanding; the ARLCO library is one. Kudos to its leadership and staff for their innovativeness and creativity in making continuous improvements to improve access, expand services and increase efficiency.
24 hours and 93 responses later, I survey the scarred wreckage that is this comment thread and nod in grim approval.
Thank you ARLnow commentariat, you never disappoint.
Also, I’m out of popcorn.
How did this turn into a discussion on immigration?
Fund an “opt-in” network of private webcams to solve crimes. Your car gets broken into for spare change? The police can check the web cam logs from your street to identify & “track” the perp. Property owners who want to participate would be given a wi-fi cam to mount on the side of their house at the location of their choice. When the ACLU goes crazy, could require the police to get warrant before pulling up the vid.
How about RFIDs implanted in your car (or bike or shoe) and then sensors in the road to really collect some seriously usable data for traffic planning. Exactly where are people coming and going from and how fast do they drive? Would need an awesome algorithm to mine the data – but it would be truly ground breaking. Arlington could be to traffic analysis and planning what Iceland is to genetics.