After all, if yesterday morning’s Orange Line problems demonstrated anything, it’s that for all the suckage, the people you saw jammed onto the platforms still, at that point, considered Metro to be their best transportation option. (Same applies to today’s Blue, Orange and Yellow Line delays.)
But perhaps some are changing their minds.
County Manager Barbara Donnellan told the board on Saturday that the county has received requests for 50-60 snowblowers so far this winter. Arlington only has about ten snowblowers available to loan to local civic associations.
Faced with that news, the board seemed willing to expand the snowblower loan program, the goal of which is to allow citizens to clear publicly-owned sidewalks in their neighborhoods. The program also allows civic associations to clear sidewalks for elderly or disabled neighbors who aren’t capable of doing so themselves.
While noting the praise heaped on Arlington for being a model of smart growth, WTOP reporter Adam Tuss says that the county’s resistance to highway transportation projects has opened it up for criticism.
“There are others that scoff at the county, saying its officials take a parochial transportation view and only think about Arlington at the expense of the entire D.C. region,” Tuss reports.
Travel + Leisure magazine recently published a list of America’s most and least attractive cities. It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that the much-maligned D.C. area ranked near the bottom of the list, as the country’s #6 least attractive city.
But does Arlington share the blame for the ugliness? If you take a walk around Clarendon on a Friday night, do you find the bar-goers more or less attractive than, say, the bar-goers walking around Adams Morgan on a Friday night?
An interception ended Donovan McNabb and the Redskins’ valiant comeback attempt against Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts last night on Sunday Night Football.
A company says it can save 1,600 tons of paper each year by discontinuing a free publication that only 11 percent of recipients actually use.
That company is Verizon, and the publication is all local White Pages directories in Virginia. The company placed an official notice in the Virginia edition of the Washington Post classifieds today, announcing that it’s lobbying the state for permission to stop sending out residential phone books. The Yellow Pages would still be printed.
The poll, conducted in mid-September, shows Moran with 45 percent of the likely vote compared to Murray’s 32 percent. Another 23 percent say they’re undecided.
In 2008, Moran defeated Republican candidate Mark Ellmore 68 percent to 30 percent.
The smart growth-oriented county board is thus stuck in a bit of a paradox. While it funds redevelopment and a new streetcar line, it’s also talking about spending to preserve affordable housing on the Pike.
The Pike certainly has its flaws — crime, lack of bike access, some undesirable land use — but it also has unique qualities that make it a great place to live — diversity, character-filled restaurants and shops, a strong sense of local identity.
Clarendon Day, the Shirlington Oktoberfest, the opening of Rosslyn’s new Artisphere — it’s a three-week procession of big events in Arlington.
Which event are you looking forward to?
The Washington area is among the 1,500 locales recognizing World Car Free Day today. It’s a “fun and worthwhile event” that challenges commuters to leave their car at home.
