Friday, May 18, 2012

Economic Development Staff - Arlington Will Be the Next Tysons

Hello, Yupette,

I wanted to know what the long range plans are for Arlington. So I asked a woman who's on the Economic Development Division's staff. She confirmed that "Arlington is going to be the next Tysons. It's going to be done neighborhood by neighborhood over the next ten years. They're going to pack as much density into this county as possible. Arlington is going to be like Tysons is today. Next big thing is urbanizing residential neighborhoods between the state highway corridors."

So if people are concerned about the planning for Crystal City they should be. Because that's the future planning for the entire County.

Thanks for your blog.

Mary

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Neighborhoods, SPRC, Clement Say NO to Crystal City Mega-Development

Hi Yupette,

Site Plan Review Committee met on Monday at the Aurora Hills Community Center to debate Vornado's site plan for its Penn Place mega-development. About 150 residents attended.

The overwhelming sentiment by the community members of the SPRC was that the Penn Place site plan imposes too much traffic, density, and urbanization on the site, which is near the Pentagon City Metro station. Even the Zimmerman-appointed SPRC members (who approved previous poorly-planned mega-infill projects) agreed that community benefits are conspicuous by their absence from the site plan.

The Green Party's County Board candidate Audrey Clement attended and expressed solidarity with Crystal City, Pentagon City, Aurora Highlands, and Arlington Ridge residents. Crystal City resident and Republican County Board candidate Matt Wavro did not attend, nor did South Arlington resident and Democratic County Board candidate Libby Garvey.

It was again disconcerting to see how many people who live outside Arlington have so much influence over what gets developed here. If retired Planning Commission members want to make Arlington their second home they should get involved in planning activities in the state where they currently live.

Karen, Aurora Hills

Monday, May 14, 2012

Residents Will Not Participte In Bicycle Events Until Streets are Repaired

Hello, Yupette,

Regarding "Bike to Work Week" we have been invited to participate in this event but the streets in our neighborhood are simply too broken and potholed for us to consider riding bicycles until the streets are fixed. We've e-mailed messages to the Arlington County Board and Arlington County Manager asking them to fix the streets first, before any more is spent on sports, recreation, and entertainment.

Best,

Ted

22204

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Bomb Reportedly Removed from 9-11 Memorial Near Pentagon, Detonated

Hello, Yupette,

What was the explosion everyone heard about 4 PM yesterday afternoon while a 'suspicious package' incident near the Pentagon was being investigated by several police agencies? Appears the suspicious object was, in fact, an explosive device and either detonated while being moved in an explosion containment vehicle or was detonated at a secure site in South Arlington. I can't determine which. Suspicious object was not a box full of discarded trash as has been reported elsewhere. Police were very concerned about the possibility of a second bomb hidden near the first.

Rob 22204