Arlington's Trails and Sidewalks: Too Dangerous for Pedestrians

Hey Yupette,

I agree that bicyclists are out of control in Arlington. All the trails, e.g., W O & D trail are too dangerous for pedestrians. So are many congested sidewalks, including those in the Ballston-Rosslyn corridor, Shirlington Village, Westover Village, and Columbia Pike in the neighborhoods around Four Mile Run. Neighborhoods I once visited.

I live in Cherrydale. I stopped walking on the trails last year. Last week I was almost hit by a guy riding a racing bike on the sidewalk on Wilson Blvd near the former NSF building. Enough. If County Government wants to allow free-range bicycling on sidewalks, I'm not walking in those neighborhoods. Bikeshare is the worst. Bikeshare's corporate motto has to be Safery Last. I took a photo of a Bikeshare rental station and as you can see there's no safety information at all. Much less a helmet vending box.

As for the police enforcing traffic ordinances related to bicycles forget it. They're too busy writing tickets for people who operate motor vehicles. How many? I discovered ACPD is on-track to write 30,000 this year.

So if the County wants me to shop in "vibrant" Ballston, forget it. I'm starting to order more from wonderful Amazon and signed up to have groceries delivered from Giant. Which only leaves driving out to work on I-66 in the morning and in to Arlington at night

Thanks for your blog.

Ted, Cherrydale

Arlington School Board Inherently Biased Against Washington and Lee

Hey, Yupette,

So where is the School Board coming from in its quest to rename Washington and Lee High school?

The School Board majority, Reid Goldstein, Barbara Kanninen, and Nancy Van Doren grew up in states that were both anti-slavery before the War Between the States and whose state regiments were major participants in Civil War battles. From a Web search it appears that Reid Goldstein grew up in Upstate New York, Barbara Kanninen grew up in Minnesota, and Nancy Van Dorn grew up in Connecticut.

The School Board minority, Monique O'Grady and Tanya Talento, apparently grew up in the D.C. metro area.

Except for Monique O'Grady it appears that none of the School Board members lived in the former Confederate states for any significant time before they moved to Arlington.

In recent decades both Robert E. Lee and George Washington have been demonized as slaveholders in so-called Progressive states like Connecticut, Minnesota, and York and in the D.C. area public schools.

At least two current School Board members attended public schools whose names and / or names of their sports teams became an embarrassment and were changed.

Thanks to the local media becoming little more than facilitators for the status quo the only way we can determine where candidates for public office are coming from is by doing Web searches ourselves, and through FOIA requests.

Thanks for this blog.

Terri, 22201

Bikeshare - More Arlington County Board Corporate Welfare

Hey Yupette,

First, thanks for this blog. Much appreciated by this former Democrat and current Independent.

I was almost hit twice by Capital Bikeshare riders while walking on the sidewalk in Virginia Square, where I live. Visited Capital Bikeshare's Web site twice to ask when Bikeshare was going to do something about the reckless behavior of its customers. Never received any response.

So I perused Capital Bikeshare's Web site again to so try to determine who's in charge at Capital Bikeshare. First thing I found is that Capital Bikeshare is no longer owned by Alta in Portland. Capital Bikeshare and other metropolitan bicycle rental companies are owned by a company named Motivate International, headquartered in New York City. This company is run by a former head of New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority.

Then I found an informative feature on the Fast Company Web site. Turns out Motivate International is owned by a corporate entity named Related Companies, a huge real estate developer. Who owns Related Companies? A mega billionaire named Stephen M. Ross.

Here's the link to the Fast Company Web page:

https://www.fastcompany.com/3055168/love-citi-bike-you-have-a-real-estate-developer-to-thank/

So I have to ask, why doesn't Motivate International provide helmets, safety vests, and riding classes to its customers? And why is the County Board always voting to subsidize this wealthy, wealthy company, which has very deep pockets?

Maybe someone can ask the County Board at it's next meeting.

Madison, 22201

More Car Diet Party's Over Here In Ballston

Hey, Yupette,

I live in soon-to-be-gridlocked Ballston, and walked over to the Merlex previously-owned vehicle lot on Glebe Road across from AED over the weekend. Even more packed with upscale vehicles than the last time I visited. This time there were Ferraris parked next to the Bentleys and Maseratis.

'Car Free Diet' is an even bigger County Government charade than 'Affordable Housing'. Every other County Board meeting another upzoning of the General Land Use Plan to pack more people and their vehicles into this neighborhood. Then bicycle fanatics like Fibbin' Libby Garvey drive around in their SUVs telling us we have to ride bicycles 24/7/365

Next big thing to generate more vehicle trips will be the grand opening of the new Alfa Romeo-Fiat-Maserati dealership at the other end of Glebe Road. Followed by the expansion of Car2Go. Followed by I-66 and I-95 Express Lanes extended a dozen miles farther out. When will it end? When the Urban Village becomes an Urban Nightmare with multi-modal gridlock. Meaning hundreds of vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrians trying to use the same major intersections at the same time. When will that occur? Sooner than we think.

Thanks for this blog.

Sandy, 22201

amazon Headquarters Will Be In Crystal City

Hey Yupette

The VIPs at 2100 just got the news. amazon has decided to locate its second headquarters in Crystal City. Nothing beyond that's been decided, but we've been told to be prepared to 'fast track' whatever details are worked out between amazon and the County Board. And, yes, the County has offered to rename Jefferson Davis Highway Jeff Bezos Highway.

We've been told that amazon moving into Crystal City will be like the reverse of the Feds moving out starting 20 years ago. Not going to happen overnight, but will definitely happen.

Also, we've been told to be prepared for several years of 'lean government'. Meaning amazon is not going to contribute much towards whatever new infrastructure needs to be constructed. Arlington Police Department has already announced it's not going to pursue minor offenders (like bicycle scofflaws, LOL)

So thanks for your blog.

2100

Greedy Local Media Boost Bicycle Bozos

Hey, Yupette,

Thanks for the feature about the Bikesters' First Mom, Libby Garvey.

But the Bikesters wouldn't be able to do their free-range thing if it weren't for the increasingly irresponsible, increasingly greedy, Local Media.

Local Media Publishers are afraid to offend any advertiser, potential advertiser, or special interest. So you're never going to see any of them editorialize about the complete lack of bicycle safety in Arlington. Let alone order an investigative report about the number of bikesters who bicycle DWI, have PTSD issues, or are out-and-out sociopaths.

As with guns, alcohol, and tobacco advertising decades ago, Publishers profit from boosting bicycles. They don't worry about consequences may be suffered as the result of the Bikesters' behavior because Publishers don't live anywhere near where the bad behavior occurs (e.g., B-R Corridor).

As with guns, alcohol, tobacco, and pub crawls, the cumulative amount of bad behavior by the bikesters will eventually reach the level of Editoral hand-wringing, very likely precipitated by some event like a Millennial's infant in a stroller hit by another Millennial DWI on a bicycle, who lost his driver's license as the result of multiple DWI convictions.

In the meantime, stay tuned for more of the same, in ArlNow and elsewhere.

J.L., 22201

Does the County Board Ever Listen to Voters?

Hey, Yupette,

Does the County Board ever listen to voters? Not apparently when it came to the County Board's FY 19 Budget. The FY 19 Budget is "balanced" by cutting popular services which are socially useful and cost little (Arlington Independent Media and monthly secure paper shredding, for example) while spending huge amounts on special interest activities and their constituencies, bicycle trails, all weather soccer fields, aquatics, Taj Mahal recreation centers and schools, and "regionalized" neighborhood parks, so-called affordable housing, and health services.

I took the photo of the monthly shredding event in the Trades Center on April 7th. Hundreds of Arlington residents stood in the cold waiting to shred old bills, tax documents, etc. The program costs $20,000 per year. Did anyone at 2100 do a cost-benefit analysis on this program and on other programs and services being cut? Why start these and other low cost programs and services (WERA-FM is another) if they're going to be cut a few years later?

But we're dealing with one-party government that's controlled the County for almost 40 years, so anything is possible. If they think I'm going to re-elect any one of them based on their party's attacks on Donald Trump, the NRA and local country clubs they're living in a Limo Liberal fantasy world.

Paul, 22204