Non-Resident Arlington Decision Makers: "Party's Over There, in Arlington"

Hey Yupette,

Don't you just love our non-resident decision makers organizing all the wonderfully noisy festivals and events, like wonderful "Rolling Thunder" this weekend? Our County Manager and Chief of Police live in lovely Clifton. County Staff also live elsewhere, at the end of cul de sacs in classic Fairfax County, Prince William County, Loudoun County neighborhoods, not off Route 50, Route 66, and I-395 in Arlington. Thanks for featuring the wonderful non-residents who make all our decisions for us. Summer begins again in Arlington. Duh.

Peter, 22205

VIP 'Planners' Enjoy Suburban Life in Fairfax County, Impose Massive Urbanization on Arlington

Hey, Yupette,

Driven out to McLean lately? That's where the planners and VIP decision makers who are imposing total urbanization on Arlington County live. No bicycle lanes, no bicycles, no bikeshare stations, everyone drives everywhere. Thousands of acres of fallow farmland available for McMansions (that horse boarding farm a mile up Chain Bridge Road from Arlington is still for sale, by the way).

Ever attended McLean Day? Massive traffic. What a mess. McLean VIPs who are imposing massive urbanization on Arlington love it. Check out the McLean blogs that covered this event on Saturday.

For the record, Arlington's County Manager, Economic Development Director, and Planning Director live in suburban Fairfax County. So do the planners, attorneys, and other key 'decision makers' who are urbanizing Arlington.

What have they learned from the Tysons mess? Massively urbanize a suburban area and then tell everyone to ride bicycles. LOL.

Ken, 22204

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

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

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

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

Arlington's $568 Million Wastewater Treatment Plant - A Disaster Waiting to Happen.

Hi Yupette,

Despite what you may have heard from the County's PR Team at the last County Board Meeting about the County's "marvelous" new wastewater treatment plant, the plant's operators are barely able to keep up with alarms and major-league malfunctions at the plant. These range from bad odors, to sewage overflows, to near-explosions of toxic gasses (like chlorine) used to treat raw sewage. My neighbor works at the wastewater treatment plant and he's pretty scared that the Plant and half of South Arlington are going to blow sky-high.

Thanks for your blog, the only honest blog in Northern VA, in my opinion.

Peter