Ballston Streetscape Needs Upgrades

Hi,

I'm a 20-something guy and live with my 20-something GF in a 2-bedroom, 2-bath apartment in Ballston. We pay $2260 / month for rent. We use the second bedroom for an office for her so she can work from home. I drive to work in Tysons because where I work in Tysons is not convenient to Metrorail. We own one subcompact hybrid car.

There's a big room with weight and exercise equipment in the building for tenants. Also, a bicycle storage area in the garage. We own two city bikes.

My beef with the County's government is if they want to turn the streets and sidewalks into outdoor recreation space they should fix the sidewalks and streets.

We're going to get married next year and we're looking to buy a single family home, but not in Arlington. Only one of us has student loans to repay but if we want to have kids we're still not going to be able to afford to live in Arlington.

In the meantime, is it too much to ask the County to fix the streets and sidewalks in this neighborhood? And keep them in good repair?

Mike in 22201

Time for Jeff Bezos to Sell the Post

Hi, Yupette,

I buy and read the Washington Post most days. I've also been following the antics of Jeff Bezos and Amazon via the Internet.

The Post is NOT owned by Amazon. Jeff Bezos owns the Post. It's obvious that the Post functions as a public relations facilitator for Jeff Bezos and Amazon. Amazon executives are concerned about the company getting nailed by the Feds for anti-trust, though that's discounted by Jeff Bezos in his recent letter to Amazon shareholders. But it's not going to happen if the Post has an extensive amount of unrevealed and very embarrassing information about the Trump Administration. Remember Richard Nixon, Watergate, and the Post?

The Post is only printing what Jeff Bezos wants us to know about Jeff Bezos and Amazon. While the Post is doing to the Trump Administration what it did to the Nixon Administration almost 50 years ago. Is that Journalism?

Unfortunately, the Post influences the rest of the Region's media. If the Post is bad Journalism the rest of the media are worse....mostly publishing scare stories and acting as chamber of commerce boosters, when they're not facilitating one-party government that's ubiquitous inside the DC beltway.

So if we want to see the Region's media return to Journalism it's time for Jeff Bezos to sell the Post to a news organization that's capable of Journalism. Is it too much to ask that the Post's next owner or owners be focused on the future and not engaged in constant partisan warfare?

Mike, 22205

Hazards Increase on Arlington's Streets, Sidewalks, Trails.

Hey, Yupette,

Spring's arrived, and, as someone who walks and hikes a lot (great exercise) I've checked out Arlington's sidewalks and trails over the past week. Bad news. Bicyclists, scooter riders, skateboarders are taking over what are supposed to be sidewalks and trails designed for pedestrians.

NO ONE in ANY responsible position in Arlington Government is even MENTIONING multi-modal safety. Big Thumbs Down to County Board Member Libby Garvey, who's a long-time bicycle advocate and who's also on the Board of Phoenix Bikes with a number of other local VIPs.

Arlington's trails are VERY dangerous for walkers and hikers because of high speed bike riders. Advice: Stay off the trails.

Arlington streets in urbanized areas are also dangerous because large numbers of bikers and scooter riders use the sidewalks, even when they can use dedicated bike lanes. I'm seeing 4-abreast family bike rides on sidewalks in neighborhoods like mine, Westover Village with no concern about pedestrians whatsoever by the bikesters.

Obvious to me that County Government can't do enough for owners / riders / renters of personal transportation vehicles.

Another reason to dump the so-called Progressives from the County Board.

Terri, Westover

Ballston Quarter - Junk Food, Junk Jobs, Junk Retail

Hey Yupette,

Ballston Quarter is mostly open and I wanted to see what the excitement is all about so I drove to Ballston on Saturday, found a metered parking spot, and walked a couple blocks to the Mall.

As almost everyone knows, Arlington County bailed out the Mall's longtime owner and operator, Forest City, when Ballston Quarter's predecessor, Ballston Common, was allowed to deteriorate to the point it became a dump.

So what's the attraction, or attractions, of Ballston Quarter? First, everything is brand new. Second, unlike Ballston Common there are activities ranging from ice skating to fantasy game playing. But they're expensive.

Most of the food available at Ballston Quarter is (or will be) high fat, high salt, high sugar.

Appears that the only retail that will provide essentials for the neighborhoods that surround Ballston Quarter are CVS, Macys, and Lenscrafters, holdovers from Ballston Common. Rest of the retail is boutique and expensive. Someone raised the question in another blog about how many Amazon employees will shop local retail. Guess we'll see in the not-too-distant future.

Finally, there's employment. Based on asking several retail and restaurant managers about Summer employment for my college age son, appears the retail pay is about $9 per hour and many employees are part-time. Appears servers in most restaurants earn about $12 per hour. Probably more on weekends. So why are so many adults over 30 employed by Ballston Quarter's's restaurants and retail?

Downside of Ballston Quarter is like its predecessor and other malls (e.g., Pentagon City) a large number of people who have about zero disposable income are already hanging out at the Mall as a place to just socialize, or whatever.

Ballston Quarter is only what we deserve for tolerating County Government that's big on corporate welfare to big corporations like Forest City. It will be interesting to see how long the ethnic restaurants and boutique retail stay in business.

Terri, 22207

Amazon Will Play...Arlington Taxpayers Will Pay

Hey, Yupette,

Nice to see the County Board visiting neighborhoods and talking about Amazon.

Trouble is the County Board is not talking about Amazon's almost complete lack of transparency about the costs and benefits of Amazon's presence in Arlington.

Reality is Amazon and its employees will cost the County more than they will provide in tax revenue. At least 2,500 of 25,000 Amazon employees who will work in Arlington will have at least one child enrolled in Arlington's public schools. At $20,000 per student per year that's another $50 million annually.

Amazon plans to bring and hire 25,000 employees in Arlington over the next decade or about 2,500 / year. County's population growth is about 3,000 per year without Amazon. So the County's total population growth over the next decade will be more than 35,000, assuming 20% of Amazon's employees will live and work in Arlington.

So far Amazon has made no commitment to contribute to public infrastructure, including schools, apart from whatever taxes Amazon will pay (if any).

Arlington County has historically attracted for-profits, non-profits, and upscale residents who are disinterested in philanthropy and there's no reason to suppose Amazon will be any different.

So it seems likely that residential assessments and the real estate tax rate will both increase every year for the next several years, thanks to County Government's decades-long addiction to 'growth for the sake of growth'.

Charles -- 22203

Audrey Clement to Run for County Board Again...Against Amazon?

Hey Yupette,

What's Audrey Clement been doing since November's School Board election? Apparently preparing for another run for County Board....this time against Amazon. Recent posts to her campaign blog indicate that she feels Amazon will be a bad deal for Arlington.

Christian Dorsey and Katie Cristol are up for re-election to County Board this year. Their tenure on the County Board has been marked by increased urbanization, density, and crowding - people, activities, and vehicles. The County's pursuit of Amazon is viewed by many, especially Independent voters, as more 'fire-aim-ready' planning under the County's decades-long New Urbanism agenda.

According to her candidate blog, Dr. Clement maintains Amazon is a bad deal for Arlington and the Commonwealth with future benefits not close to what state and local officials expect.

It remains to be seen who else will oppose Dorsey and Cristol this year, since the Democratic Party is making every election a referendum about Donald Trump.

Mary, 22205

Amazon Deal Imposes Too Many Costs for Too Few Benefits

Hey, Yupette,

Whatever the Commonwealth's and County's propaganda about the 'benefits' of Amazon, I am skeptical that few benefits will accrue to Arlington residents. The County is already congested, unemployment is very low, housing is less affordable every year, there's more multi-modal traffic every year, public infrastructure already lags population growth, development and 'planning' are accomplished according to the principles of 'fire-aim-ready'.

The beneficiaries of Amazon's move here will be Amazon and a few other large corporations, like JBG. Arlington residents' taxes will increase ever year for the next several years to pay for all Amazon and Amazon employees will demand. The County is already hard pressed to find room to build infrastructure to accommodate the needs and wants of an increasing upscale resident population.

But the biggest cost to be imposed by Amazon will be the loss of Arlington's suburban quality of life, which tens of thousands of residents moved to Arlington to enjoy and are paying extravagantly to maintain. Again, too much suburban infrastructure will be repurposed for Amazon and County Government's 'growth for the sake of growth' agenda for the County to be anything but an expensive urbanized mess within a decade.

Ted 22205