Author: ARLnow.com

Launched in January 2010, ARLnow.com is the place for the latest news, views and things to do around Arlington, Virginia. Started by a Pentagon City resident who has spent the past several years working in local TV news, ARLnow.com seeks to distinguish itself with original, enterprising, up-to-the-minute local coverage.

The Old Bike Shop is being replaced by a new bike shop

By ARLnow.com
The Old Bike Shop on N. Pershing Drive is closing (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

The Old Bike Shop closed earlier this year in Lyon Park, after a decade in business, but a new bike shop is moving in.

Vélocity Bicycle Cooperative, based at 2111 Mount Vernon Avenue in Alexandria’s Del Ray neighborhood, announced today that it plans to open at the 2647 N. Pershing Drive storefront — down the road from Clarendon — in the next couple of weeks.

“Thanks to Larry Behery and the Old Bike Shop for providing a home for quality used bike service and sales,” Vélocity co-founder Christian Myers said in a statement. “Vélocity will build on this legacy and make safe, reliable bicycles more affordable to everyone.”

“Vélocity plans to open the Arlington shop in early April,” a post on the nonprofit organization’s website says. “Until then, come see us at our location in the Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria, Virginia, where you can find a refurbished used bike for the spring season!”

More from the organization’s post, below.

Vélocity Bicycle Cooperative is expanding efforts to build a strong biking community by opening a second location at 2647 North Pershing Drive, in the Lyon Park neighborhood of Arlington, Virginia, the same location where the Old Bike Shop operated for more than 10 years.

Vélocity is a non-profit cycling shop, run by volunteers. Since 2009, Velocity has empowered kids, beginners, and cycle enthusiasts in acquiring, building, and maintaining bicycles. Vélocity fosters a diverse cycling community, offers cycling education, and provides free bicycles and related equipment to those in need (in 2022, Vélocity refurbished 459 bikes and got 64 bikes to kids and scholarship recipients).

Joe Davison, Board Chair and long-serving volunteer, is excited about the days ahead: “Opening our second location provides a unique opportunity to realize our mission to grow and empower an inclusive biking community through education and affordability. We are honored to carry on and serve the local biking community at this location while seeking continued synergy among the area’s cycling organizations, including Phoenix Bikes.”

Arlington-based Phoenix Bikes, located just off of Columbia Pike, has a similar education and bike refurbishment mission.

JUST IN: Ikea to open small-format location in Pentagon City

By ARLnow.com
1/8

(Updated at 11:30 a.m.) Ikea is planning to open a small-format “Plan and Order” location in Pentagon City this summer.

The company made the announcement this morning. The 5,000 square foot location will be opening at the Pentagon Centre shopping center at 1201 S. Hayes Street, home to Costco and across the street the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City mall.

Unlike the traditional large-format warehouse stores that Ikea currently has in College Park and Woodbridge, the Plan and Order points only allow customers to order items — like kitchen, bedroom and bathroom furniture and fixtures — for delivery.

There are currently no other Ikea small-format stores open in the D.C. area. When ARLnow checked with the company last month about a rumor of its impending arrival in Arlington, the company declined to confirm the news.

The new location will have a “similar look and feel” to one that recently opened in Melbourne, Australia — pictured above — a company media rep said. Somewhat larger “Planning Studio” Ikea locations have opened recently in Los Angeles, Toronto, New York City, Paris and Moscow, part of a more than $3 billion investment in new and existing stores, ModernRetail reported.

Pentagon Centre owner Kimco is updating its existing plans to redevelop large parts of the shopping center, including the Costco, ARLnow reported earlier this week. The developer is still signing 10-year leases with retailers, however, in anticipation of this being a long term project.

More on Ikea from a press release, below.

Today, IKEA U.S. announced plans for a new Plan & order point located in Arlington, VA, which is set to open in summer 2023. This new customer meeting point, located in the Pentagon Centre shopping center, is more conveniently located to better meet the needs of Metro DC customers and will focus on providing interior design planning with IKEA specialists.

The IKEA Arlington Plan & order point is different from the traditional large-format IKEA stores and will only offer items for delivery. Customers will have the opportunity to meet with the IKEA store team to plan and order home furnishing solutions that require a bit more help, such as kitchens, bedrooms, and bathrooms. Arrangements will be made to have all items conveniently transported to a customer’s home or to another convenient point of delivery.

“We are on a journey to bring the IKEA experience closer to our customers in city centers. We’re excited to introduce the IKEA Arlington Plan & order point, giving customers a more convenient way to shop our affordable home furnishing products and solutions,” said Javier Quiñones, CEO & Chief Sustainability Officer, IKEA U.S.

IKEA has been on the outskirts of the DC market for more than 20 years with large-format IKEA stores in Woodbridge, VA and College Park, MD. IKEA Arlington will be located in the Pentagon Centre at 1201 S. Hayes Street, Pentagon City, Arlington, VA in 5,012 square feet of leased space. It will be easily accessible by Metro via the Yellow or Blue line, Metrobus or car.

“We’re excited to welcome customers living in the DC Metro area or the DMV to a new IKEA location this summer, with more to come in the future. The Plan & order point concept has been created with the unique needs of local consumers in mind, from the proximity to public transportation and delivery and assembly options, to the opportunity for affordable design services,” said Raquel Ely, Market Manager, IKEA U.S.

In addition to opening new Plan & order points in city centers, IKEA U.S. has made significant investments to enhance its e-commerce experience and service offerings, including new IKEA Family benefits, lower priced shipping and delivery, Click & collect, and TaskRabbit assembly services.

Photo by Jueun Song on Unsplash

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com
St. Patrick’s Day decoration at Dudley’s in Shirlington over the weekend (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Missing Middle Makes National News — “It took a progressive Virginia suburb 8 years to let developers build apartments instead of single-family houses. It shows how hard it is to build middle-class housing in the US.” [Business Insider]

Replacement for DCA Terminal Floated — “That document – a draft issued by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority – suggests making a request of federal funding totaling $637.5 million for replacement of what long had been known as Terminal A… But Rob Yingling, a spokesman for the airports authority, told the GazetteLeader it should not be inferred that inclusion on the list means a plan, or a pricetag, for replacement of the banjo terminal actually is in the works.” [GazetteLeader]

Gunfire Reported in Fairlington — “The Alexandria City Police responded to a report of the discharge of a weapon (2 shots) in the wooded area near parking lot 23 serving addresses 2800-2843 South Columbus St at approx 6:15pm on the evening of March 20th after residents in the area reported hearing gunshots.” [Twitter]

Local Students Awarded at Science Fair — “Several middle and high school students from Arlington won first place awards at this year’s Northern Virginia Regional Science and Engineer Fair. The science fair was held in-person at Wakefield High School in early March.” [Patch]

Fmr. POW Honored at Arlington Memorial — “Nineteen-year-old Pfc. Jessica Lynch, U.S. Army, was captured in Iraq on March 23, 2003, and subsequently rescued by U.S. forces… This past weekend, in recognition of the 20th anniversary of her capture, she was recognized by the Military Women’s Memorial as the first female POW to be rescued, and one who brings a message of positivity, perseverance and resiliency to those not only in the military, but to people everywhere.” [WVNews]

Spring Is Here to Stay — “By almost every metric, the winter of 2022-23 was among the gentlest on record in Washington. Temperatures were abnormally warm, and it hardly snowed. While winter never really arrived, we can now pronounce it dead. Springlike weather has moved in, and it doesn’t appear winter conditions will return in any meaningful way.” [Capital Weather Gang]

It’s Wednesday — Mostly cloudy throughout the day. High of 60 and low of 44. Sunrise at 7:10 am and sunset at 7:23 pm. [Weather.gov]

ARLnow Daily Debrief for Mar 21, 2023

By ARLnow.com

Good Tuesday evening, Arlington. Today we published articles that were read a total of 16176 times… so far.

📈 Top stories

The following are the most-read articles for today — Mar 21, 2023.

  1. Arlington ranks No. 2 on new list of “Best Cities to Live in America”
  2. W-L student on scooter struck by driver while crossing intersection
  3. Carjacking suspect in custody after vehicular mayhem in Falls Church spills over into Arlington
  4. Morning Notes

📅 Upcoming events

Here is what’s going on Wednesday in Arlington, from our event calendar.

⛅ Wednesday’s forecast

Mostly cloudy throughout the day. High of 58 and low of 51. Sunrise at 7:10 am and sunset at 7:23 pm. See more from Weather.gov.

💡 Thought of the Day

Thought of the day: In a technologically connected world, cherish personal connections – as tending an endangered garden feeds hungry souls. Amid a jumble of blue kinetic lines silence sometimes whimpers: “Acknowledge lingering roots transcending invisible hunger, visual-data pats brush gently misting unrecognized thirst more than parched thought farms can prime.” Press moody sunsets gently encircling real zones strengthen intangible sun whispers along nurturing digital spheres grounded during versatile frolic bridges.

🌅 Tonight’s sunset

Thanks for reading! Feel free to discuss the day’s happenings in the comments.

County Board to receive Narcan training today, helping to promote free training sessions for residents

By ARLnow.com
A training session for how to administer naloxone, also known by the brand name Narcan, to reverse opioid overdoses in 2019 (staff photo)

Arlington County is offering residents free training on the anti-overdose drug Narcan.

The sessions are available as an hour-long online training course or an abridged, 10-minute training over the phone.

To help promote the trainings, County Board members will be trained on the use of Narcan at their meeting this afternoon, the county said in a press release.

Arlington has seen elevated levels of opioid overdoses in recent years, including a fatal overdose at Wakefield High School in January and a near-fatal teen overdose in a Ballston parking garage three weeks ago. The quick application of Narcan by first responders helped to save those who overdosed in the parking garage.

Rising overdoses among juveniles in particular have resulted in calls for more vigilance in schools and expanded local addiction treatment options. The string of student overdoses this year has also prompted action by Arlington Public Schools.

Nationally, the presence of the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl in counterfeit street drugs has been blamed for a significant portion of deadly accidental overdoses.

More on the Narcan training in Arlington, below, from a county press release.

Arlington County is committed to reducing fatal overdoses in Arlington and offers multiple opportunities for community members to be trained in using the overdose-reversal drug Naloxone, also known as Narcan.

Narcan is a safe and effective medication that can reverse an overdose of opioids, including prescription painkillers, heroin, and/or fentanyl. If you or a loved one are experiencing addiction or are prescribed powerful narcotic painkillers, you should have Narcan on hand. You can find Narcan at your local pharmacy or via the County’s website on Overdose Reversal & Naloxone.

Members of the public can schedule free 1-hour virtual Narcan trainings, or a 10-minute abridged training over the phone, by emailing [email protected].

The Arlington County Board will receive this training from the Department of Human Services on administering Narcan at their Recessed Meeting on Tuesday, March 21, 2023.

The training highlights the importance of familiarity with Narcan and demonstrates the ease and accessibility of the County’s abridged 10-minute training. “I view this as a basic emergency response skill for everyone in our community, and we are looking forward to having Human Services join us on Tuesday to share just how quick and easy it is to receive training that can save someone’s life,” Arlington County Board Chair Christian Dorsey said.

The meeting can be viewed via the County website and YouTube, and is broadcast live on Arlington TV, the County’s cable channel, with live captioning on Comcast 25 & 1085 (HD) and Verizon FiOS 39 & 40. Videos of Board meetings are archived on the County website (with captions and staff reports) and on YouTube.

Police investigating tire heist, vehicle theft and tip jar larceny in Cherrydale

By ARLnow.com
Police car at night (file photo courtesy Kevin Wolf)

Arlington County police are on scene at the Dunkin’ Donuts in Cherrydale for a report of a stolen tip jar and a stolen car.

Initial reports suggest that a man swiped the tip jar at the restaurant, located at 3520 Langston Blvd, then hopped into someone else’s car and drove off in the direction of Rosslyn. Police are on scene investigating.

This is at least the second larceny involving a Cherrydale business in as many days.

According to today’s Arlington County Police Department crime report, someone broke into a business and stole tires from 11 cars. The theft happened early Monday morning on the 3900 block of Langston Blvd, an address that seemingly corresponds with the Brown’s Honda dealership.

More below from the ACPD crime report.

LARCENY FROM AUTO (Late), 2023-03200059, 3900 block of Langston Boulevard. At approximately 7:43 a.m. on March 20, police were dispatched to the late report of a larceny from auto. Upon arrival, it was determined between approximately 1:15 a.m. and 3:15 a.m., the unknown suspect(s) forced entry onto a lot of a business, caused property damage and stole tires from 11 vehicles. There are no suspect descriptions. The investigation is ongoing.

Carjacking suspect in custody after vehicular mayhem in Falls Church spills over into Arlington

By ARLnow.com
Falls Church carjacking suspect (photo courtesy City of Falls Church)

A man accused of going on a days-long assault, vehicle theft and property destruction spree that extended into Arlington is in custody.

City of Falls Church Police said the man, who is uncooperative and has not revealed his name, was arrested Sunday after leaving a multi-jurisdictional trail of injury and destruction in his wake.

The incidents started around lunchtime Friday, when the suspect made a U-turn on the 1200 block of W. Broad Street, near the Beyer Volvo dealership. Driving a Jeep that had earlier been carjacked in Fairfax County, the suspect struck a pedestrian and crashed into several cars, according to police and a surveillance video aired by NBC 4.

The suspect then allegedly ran to a nearby shopping center, where he attacked a man and stole his car.

“Witnesses say the suspect ran into a parking lot, hit an older man over the head and stole his vehicle,” NBC 4 reported.

The suspect subsequently drove into Arlington, according to police, and rear-ended another driver along Langston Blvd.

“At approximately 1:19 p.m. on March 17, police were dispatched to Langston Boulevard at Spout Run Parkway for the report of a hit and run,” Arlington County police spokeswoman Ashley Savage tells ARLnow. “Upon arrival, it was determined the victim was traveling eastbound on Langston Boulevard and slowed to make a turn when she was struck from behind by the suspect vehicle. The driver of the suspect vehicle failed to stop and fled the scene following the crash. No injuries were reported. The investigation is ongoing.”

Falls Church police say the stolen car was later found in Fairfax County. Two days later, the suspect went looking for another car to steal, just blocks from the first crash, police said.

“On Sunday, March 19, at about 3:45 p.m., police responded to the 1000 block of W. Broad St. for report of an assault and attempted carjacking,” Falls Church police said. “One victim was transported to a hospital for non-life threatening injuries.”

Scanner traffic at the time suggested a “severe” assault.

A witness told NBC 4 that the suspect walked up to a man loading his car, slammed him to the ground and tried to take his keys, but good Samaritans intervened and helped lead police to the suspect, who was taken into custody.

“Exact charges are pending, and the man’s name and photo will be released once available,” Falls Church police said.

The full police press release is below.

City of Falls Church Police announced that the individual arrested on Sunday is the same person wanted for a stolen vehicle, carjacking, and hit and run on Friday. Exact charges are pending, and the man’s name and photo will be released once available.

“I want to thank our officers and dispatch who persevered through the numerous incidents,” said Police Chief Mary Gavin. “And a big thank you to the community members who stopped to help the victims and called in tips. The ‘See Something, Say Something’ mantra helped us immensely with this arrest.”

(more…)

Arlington ranks No. 2 on new list of “Best Cities to Live in America”

By ARLnow.com
The Rosslyn skyline in the spring (Staff Photo by Jay Westcott)

Arlington County is the second best “city” to live in the U.S., according to a new set of rankings.

The school-and-place ranking website Niche is out with the 2023 edition of its Best Places to Live in America, and Arlington is second only to Cambridge, Massachusetts — home of Harvard and MIT — on the cities list.

“Living in Arlington offers residents an urban feel and most residents rent their homes,” Niche writes about Arlington. “In Arlington there are a lot of bars, restaurants, coffee shops, and parks. Many young professionals live in Arlington and residents tend to be liberal. The public schools in Arlington are highly rated.”

Arlington is also No. 3 on Niche’s list of Best Cities to Raise a Family in America and No. 5 on its list of Best Cities for Young Professionals in America.

Arlington received “A+” grades for public schools, nightlife, health and fitness, and family friendliness, plus an A for diversity, outdoor activities and commute. It received a B for weather, C+ for housing and a C for cost of living.

Niche puts Arlington’s median home value at $755,800, compared to a national median of $244,900, while the median monthly rent is $2,094 compared to $1,163 nationally.

Arlington was No. 1 on Niche’s best cities list for five years straight, but fell to No. 2 in 2021.

A press release about the rankings release is below.

March 20, 2023 – PITTSBURGH – Niche, the leading platform connecting students and families with colleges and schools, has just published the 2023 Best Places to Live in America rankings. In the ninth consecutive year that Niche has produced these rankings, 228 cities and 17,932 towns and neighborhoods were included. Millions of people each year use Niche rankings and profiles to help with key life decisions such as where to live and where to go to school.

This year, for the first time ever, Cambridge, Mass., has been named the #1 Best City to Live in America. Chesterbrook, Pa., a neighborhood in the Philadelphia area, keeps its title as the #1 Best Place to Live in America for the fourth year in a row.

Niche creates the annual Best Places to Live rankings by using data from sources such as the U.S. Census, FBI, Bureau of Labor Statistics and CDC combined with millions of resident reviews. The company considers factors such as affordability, the local housing market, neighborhood diversity, area public schools, walkability and more.

“For almost ten years now, our Best Places to Live rankings have helped people find a new neighborhood to call home based on what matters most to them, whether that’s affordable housing, easy access to amenities or excellent local schools,” said Luke Skurman, CEO and founder of Niche. “We are proud to be a trusted resource for families, homebuyers, professionals and retirees alike in their research. Families wondering about an area’s school district can also use our comprehensive school profiles and rankings to get a feel for their child’s potential school.”

In addition to the national rankings, users can view the Best Places, Suburbs or Neighborhoods to Live rankings by state, metro area or county. Specialized lists include Best for Families, Young Professionals, Homebuyers, Retirees and more.

2023 Best Places to Live in America:

  1. Chesterbrook, PA
  2. Colonial Village, VA
  3. Ardmore, PA
  4. Hyde Park – Spanishtown Creek, FL
  5. Penn Wynne, PA

2023 Best Cities to Live in America:

  1. Cambridge, MA
  2. Arlington, VA
  3. The Woodlands, TX
  4. Naperville, IL
  5. Columbia, MD

To explore the full Places to Live rankings, visit: https://www.niche.com/places-to-live/rankings/

To read more about the rankings methodology, visit: https://www.niche.com/places-to-live/rankings/methodology/

For families looking to find out more about schools within a city, see our K-12 school rankings: https://www.niche.com/k12/rankings/#bestbycity

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com
A tree blossoming (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Board to Address Pickleball Noise — “While pickleball may be popular in Arlington, Virginia, the noise heard by local neighbors continues to be a big point of debate. The Arlington County Board says they’re working on it. At a county board meeting on March 18, chair Christian Dorsey said that they are looking at community pickleball concerns and potential solutions will be presented at their next meeting in April.” [WTOP]

Camp Registration Starts Today — “This year, we are staggering registration by camp provider type — Partner camps and Arlington County Parks & Recreation camps. Registration will be held at noon for all sessions. The summer camp catalog is organized by the new registration categories. Partner Camps: Registration begins Tue., March 21 at noon. Parks & Recreation Camps: Registration begins Tue., March 28 at noon.” [Arlington County]

Swanson MS Named After Byrd Ally — “In Virginia, that combined with hostility toward black voters — the ‘purifying’ of the electorate driven home via newly installed Confederate statues. Byrd’s allies included Gov. Claude Swanson (namesake for an Arlington middle school). When Swanson in 1933 was appointed Navy Secretary, his U.S. Senate seat was given to Harry Byrd, who would occupy it until the mid-1960s.” [Falls Church News-Press]

More Amazon Layoffs — “Amazon will lay off 9,000 more employees in the coming weeks, CEO Andy Jassy said in a memo to staff on Monday. The cuts are on top of the previously announced layoffs that began in November and extended into January. That round totaled more than 18,000 employees, and primarily affected staffers in its retail, devices, recruiting and human resources groups.” [CNBC]

Metro’s Fare Jumping Issue — From NBC 4’s Adam Tuss: “Metro says 13% of all weekday riders on the system recently did not pay the fare. That’s over 41,000 trips per day according to Metro documents. Now the agency is spending $35-40 million on more ‘swinging gate’ faregates to further prevent fare evasion.” [Twitter]

HS Athlete College Commitments — “Many high-school athletes from Arlington recently announced their commitments during letter of intent signing ceremonies to play various sports in college for the 2023-24 season.” [Gazette Leader]

Free Ice Cream Today — “Locally owned ice cream shop, Nicecream, is celebrating their freezing agent liquid nitrogen (-321°F), Nicecream is offering unlimited, free ice cream all day on March 21st.” [Event]

It’s Tuesday — Partly cloudy throughout the day. High of 59 and low of 35. Sunrise at 7:11 am and sunset at 7:22 pm. [Weather.gov]

Today’s local news reporting is supported by the Junior League of Washington’s Tossed & Found Rummage Sale

By ARLnow.com

ARLnow.com’s local news reporting today is supported by the Junior League of Washington’s Tossed & Found rummage sale.

More on the event:

You’re invited to shop at the 31st Annual Tossed & Found rummage sale brought to you by the Junior League of Washington! The sale on March 25-26, 2023, features gently used name-brand items, children’s clothes and toys, men’s and women’s clothing, luggage, household items, furniture and more at bargain prices. You might even find items that still have their original price tags on them! The sale is located at 2100-B Crystal Dr, Arlington, VA 22202.

For more information on the Tossed & Found rummage sale, held from March 25-26 in Crystal City, visit their website.

Thank you to the Junior League of Washington for this sponsorship, which fully funds the equivalent of one day’s salary and benefits for three full-time ARLnow employees, including reporters and a photographer.

ARLnow Daily Debrief for Mar 20, 2023

By ARLnow.com

Good Monday evening, Arlington. Today we published articles that were read a total of 16319 times… so far.

📈 Top stories

The following are the most-read articles for today — Mar 20, 2023.

  1. A $100k salary in Arlington feels more like $50k, new study suggests
  2. The Irish prime minister took in a rugby match at a Pentagon City bar this weekend
  3. Developer files new long-term plan for redeveloping Pentagon Centre
  4. ACPD: Pickup truck driver runs red light, almost strikes pedestrian, then threatens him with gun

📅 Upcoming events

Here is what’s going on Tuesday in Arlington, from our event calendar.

⛅ Tuesday’s forecast

Partly cloudy throughout the day. High of 59 and low of 43. Sunrise at 7:12 am and sunset at 7:22 pm. See more from Weather.gov.

💡 Thought of the Day

Thought of the day: Mirrors only show our physical reality, while self-reflection explores the dimensions beneath the surface. Examine our internal landscapes and question our daily choices; define and shift baselines with nurturing pauses, stitching transparency lining the invisible arenas.

🌅 Tonight’s sunset

Thanks for reading! Feel free to discuss the day’s happenings in the comments.

View More Stories