Crystal City

Meet Your New Sister City

By ARLnow.com

Arlington has a new sister city, and she’s eastern European.

On Friday, county board chairman Chris Zimmerman will be joined by Viktor Anushkevychus, mayor of the city of Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine, at a signing ceremony in Crystal City to make the familial relationship official. The signing will be part of the 55th annual Sister Cities International Conference, which Arlington is hosting this weekend.

Ivano-Frankivsk will become Arlington’s fifth sister city, joining Aachen, Germany; Coyoacán, Mexico; Reims, France, and San Miguel, El Salvador.

Ivano-Frankivsk is a historic city located in southwestern Ukraine. It has an extensive public transportation network, an international airport, an “old town” district, six universities and an amusement park.

In addition, Ivano-Frankivsk is home to professional soccer, hockey, basketball and rugby teams. It has four stadiums and two arenas which it uses to host the teams and other athletic clubs.

Photo via UkraineTrek.com

Volunteer Opp: Sister Cities Conference in Crystal City

By ARLnow.com

A family reunion of sorts will be taking place in Arlington next week. The Sister Cities International program will be holding its 55th annual conference at the Crystal Gateway Marriott (1601 South Eads Street) from March 3 -5.

When it comes to sister cities, Arlington is part of a big family. Arlington County has familial relations with Aachen, Germany; Coyoacan, Mexico; Reims, France; and San Miguel, El Salvador. A relationship with Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine is also in the works.

So when the whole extended family comes to town, Arlington’s sister city organization wants to make sure we cross the T’s and dot the I’s.

The organization is looking for dozens of volunteers to fill various roles at the conference.

From Arlington Sister City Association board member Chris Dufour:

Volunteers will be needed to man registration, information and membership desks as well as ushering and directing conference attendees to and from buses and around the hotel. Volunteers will also be needed to assist in setting up exhibit halls, distributing lunches, and check attendee badges.

SCI will conduct a mandatory volunteer orientation from 3-4pm and again at 5:30-6:30pm on Wednesday, March 2nd at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Salon B. Volunteers will help stuff conference bags while participating in orientation and meeting SCI staff.

Shifts will occur over 3 days from Thursday, March 3rd, to Saturday, March 5th. This is an all ages volunteer opportunity; we typically have volunteers from high school all the way up to retired seniors.

Several shifts are available for any of these opportunities.

Anyone interested in volunteering should contact Malcolm Phillips at 571-214-1827.

Crystal City 5K Fridays Return in April

By ARLnow.com

Pay no mind to the white stuff on the ground. The start of spring is a mere four weeks away (March 20).

One annual springtime tradition that’s quickly approaching is Crystal City’s 5K Fridays.

Every Friday in April, starting on April 1, Crystal Drive and Old Jefferson Davis Highway will be shut down between 6:15 and 7:30 p.m. to allow hundreds of runners to take a jog through the heart of Crystal City.

Registration for individual races is $20, while registration for the entire series of five races is $75.

The first three races will include a tie-in with Crystal City’s upcoming FLASH photography exhibit. Runners will get free admission and a free drink at an after-party held in the exhibit space, provided they remember to hang on to their racing bib.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Congressman Dated Pentagon City Mall Employee — Disgraced former Congressman Christopher Lee (R-NY)  had “a relationship” with a young woman who “worked at an upscale Pentagon City department store,” according to the New York Post. GOP leadership reportedly ordered Lee to “curtail his randy DC antics” after word got out he was dating the “young salesclerk.” There is a Macy’s and a Nordstrom department store at Pentagon City mall. [New York Post]

Post Editorial Slams Arlington, Again — Three days after declaring that Arlington Public Schools should investigate the explosive claims of a former middle school teacher, the Washington Post’s editorial board is on Arlington’s case again. The Post says Arlington won “a battle over HOT lanes but may lose a war.” By effectively killing the I-395 HOT lanes project and blocking the widening of I-66, Arlington’s “NIMBYism” is “frustrating the county’s populous and fast-growing neighbors” while “undercut[ting] its own economic interests.” [Washington Post]

Another Day Added to Wine Walk — Crystal City is adding another day to its inaugural “1K Wine Walk.” The indoor wine-tasting “race” will now be held on Feb. 26 & 27. Buy tickets for the event here.

$129 Million Crystal City Hotel Project Sets Opening Date

By ARLnow.com

The opening of two large hotels in Crystal City is drawing near.

The new Renaissance Arlington Capital View and the new Residence Inn Capital View hotels are currently expected to open on March 9.

The hotels will both be owned by developer JBG and managed by Marriott. Construction, which began in 2008, was funded with $129 million in financing from Wells Fargo.

The hotels are located on the southern end of Crystal City. They have a total of 625 rooms between them, and are expected to create about 500 jobs.

Photo via Flickr. Hat tip to Doug Wendt.

Boeing To Build Large Office Complex in Crystal City

By ARLnow.com

Boeing will be building a 419,000 square foot office project at the very north end of Crystal City, near the future Long Bridge Park, according to commercial real estate information firm CoStar Group.

According to a site plan submitted to the county, the project will consist of three buildings, each between four and six stories high, built on a 4.7 acre parcel of land along Old Jefferson Davis Highway. The office project is expected to replace a number of dilapidated structures, including the Clark Street Playhouse and the abandoned Crystal City Motel.

(The site is shown to the left, during a rain storm last year.)

Building heights are being kept relatively low, likely due to the fact that the site is along the landing path to Reagan National Airport. Boeing will consolidate its existing Rosslyn and Crystal City offices in the new complex, once it’s complete.

The project is being undertaken by Monument Realty, which has struggled in the wake of the global recession. CoStar reports that construction is expected to begin by the end of this year.

Police Inspections of Food Trucks Continue in Arlington

By ARLnow.com

It’s like an initiation rite for new food trucks in Arlington.

For several weeks, the newbies are subjected to a barrage of visits from police officers, who themselves are responding to complaints from local businesses. Most of the complaints are made when the trucks are in Rosslyn or Crystal City. In almost every case, an officer responds, checks the truck’s license and leaves after verifying the truck is licensed and not illegally parked.

We started paying attention to this trend in October, when the BBQ Bandidos truck was the target of police visits (see photo, left). In December, we felt compelled to write about the Bada Bing truck’s travails as it was inspected at least eight times.

Now, the Big Cheese truck is becoming a frequent destination for license-checking officers.

On Friday, while the truck was parked on North Lynn Street in Rosslyn, police were called to check its license.

“Showed him my permit and he was on his way. I love Arlington,” truck owner Patrick Rathbone tweeted at the time. Today, while the truck was serving customers in Crystal City, another call for police.

“The police checked my permits then moved but the yellow jacket [Crystal City Shops] security guys are lurking,” Rathbone wrote.

According to Arlington Police spokeswoman Det. Crystal Nosal, police must respond whenever they receive a complaint.

“Dispatchers are required to send officers out,” Nosal said. “We cannot pick and choose what calls we go to.”

Nosal also noted that the detective in charge of issuing vending licenses will often respond to specific complaints and will make random checks of food trucks he does not recognize.

Pizza Autentica Opens in Crystal City

By ARLnow.com

Pizza Autentica has opened up at Crystal Drive and 23rd Street in Crystal City.

The location is the South Arlington counterpart to the rapidly-growing pizza chain’s Ballston restaurant, which opened in October.

The Crystal City Pizza Autentica will serve breakfast on weekdays, starting at 8:00 a.m. It will remain open until midnight.

In addition to pizza, paninis and strombolis, the store expects to start serving homemade gelato starting next week.

Pizza Autentica should attract a largely workday crowd. So far the restaurant has not applied for a liquor license, unlike the Ballston location, which serves beer and wine. However, the Crystal City location does feature a sizable outdoor patio, which could attract after-work diners during the summer.

H/T Doug Wendt

Independent Booksellers Learn from Arlington Bike Store

By ARLnow.com

These are anxious times for independent booksellers. Having survived the emergence of e-tailers like Amazon.com, now small book stores are bracing for the impact of e-books on their business.

The American Booksellers Associations, which represents independent booksellers, held a four-day convention in Crystal City last week to network and discuss business strategies.

Among the activities was a field trip to Arlington’s Revolution Cycles.

NPR tagged along as Revolution Cycles CEO Mike Hammanwright shared words of wisdom on how to connect with customers.

Hammanwright said consumers are passionate about books in the same way they’re passionate about bicycles. To connect with those passionate consumers, you have to have a passionate (and well-trained) sales staff.

“If we’re listening and paying attention, and we hear what you’re looking for, then we can show you the products we have that we feel meet those needs,” Hammanwright said. “If a customer comes expecting that expertise, and you don’t deliver it, you’re going to do very poorly.”

Read more from NPR.

Crystal City Elevators Chronicled on YouTube

By ARLnow.com

We may have discovered an entirely new genre of video on YouTube.

Crystal City’s elevators and escalators have been extensively chronicled on the video sharing site. There are at least two dozen such videos on the site, posted by at least three dedicated elevator enthusiasts. The videos feature commentary and often a critical review of the elevator’s aesthetics and function.

“Look how big that indicator is!” the young man in the video below gushes. “That indicator is quite a sight.”

“They’re very fast for hydraulic, yet it’s very hot in here,” he added, mixing praise with criticism.



Most of the videos feature elevators, but there are also a few escalator videos.

See a few more examples of the genre after the jump.

(more…)

View More Stories