poll

Morning Poll: What Are Your Fireworks Plans This Year?

By ARLnow.com
July 4 fireworks as seen from Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall (Flickr pool photo by John Sonderman)

It’s hard to believe, but the Fourth of July is just around the corner.

Fireworks viewing on the National Mall is a go this year. Like last year, there’s no formal viewing event in Arlington, but expect crowds to congregate at the usual spots, like the Iwo Jima memorial, Key Bridge, the Air Force Memorial, Rosslyn Gateway Park  and Long Bridge Park.

After more than a year of a pandemic, however, some folks may be more apt to stay closer to home.

What are your fireworks viewing plans?

Do You Plan to Visit the Long Bridge Park Aquatics Center After It Opens?

By ARLnow.com
1/8

The long-planned and long-debated Long Bridge Park Aquatics and Fitness Center is set to open this summer, perhaps as early as July.

The $60 million facility, construction of which was approved in 2017, is located north of Crystal City and south of the 14th Street Bridge, offering monumental views across the Potomac. It features a 50-meter competition pool with diving towers, a whirlpool, a family pool with a splash pad, a water slide, water volleyball and basketball areas, and a lazy river — in addition to an 8,000-square-foot fitness center and rooms for for classes, parties and events.

A multi-million-dollar donation from Boeing will help cover the facility’s operating costs, and will also make admission free for local, active duty military families, in return for naming rights to the 50-meter pool and the park’s existing outdoor fields.

In the years-long discussion about the merits of the aquatics center, prior to it being built, there was some debate over how much of a local need it was filling, at a relatively high cost. Will it be something mostly used by Speedo-clad swimming enthusiasts, or will it be widely used by the community, particularly during cold weather months when recreation options are limited?

With the aquatics center close to opening, let’s revisit that question. Do you plan on checking out the facility at some point this year, after it opens?

Morning Poll: Are You Still Wearing a Mask By Default When Entering a Business?

By ARLnow.com

If you’re fully vaccinated, there’s no longer a requirement to wear a mask in most places you go in Arlington.

There are exceptions — notably at the airport, in schools, and in healthcare settings — but most businesses are now following CDC guidelines and allowing the fully vaccinated to go mask-less.

There was, of course, a time in the pandemic when masks were very necessary to slow the spread of the disease and save lives.

Most masks worn by members of the general public are of the cloth or disposable surgical variety, which are moderately effective at preventing transmission, mostly by the wearer. That made masks an important public health tool during a pandemic caused by an airborne virus that can be highly contagious before an infected person shows symptoms.

Cloth and surgical masks are not as effective at filtering inhaled particles — and thus preventing the wearer from becoming infected — as the N95 masks used by healthcare workers, but are generally seen as better than nothing, particularly when worn in crowded settings indoors.

With about two-thirds of eligible Arlington residents at least partially vaccinated, and average daily new infections in the low single-digits, a fully vaccinated person wearing a surgical or cloth mask in most situations is conveying very little public health benefit. Rather, if anything it’s more of a societal signal — a thoughtful, if unnecessary, courtesy to those around you.

Many in Arlington, we’ve observed, are still wearing masks by default when entering a business, like a restaurant or a store. Perhaps some are not vaccinated, while for others it’s out of habit or uncertainty about which businesses still require masks.

This morning we’re wondering: what is your default regarding masks when stepping into a business?

Poll: More Traffic Enforcement Cameras in Arlington?

By ARLnow.com

Across the country, vehicular fatalities are on the rise.

According to new data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2020 had the highest number of crash fatalities in more than a decade, despite a 13% drop in overall miles driven.

“While Americans drove less in 2020 due to the pandemic, NHTSA’s early estimates show that an estimated 38,680 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes — the largest projected number of fatalities since 2007,” the agency revealed last week. “This represents an increase of about 7.2 percent as compared to the 36,096 fatalities reported in 2019.”

Arlington has not seen the same level of fatal crashes, particularly those involving pedestrians, as neighboring D.C. But county leaders are still focused on reducing serious crashes via a new Vision Zero Action Plan approved by the Arlington County Board last month.

One way to get drivers to slow down is more active police enforcement — something that more than 80% of ARLnow poll respondents supported in 2016. But that’s a tough proposition with police departments struggling to recruit new officers and ACPD focused on more pressing criminal matters.

Another possible solution: more traffic enforcement cameras. They’re seen as generally effective, without the cost, safety and equity concerns that come with police officers pulling over motorists.

County officials have been asking the state for the authority to place more red light and speed cameras around Arlington. In a partial victory, state lawmakers and Gov. Ralph Northam passed a law last year that allows speed cameras at school crossings, something Arlington has yet to take advantage of.

Putting aside what the county can do within the bounds of state law at the moment, do you — in general — support placing more red light and speed enforcement cameras around Arlington?

Morning Poll: Cicadas vs. Expectations

By ARLnow.com
1/9

The cicada invasion is nearing its peak in the D.C. area.

More warm weather this week will send more cicadas up from the ground and onto trees, fences and sidewalks. We have perhaps another month or so of cicadas making noise, mating, and laying eggs before things start to calm down.

And yes, given the appetite of birds and other local wildlife for the winged delicacies, that will also mean more half-eaten zombie cicadas roaming around between now and the beginning of July.

Given that we’re near the peak, we’re wondering how your expectations for Brood X compare to the reality of the number of cicadas around town at this point.

More? Less? Let us know in the poll below.

Morning Poll: Have You Seen Any Cicadas Yet?

By ARLnow.com

Get ready: the massive, every-seventeen-year generation of cicadas known as Brood X is about to emerge from the soil in Arlington and the D.C. area.

According to the Capital Weather Gang, the emergence is expected to kick into high gear over the next two weeks.

We’ve analyzed soil temperatures and the weather projections and, in our first-ever cicada forecast, predict a noticeable emergence of cicadas next week, starting as soon as between May 3 and 6. Then they should arrive in large numbers by the beginning of the following week, between May 10 and 12.

The swarm and the attendant cacophony of buzzy mating calls is expected to stretch into June.

Though the real action is predicted to start next week, there are already reports of cicadas sightings around the area.

Soon enough, cicada encounters will be unavoidable. But today we’re wondering how many readers have spotted the early birds.

Photo courtesy Fred Cochard

Morning Poll: Will You Keep Wearing Masks Outside?

By ARLnow.com

It’s safe for those who are fully vaccinated to skip wearing masks outside in most situations.

That’s according to new federal guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. President Biden announced the new guidelines Tuesday, as vaccinations continue at a quickening clip locally but are slowing nationally.

Walking down the street, running, laying on the beach, and dining or hanging out with small groups of people you know — all can now be maskless for the fully vaccinated. The only exception: you should still wear masks when among large outdoor crowds.

“Starting today, if you’re fully vaccinated and you’re outdoors… and not in a big crowd, you no longer need to wear a mask,” Biden said.

The new CDC guidance will not immediately change Covid restrictions in Virginia. Gov. Ralph Northam (D) and his administration are reportedly considering relaxing the state’s mask mandate, which requires wearing masks outdoors if you cannot maintain social distancing. The mandate generally exempts outdoor exercise.

In Ballston yesterday evening, plenty of people could still be seen walking down the sidewalk with masks on. While mask wearing in such a setting doesn’t hurt, it’s probably unnecessary if you’re fully vaccinated at this point, according to the new guidance.

When walking outdoors in a populated but uncrowded public setting, when will you feel comfortable going maskless?

Morning Poll: Should the County Board Have Lowered the Property Tax Rate?

By ARLnow.com

Last week, the Arlington County Board approved a new budget that holds the current real estate tax rate steady.

In some ways, that’s a win given the fears of a pandemic-caused budget crunch. Tax revenue ended up coming in above estimates and federal funding freed up million in local funds. Instead of making significant budget cuts, as originally feared, the Board was able to add in numerous initiatives, paid for with one-time funding.

The budget maintains the current base real estate tax rate at $1.013 per $100 in assessed property value, a de facto tax hike for most homeowners given that residential property assessments up are 5.6%. Assessments on commercial property, including office buildings, slumped 1.4% this year.

Some called for the Board to lower the property tax rate, as Loudoun County is doing and Fairfax County is considering, “to provide relief to homeowners hit by rising assessments.” In the end, the Board decided to do more rather than less, keeping the tax rate where it is and adding funding for things like housing, hunger, fiscal reserves, and raises for county employees.

Perhaps there is a calculation here, that an expected strong economy will further buoy tax revenue and property assessments over the next year, and that the next (FY 2023) budget is the time to trim the tax rate a bit, rather than now when many are still suffering as a result of the pandemic.

What do you think of the Board’s decision?

Photo by Pepi Stojanovski on Unsplash

Morning Poll: Keep Arlington County Board Meetings Virtual?

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 11 a.m.) After more than a year of online-only Arlington County Board meetings, some have decided they actually prefer it to in-person.

Instead of schlepping to a Courthouse office building and sitting quietly for hours, one can now speak at Board meetings at home, in your pajamas if you prefer. Board meetings have been broadcast on local cable TV and online for years, but the virtual format now provides an opportunity to participate in the meetings to those who cannot attend in person.

Parents who would otherwise have to hire a babysitter in order to attend, for instance, are now more likely to be able to speak at a meeting.

Last May, two months into the pandemic, we asked whether the county should “consider making virtual meetings a more regular feature of citizen participation” after the pandemic. About 73% of more than 900 respondents said yes.

At least one civically-engaged local called keeping Board meetings open to virtual participation after the pandemic “a no-brainer.”

Of course, there are downsides. Older and disadvantaged residents may lack the technology and/or the know-how to participate in a virtual-only meeting. And there is something to be said for in-person meetings helping to keep elected officials accountable to their constituents.

A hybrid option that allows virtual and in-person participation is an option — in fact, one that the county appears to be pursuing (see below) — though virtual participation could come to be seen as less impactful than speaking at the meeting in person. And it could be more difficult to coordinate the combination of in-person and virtual speakers.

What about streamlining things and making all regularly-scheduled, monthly County Board meetings online-only on a permanent basis after the pandemic, however? Would that be a better idea than a hybrid participation option or the in-person-only way of yore?

Let’s say, for argument’s sake, that in order to facilitate virtual-only meetings, Arlington library branches can open during meetings and offer video conference stations from which library staff can help people speak and participate. And the Board can still hold certain special meetings in person.

What do you think?

Morning Poll: Partaking in Legal Weed?

By ARLnow.com

Last week the Virginia General Assembly approved a marijuana legalization law that will take effect this summer.

Yes, come July 1, you can legally possess, cultivate and share small amounts of marijuana for personal use. Regulated, commercial sales of cannabis products are not set to take place in Virginia until 2024 under the legislation.

When we asked ARLnow readers what you thought about marijuana legalization in the Commonwealth, about 85% of respondents said they supported it, either this summer or a few years from now, as originally proposed. (Gov. Ralph Northam sent the bill back to the General Assembly to move up the timeline for legalization to July.)

Given the support for legalization, we were wondering how many readers were actually planning to partake in the newly-legal weed.

Photo by Rick Proctor on Unsplash

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