poll

Morning Poll: Pod Transit on Columbia Pike?

By ARLnow.com

JPod renderingThe Columbia Heights Civic Association will meet next month to discuss the possibility of a pod transit system on Columbia Pike.

Such a system could help ease congestion on the Pike, which is currently choked with tightly spaced and frequently stopping buses, particularly during the morning and evening rush hours.

The Columbia Pike streetcar was supposed to be a solution to that problem, but many Arlington residents objected to the system’s cost and the fact that it ran in mixed traffic. Ultimately, the project was canceled.

While a cost-effective, monorail-like transit system that runs above traffic seems ideal in theory, there are questions about the system’s real-world feasibility, cost and the trustworthiness of the company that’s proposing it.

(The system, as conceived, would be built with private funds and would be privately owned.)

Overall, what do you think of the pod transit idea that the civic association will be proposing?

Morning Poll: What Do You Think of Our New Mobile Experience?

By ARLnow.com

ARLnow mobile websiteTwo weeks ago ARLnow.com launched a new website experience for users of smartphones and tablets.

This responsive website design allows mobile users to easily read our articles without having to zoom in and out. It also reduces mobile load times for readers.

While we kept key features on mobile, like our swipe-able photo galleries and Disqus comments section, mobile users may find it a bit more difficult to navigate to some of our pages — like our event calendar or real estate listings — which are now accessible via a mobile menu (button, top right).

Also, in the interest of faster load times and quicker navigation, the homepage now only displays excerpts from articles instead of the articles themselves with photos and full text. Some tablet users have told us they prefer seeing the full homepage.

What do you think? If you’ve checked us out on mobile in the past two weeks, please let us know what you think of the experience below. Also, please use the comments to offer any specific suggestions or requests you might have regarding mobile functionality.

Poll: How Bad Was Your D.C. Commute This Morning?

By ARLnow.com

Heavy traffic on I-395 at Glebe Road on 8/6/15Update at 9:35 a.m. — ART buses are delayed too, Arlington County says, due to Metro-related traffic delays.

If you were commuting from Arlington to D.C. today, or vice versa, chances seem pretty good that your commute was awful.

Major delays were reported on Metro’s Orange, Blue and Silver lines, after service was suspended through much of downtown D.C. due to a derailed non-passenger train.

As if the Metro chaos wasn’t bad enough, a couple of crashes and perhaps an influx of would-be Metrorail riders has turned the length of I-395 into a virtual parking lot, with slow-moving traffic from the District to Springfield.

Also, Route 50 is reported to be backed up to Pershing Drive.

So, if you commute to or from D.C., just how bad was it this morning?

Morning Poll: Rename Jefferson Davis Highway?

By ARLnow.com

Jefferson Davis Highway in Arlington (photo via Google Maps)

Arlington County plans to ask its state legislative delegation to sponsor a bill that would rename Jefferson Davis Highway, the Washington Post reports.

While the likelihood of such a bill passing is slim, County Board Chair Mary Hynes said the county has received “a flurry of letters from residents” asking that the Confederate leader’s name be removed from the highway, also known as Route 1.

(County Board Vice Chair Walter Tejada did not respond to an inquiry from ARLnow.com last month, asking whether a name change resolution for Jefferson Davis Highway was a possibility.)

In 2012, the county renamed the stretch of road formerly known as Old Jefferson Davis Highway “Long Bridge Drive.” This time around, talk of renaming the highway comes amid a national conversation about the Confederate flag and whether it’s more a symbol of southern heritage — or slavery and racism. Last week, South Carolina’s legislature voted to remove the flag from the grounds of the state capitol.

Do you think Jefferson Davis Highway should be renamed?

Photo via Google Maps

Morning Poll: What Should Be Done With Arlington’s New Property?

By ARLnow.com

Quincy Street propertyArlington County announced yesterday that it has agreed to buy a six-acre light industrial property on N. Quincy Street, across from Washington-Lee High School.

In announcing the $30 million deal, County Board Chair Mary Hynes said it was “a rare opportunity for the county to acquire a significant piece of property in North Arlington… at a time when our community is struggling to find public land to accommodate our many facilities’ needs.”

There are a number of priorities for public property in Arlington that have been discussed lately. Of those, which two do you think are the most important priorities for the N. Quincy Street property?

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

On approach to Reagan National Airport (Flickr pool photo by John Sonderman)

Elementary Student Fascinated by Fallout Shelters — Nathan Eberhart, a McKinley Elementary student, has been trying to unravel the mysteries of school fallout shelters for his school’s student newspaper. Eberhart thinks the Cold War relics could be better put to use nowadays “as a community-activities storage area for things like Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts, recreational sports and enrichments.” [InsideNova]

Protest Planned in Rosslyn — The Mayday Project will be protesting outside the Infectious Diseases Society of America headquarters in Rosslyn today and tomorrow. The organization wants Lyme disease recognized as a chronic illness. The protest will be held from about 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on the 1300 block of Wilson Blvd. [Twitter]

Four Mile Run Cleaning Planned — Starting in a few days, Arlington County and the City of Alexandria will begin a joint project to remove excess vegetation from the Four Mile Run flood control channel, which extends from I-395 to the Potomac River. “Residents will see crews working in or near Four Mile Run, removing trees, shrubs, and other vegetation growing in the channel,” the county noted in a press release. [Arlington County]

Washington Blvd Lane Closure — A northbound lane closure on the Washington Blvd bridge over Route 110 was put in place overnight, according to VDOT. A southbound lane closure, similarly reducing the number of lanes on the bridge from three to two, is expected to be put in place next week. The lane closures were originally planned for this past Monday.

Another County Board Straw Poll — Another straw poll in the race for the Democratic County Board nomination was held last night at Del. Alfonso Lopez’s campaign kick-off event at the Arlington Cinema Drafthouse. The reported results were: Christian Dorsey 27%, Peter Fallon 23%, Katie Cristol 22%, James Lander 15%, Andrew Schneider 12%, Bruce Wiljanen 1%.

Flickr pool photo by John Sonderman

Morning Poll: County Board Straw Poll

By ARLnow.com

Polling place in Arlington (file photo)Over the weekend, a straw poll was conducted at a birthday party and fundraiser for County Board member Libby Garvey (D).

The results, which reflect the preferences of Garvey’s supporters, broke heavily for “crowd favorite” Christian Dorsey.

With the exception of the bottom two of the field, the results are an inverse of first quarter fundraising figures.

The straw poll results are:

  • Christian Dorsey — 43
  • Peter Fallon — 15
  • Katie Cristol — 15
  • Andrew Schneider — 8
  • James Lander — 4
  • Bruce Wiljanen — 3

A primary will be held in the race June 9. With just over a month left, ARLnow is conducting its own unscientific poll about reader preferences for the six Democratic candidates.

If you are a likely voter, which of the candidates do you prefer? Given the two available seats, pick two candidates.

Morning Poll: New Chipotle Delivery Service

By ARLnow.com

Sign at the Rosslyn ChipotleIt was revealed this week that Chipotle has begun offering an officially-sanctioned delivery service.

The food deliveries are being offered in a number of U.S. metro areas, including the D.C. area, through online delivery service Postmates.

While the idea of an on-demand burrito may sound appetizing, the cost of the service is less so. USA Today reported that the cost starts at $5, on top of the cost of the food. Re/code, which broke the story, was being asked for $12 in delivery and service fees, bringing the cost of an $8 order to $20 delivered.

ARLnow.com tested the ordering process using the Chipotle in the Pentagon City mall and was asked for $7.16 in fees for delivery to an address a couple of blocks from the mall, nearly doubling the cost of a steak burrito.

Can you see yourself ever using this delivery service for your Chipotle meal?

Morning Poll: Arlington County’s Dog Fee

By ARLnow.com

A dog (photo courtesy Rena Schild)In Arlington County, residents who own dogs must pay a for a license.

The license costs $10 per year or $25 for every three years. Despite the abundance of dogs in Arlington, the tax only brought in $59,664 from about 7,000 licensed dogs during a recent fiscal year, according to the Sun Gazette.

That has prompted enquiries from County Board member John Vihstadt.

It also led the president of the Arlington County Taxpayers Association, who fervently advocates for lower taxes, to suggest that the fee might be raised to help pay for the county’s dog parks.

What do you think should be done with the county’s dog license fee?

Morning Poll: Arlington’s Tax Rate

By ARLnow.com

MoneyToday is Tax Day across the nation. Meanwhile, next week, the Arlington County Board will set the Fiscal Year 2016 real estate tax rate.

Last year, in advance of the Board’s FY 2015 budget vote, we asked what you think about the county’s tax rate.

Only 6.5 percent of respondents said the tax rate should be raised, while 27 percent said the tax rate should be held steady and 66.5 percent said it should be lowered.

(The Board ultimately lowered the rate from $1.006 per $100 in value to $0.996.)

This year, the Board advertised a tax rate of $1.011, giving itself the flexibility to raise the rate by up to 1.5 cents. Such a tax hike could be used to help fully fund schools, which are facing a $6.2 million funding gap.

On the other hand, because of higher residential assessments this year, the Board may consider lowering the rate to ease the increasing tax burden on homeowners.

What do you think should be done this year?

Morning Poll: Doing Their Job or Preying on You?

By ARLnow.com

A towing standoff outside Ray's Hell BurgerTowing in Arlington has again been in the news lately.

Last week a driver with Advanced Towing hooked a car at the CVS parking lot on Columbia Pike, before realizing that there were children inside. The driver unhooked the car but the car’s owner still told his story to a local TV station.

After that story came out, other towing complaints have emerged in our comments section and in our forums.

Towing has historically been a hot topic in Arlington. Last year we reported that food delivery vehicles were being towed off private property by Advanced. In past years it was towing fee increases, towing disputes and crimes against tow companies that have made headlines.

Then, last night, more towing drama: ESPN sportscaster Britt McHenry had her car towed by Advanced during dinner in Arlington. She was not happy about it.

Apparently McHenry wasn’t the only television personality to be towed from that lot in Clarendon recently.

Throughout it all, there’s typically a debate: are tow truck drivers predators who employ shady methods to tow your car away and collect your cash? Or are they simply doing the job that they’re hired to do: protecting private property owners from drivers who park on their lots against the property’s rules?

Inherent in that question is another question: when the towing company does mistakenly tow a car that parked without violating the rules, is it an honest mistake or a cynical “mistake.”

Putting aside the above cases in the Hunan lot, sometimes the emotions of being towed can cloud a simple fact: that you were, in fact, violating the property owner’s parking rules, no matter what was in the car or how short your intended stop.

What do you think?

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