rankings

Arlington Ranks No. 4 in 2016 ParkScore Index

By ARLnow.com

Virginia Highlands ParkArlington has the fourth-ranked park system in the United States, according to new rankings from the Trust for Public Land.

Arlington ranked just below No. 3 Washington, D.C. and the top two cities for parks: Minneapolis (No. 1) and Saint Paul (No. 2). The county received high marks for having parks within easy waking distance of the vast majority of residents.

“Arlington scored even better for park access, with 98% of residents living with a 10-minute walk of a park,” noted a press release. “However, its overall score was hurt because Arlington reserves only 11.2% of city area for parks. That is still above the national ParkScore average of 8.9%, but considerably behind the Twin Cities and Washington, D.C.”

An excerpt from the press release from the Trust for Public Land, including the top 10 ranked jurisdictions, is below.

Washington, DC, earned 5 “park benches” on The Trust for Public Land’s ParkScore® index, ranking 3rd among the 100 largest U.S. cities. Washington also placed 3rd in 2015. Neighboring Arlington ranked 4th, earning 4.5 park benches and finishing as the highest-ranking debut city in 2016, as the ParkScore index expanded to 100 cities, up from 75 last year.

“Every American deserves to live within a 10-minute walk of a park, and ParkScore helps us measure which cities are meeting that mark,” said Will Rogers, President of the Trust for Public Land.

ParkScores are based on three factors: Park Access, which measures the percentage of residents living within a 10-minute walk of a park (approximately ½-mile); Park Size, which is based on a city’s median park size and the percentage of total city area dedicated to parks; and Facilities and Investment, which combines park spending per resident with the availability of four popular park amenities: basketball hoops, off-leash dog parks, playgrounds, and recreation & senior centers.

According to ParkScore, 97% of District residents live within a 10-minute walk of a park. Washington’s score was also helped by high marks for spending per resident ($287) and percentage of city area reserved for parks (21.9%). Arlington scored even better for park access, with 98% of residents living with a 10-minute walk of a park. However, its overall score was hurt because Arlington reserves only 11.2% of city area for parks. That is still above the national ParkScore average of 8.9%, but considerably behind the Twin Cities and Washington, DC.

Atop the ParkScore rankings Minneapolis narrowly edged out Saint Paul for first after the cross-town rivals shared the top spot in 2015. Fresno, California, also marked an important achievement for 2016, climbing out of last position for the first time in ParkScore history. The Central California city was buoyed by the opening of several new playgrounds and a dog park.

Nationally, The Trust for Public Land reported a trend toward increased investment in local park systems. Returning ParkScore cities increased spending on parks by an average of $1 per person in 2016, according to the organization.

“Cities are investing in park systems and that’s showing up on the ParkScore index. It is great news for public health, the environment, and local economies,” said Adrian Benepe, Senior Vice President and Director of City Park Development for The Trust for Public Land. “Parks provide places for children and adults to get exercise, and they serve as community meeting places where friendships are built and a sense of community is strengthened,” he added.

According to The Trust for Public Land, the 10 highest-ranking park systems in the United States are:

  1. Minneapolis – 5.0 park benches
  2. Saint Paul – 5.0 park benches
  3. Washington, DC – 5.0 park benches
  4. Arlington, VA – 4.5 park benches (DEBUT YEAR)
  5. San Francisco – 4.5 park benches
  6. Portland, OR – 4.5 park benches
  7. New York – 4.5 park benches
  8. Irvine – 4.5 park benches (DEBUT YEAR)
  9. Boston – 4.5 park benches
  10. Cincinnati (tie) – 4.0 park benches
    Madison, WI (tie) – 4.0 park benches (DEBUT YEAR)

File photo

Twitter Users in Arlington Complain a Lot About Being Sick

By ARLnow.com
Kleenex box (file photo)

Americas-Sickest-Cities-and-States_Assets_Editions_01_03-02 (image via Bay Alarm Medical)Arlington is the “tenth sickest city in the U.S.” — this is, if stats pulled from Twitter data are to be believed.

An analysis by the firm Bay Alarm Medical looked at half a million geotagged tweets and found that Arlington sees about 265 sickness-related tweets per 100,000 residents. That puts Arlington No. 10 on a list of the “sickest cities” in the U.S.

New Orleans, Miami and Atlanta are No. 1-3 on the list, respectively.

The research also found:

  • Sickness tweets reach their height in December and January.
  • Sickness talk decreases as weather warms up.
  • Sickness-related complaints peak on Tuesday instead of Monday.

Image courtesy Bay Alarm Medical

Arlington Named ‘Best City for Recent Grads’

By ARLnow.com

Aerial view of Rosslyn as seen from a flight arriving at DCAArlington has topped a new list of the “best cities for recent grads” in the U.S.

Arlington is No. 1 on the list, which was compiled by the website NerdWallet. Other cities in the Top 10 include Madison, Wisconsin (#2); Washington, D.C. (#3) and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (#7).

Here’s what the website had to say about Arlington and its No. 1 spot.

“If you’re looking to live near other educated people, this Washington, D.C., suburb is the place to be. A whopping 71.5% of Arlington’s 25-and-older population holds at least a bachelor’s degree, the highest percentage on our list. Arlington also is tops for the number of jobs in management, business, science or arts occupations, as well as for salaries.”

"Best Cities for Recent Grads 2016" rankings (image via NerdWallet)“Arlington, Virginia, stands out in our analysis because 67.1% of its workforce find jobs in management, business, science or the arts. These fields have the most jobs that require a bachelor’s degree or higher.”

“However, if you move here, be ready to give up a big chunk of your salary for housing. The median rent is one of the highest among the 100 cities in our analysis, and it would take up nearly a third (31.4%) of that paycheck.”

The report analyzed a number of data points, including:

  • Percentage of population 25 and older with bachelor’s degree or higher
  • Percentage of population ages 20 to 29
  • Median earnings of residents 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree
  • Jobs in management, business, science and arts occupations
  • Rent as a percentage of income
  • Unemployment rates

Arlington Has the Most Affluent Millennials in the Country

By ARLnow.com

Chart showing the percentage of Millennials in a city making more than $350,000 per year

(Updated at 5:20 p.m.) For every dozen Millennial-led households in Arlington, one is making more than $350,000 per year.

That’s according to the real estate website Zillow, which just compiled a list of places that are home to the most affluent Millennials in the U.S.

“Not everyone in the 22-34 age group is scraping by,” Zillow says. “Whether they made their money lobbying lawmakers at the Capitol or cashed in on a tech IPO, rich millennials are clustered in cities where there are lots of high-paying professional jobs.”

Arlington topped the list, with 8.7 percent of Millennial-led households making more than $350,000. That’s even higher than the percentage of Arlington residents 55+ making more than $350,000, which is 7.9 percent.

(A “household” counts both singles and the combined income of a couple or group of people living in the same house or apartment.)

San Francisco, which has almost double the median home value and rent of Arlington, is second on the list with 7.8 percent of Millennial households making more than $350,000. Another California city, Huntington Beach, in the L.A. area, is third with 5 percent.

See the full top list from Zillow.

Arlington Ranks High for Excessive Drinking, Lower for STDs

By ARLnow.com
1/3

Arlington County is one of the healthiest places in the Commonwealth of Virginia, but doesn’t quite top the list.

That’s according to new 2016 rankings from countyhealthrankings.org, an initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Arlington ranks No. 3 in Virginia, with Fairfax County at No. 2 and Loudoun County at No. 1. Loudoun County received higher marks for Quality of Life and Length of Life, while Fairfax edged Arlington on Quality of Life and Healthy Behaviors.

Two healthy behaviors in particular for which Arlington did not compare favorably? Excessive drinking and sexually transmitted diseases.

Arlington has the highest rate of excessive drinking in the Commonwealth, according to the rankings. Fairfax and Loudoun both come in a few percentage points lower.

Arlington ranks more favorably for the rate of sexually transmitted disease — Arlington’s rate of chlamydia infection is lower than about 60 percent of Virginia jurisdictions, but still above that reported by Fairfax and Loudoun counties.

One healthy behavior in which Arlington has a decisive advantage over Fairfax and Loudoun: the rate of alcohol-impaired driving deaths.

Hat tip to James Breiling

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Creepy Netflix ad for House of Cards in the Rosslyn Metro station

Lawmakers Ask Gun Store Landlord to Reconsider — Seven state legislators who represent Arlington have written to the landlord of a planned gun store in Lyon Park, asking her to reconsider the lease. The letter cites Virginia’s 1990s reputation for being the “gun-running capital of the East Coast” and says the new store, which is located near a private preschool and daycare center, “could be the site for potentially nefarious and illegal activities.” [Washington Post]

Three Arlington Bars Make D.C. Dive List — The website UpOut has compiled a list of “10 Ridiculously Cool Dive Bars in Washington D.C.” Among them are three Arlington favorites: Galaxy Hut, Cowboy Cafe and L.A. Bar and Grill. [UpOut]

More Millennials Coming to Arlington? — In Arlington, 35-40 percent of the population is of the Millennial generation. That makes Arlington one of the most Millennial-heavy places in the country. But the county’s demographer doesn’t think the county’s Millennial boom has peaked yet. “Whether Millennials choose to stay or leave Arlington could have a major impact on schools, since the bulk of that population group has not yet embarked on creating families,” notes the Sun Gazette. [InsideNova]

Memorial Bridge May Close in Five Years — After years of deferred maintenance, the 84-year-old Memorial Bridge is in such bad shape that the National Park Service could be forced to close it by 2021 unless it can get funding for a $250 million complete reconstruction. [Associated Press, Twitter]

Where You Might Bump into an Arlington Trump Voter — Chris Slatt has again compiled some interesting Arlington election data into map form. Slatt’s maps show Democratic turnout by precinct, Republican turnout by precinct and the population density of Donald Trump voters — the highest concentration of which are along the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor. Separately, another sage election watcher, Carrie Johnson, estimates that 5,500-6,000 voters who usually vote Democratic in Arlington voted Republican in Tuesday’s presidential primary, thus in part explaining why John Kasich and Marco Rubio outperformed here compared to the rest of the state. [InsideNova]

New Rosslyn-Based Online Publication — Rosslyn continues to cement its reputation as Arlington’s media hub. ABC 7 (WJLA) parent company Sinclair Broadcast Group is launching “D.C. Refined,” a new online-only local culture magazine. The publication will “fall under the umbrella” of Rosslyn-based WJLA. [Washington Business Journal]

Arlington Touts Itself as a ‘Role Model in Virginia LGBT Protections’

By ARLnow.com

Arlington County courthouse and police headquartersArlington County says a new report card from the Human Rights Campaign affirms its efforts to extend outreach and equal protection under the law to LGBT individuals.

In a press release, the county said that it received perfect marks for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender protections, but was held back on overall rankings due to restrictive state laws.

From Arlington County:

The County received a score of 87 out of 100 in this year’s Municipal Equality Index (MEI) issued by the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBT civil rights group. The annual report card graded 408 localities across the nation, measuring the effectiveness of state and local laws in achieving inclusivity.

Arlington won perfect scores for ensuring that LGBT constituents receive the fullest measure of County services, law enforcement efforts and outreach. It also received bonus points for having openly LGBT officials and for being “pro-equality despite restrictive state laws.”

County Board member Jay Fisette says Arlington’s high score in the MEI “validates us as a community that not only espouses a commitment to diversity and inclusiveness, but applies those values in real ways that make a difference in people’s lives.” The index also shows, however, “that there’s still plenty of work to do to protect each and every Virginian.”

Although 47 jurisdictions in the United States achieved overall perfect scores, Virginia can claim none. Arlington and the eight other participating local governments in the Commonwealth were held back by a lack of state protections in areas such as transgender benefits for employees.

The so-called Dillon Rule prevents localities in Virginia from acting on those issues in which authority is not expressly granted by the General Assembly.

Fisette was the first openly gay elected official in state history.

There are currently no statewide laws in the Commonwealth that prevent discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Arlington Ranked 985th Most Liberal Place in U.S.

By ARLnow.com

Arlington's political affiliation score (screenshot via Crowdpac.com)Arlington has a long-held reputation for being one of the bluest bastions of Democratic politics in the country. But is that perception accurate?

At least one ranking of political allegiances suggests the answer is no.

The political data startup Crowdpac recently ranked nearly 5,000 cities in the U.S. with a population over 6,000, based on political donations of residents. Each locale received a ranking of how liberal or conservative it was, based on those donations.

The “People’s Republic of Arlington,” it turns out, is only the 985th most liberal place in the U.S., with a score of “2.0L.” The most liberal place in the D.C. area, meanwhile, was Takoma Park, Md., with a score of 7.4L.

Parts of Arlington, particularly those in the far northern reaches of the county near McLean, tend to vote more conservatively, though the vast majority of the county is reliably blue on election day. One notable exception was the 2014 election of John Vihstadt, the first non-Democrat elected to the County Board since 1983.

Screenshot via Crowdpac.com

Arlington Ranks No. 6 Richest County in U.S.

By ARLnow.com

Rosslyn skyline at dusk(Updated at 10:20 a.m.) Arlington is the sixth wealthiest county in the nation, by income, according to new U.S. Census data.

This week, the Census Bureau released its 2014 Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates, which looks at poverty and income in counties and states. In Virginia, independent cities were included as “counties.”

The top three richest counties in the country, according to the data, are all in the D.C. area: Falls Church, Loudoun County and Fairfax County.

Arlington ranked behind two western counties: Los Alamos, New Mexico, home of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, and the economic powerhouse Denver suburb of Douglas County, Colorado.

In 2013, Arlington ranked No. 7 on the Census Bureau’s median income list, at $99,255 compared to $107,143 this year.

The top twenty localities on the list, by median income, are:

  1. Falls Church, VA ($125,635)
  2. Loudoun County, VA ($122,641)
  3. Fairfax County, VA ($110,507)
  4. Los Alamos County, NM ($108,477)
  5. Douglas County, CO ($107,250)
  6. Arlington County, VA ($107,143)
  7. Howard County, MD ($106,871)
  8. Hunterdon County, NJ ($103,876)
  9. San Mateo County, CA ($100,806)
  10. Morris County, NJ ($100,511)
  11. Somerset County, NJ ($100,194)
  12. Nassau County, NY ($98,312)
  13. Williamson County, TN ($97,936)
  14. Delaware County, OH ($97,802)
  15. Montgomery County, MD ($97,279)
  16. Santa Clara County, CA ($97,219)
  17. Marin County, CA ($94,549)
  18. Putnam County, NY ($94,334)
  19. Fairfax city, VA ($94,067)
  20. Stafford County, VA ($92,647)

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Japanese Maple in the sunlight (Flickr pool photo by Eric)

Passenger Thrown from Minivan in Crash — Three people were hurt in an early morning crash on S. Arlington Ridge Road today. Police say a car traveling at 55 mph on the residential street slammed into the back of a minivan near 23rd Street S., causing one passenger in the van to be ejected from the vehicle. [WJLA, NBC Washington]

School Board Approves $100 Million H-B Design — The Arlington School Board has approved a concept design for the Wilson School in Rosslyn, future home of the H-B Woodlawn secondary program. With a 92-space parking garage factored in, the construction cost of the school may exceed $100 million. Also last week, the School Board confirmed that it will again ask the County Board for permission to build a new elementary school on the Thomas Jefferson Middle School campus. [InsideNova, InsideNova]

County Facebook Post Raises Eyebrows — Democratic political operative Ben Tribbett, among others, is calling an Arlington County Facebook post about a local Democratic resolution on the Redskins team name an “inappropriate use of a government Facebook account.” Tribbett was previously hired by the team to defend its name. [Facebook, Blue Virginia]

Nine Arlington Restaurants Make Top 50 List — Nine Arlington establishments have made Northern Virginia Magazine’s Top 50 Restaurants list. The highest on the list is new-this-year Kapnos Taverna in Ballston. [Patch]

Fisette on County’s Support for I-66 Plan — Arlington County Board member Jay Fisette says the county supports a plan for tolling I-66 because it is a regional compromise that’s cost effective, multimodal and not “the typical knee-jerk reaction [of] just widening roads.” Fisette notes that Arlington “was traumatized by the building of I-66 right through some of our neighborhoods” in the 1970s and 80s. [Washington Post]

Four Mile DMV Moving After Losing Lease — Dozens of angry Fairfax County residents came out to a meeting Thursday night to express opposition to a new DMV office in the Barcroft Plaza shopping center. The meeting also revealed more information on why the DMV is moving from its current location on S. Four Mile Run Drive. The DMV reportedly lost its lease due to a planned redevelopment, which has since fallen through. [Annandale VA]

More Info on Courthouse Redevelopment — We now know a bit more about the planned redevelopment of a low-rise office building in Courthouse. A 15-story, 91-unit condo building with 2,000 square feet of ground floor retail space is planned to replace the office building at 2000 Clarendon Blvd. [Washington Business Journal]

Flickr pool photo by Eric

2015 Arlington 40 Under 40 Class to Be Recognized

By ARLnow.com

40 Under 40 logoThis year’s Leadership Arlington 40 Under 40 honorees will be recognized at a luncheon today.

The event is intended to recognize “40 emerging leaders under the age of 40 who demonstrate impact personally and/or professionally through their exceptional leadership in the D.C. metropolitan region.”

Among the trailblazers on this year’s 40 Under 40 list are:

  • John Vihstadt campaign manager Eric Brescia
  • County Board member-elect Katie Cristol
  • House of Steep founder and Arlington Economic Development commissioner Lyndsey DePalma
  • Liberty Tavern, Lyon Hall and Northside Social co-owner Mark Fedorchak
  • Arlington Food Assistance Center operations director Koube Ngaaje
  • LiveSafe founder Shy Pahlevani
  • Land use attorney Evan Pritchard
  • Arlington Dept. of Parks and Recreation director Jane Rudolph
  • Shooshan Company leasing director Kevin Shooshan

The luncheon will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. today at Army Navy Country Club.

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