suggestions for where to live? (bike commuting to the hill and family friendly area)

[cyclingfool]

@Terpfan 98266 wrote:

I wouldn’t disagree, just offering a candid assessment of the various districts.

For sure. I wasn’t taking issue with your post or any other specific post in the thread — just venting about the state of our society and one of its many ills as I perceive them. .

[mstone]

@dkel 98268 wrote:

Falls Church City FTW! (Except that it’s eeexxxxppppeeeennnnssssiiiivvvvee.) Still, our schools didn’t have to make up any snow days after the polar vortex; one advantage of a tiny geographic area. Also, the W&OD runs right through it. And Bikenetic can be your LBS. Hmm. It may be perfect!

Yeah, but little loudoun has jack-in-the-box cops to randomly harass the cyclists on the W&OD.

[dkel]

@mstone 98273 wrote:

Yeah, but little loudoun has jack-in-the-box cops to randomly harass the cyclists on the W&OD.

I’ve heard about that, but not experienced it. It’s only about two miles worth of trail that runs through the city, so there’s that, I guess.

[dasgeh]

@rcannon100 98246 wrote:

Oh we are way past trailers and silly lunch hours. We need new facilities and there is no where to put them. This is again one of those “Arlington is an Urban-Village” where we are more urban than village. Our schools are going to have to look a lot more urban – multiple floors – packed in – early hours – late hours. The low hanging fruit solutions have been HUGE battles. And we got 5k more students this school year, I think? Much more than the increase that we had anticipated.

APS has been wonderful. But…

As one with kids poised to enter APS, I am not so pessimistic. We have plenty of APS land that is under-utilized. We have opportunities to do better. And we have the resources to build. Everything in Arlington is a HUGE battle, but I like living in a place where people care.

We also have the opportunity to elect someone to County Board who has young kids in APS, and understands what the problems are – Alan Howze. Right now, this experience is desperately lacking at the top of County government. And this issue is clearly the most important issue to Arlington – both the budget and the general quality of life for all – at the moment, despite what other red herrings others raise.

[DismalScientist]

So, to get the change we want, we need to elect the candidate from the party that is the same party of those with a desperate lack of experience that current head County government?

[ShawnoftheDread]

Hey, just because Pappy O’Daniel didn’t think he could run on re-form when he was the dang incumbent doesn’t mean Arlington Democrats can’t.

[dasgeh]

@DismalScientist 98295 wrote:

So, to get the change we want, we need to elect the candidate from the party that is the same party of those with a desperate lack of experience that current head County government?

We have a choice between two candidates: one who is a cyclist with small children, who has called for improvements to increase safety for pedestrians and cyclists, and, relevant to this discussion, has young kids in APS; the other mainly wants to say No to what the County Government wants to do, has belittled County staff in public, and seems uninformed on transportation issues (at least when I’ve heard him talk). In Arlington County, we don’t have a Parliamentary system that relies primarily on party.

[baiskeli]

@DismalScientist 98295 wrote:

So, to get the change we want, we need to elect the candidate from the party that is the same party of those with a desperate lack of experience that current head County government?

Only if you think everything is about political party and everyone in the same party thinks the same.

[Rockford10]

@mstone 98273 wrote:

Yeah, but little loudoun has jack-in-the-box cops to randomly harass the cyclists on the W&OD.

We got a new police chief in 2013 and she’s taken measures to stop some of the ridiculous ticketing from the past (and specifically “ripped” up tickets issued during a snow emergency). I used to see a police car hide around Oak Street, I haven’t seen that for a while. I’d like to think the harassment has stopped.

[DismalScientist]

@baiskeli 98332 wrote:

Only if you think everything is about political party and everyone in the same party thinks the same.

It don’t matter if they don’t think the same, only that they vote the same. But then again, we don’t have a parliamentary system.:rolleyes:

[baiskeli]

@DismalScientist 98337 wrote:

It don’t matter if they don’t think the same, only that they vote the same. But then again, we don’t have a parliamentary system.:rolleyes:

They don’t vote the same though. Have you noticed the saga over Libby Garvey, for instance?

[dasgeh]

@DismalScientist 98337 wrote:

It don’t matter if they don’t think the same, only that they vote the same. But then again, we don’t have a parliamentary system.:rolleyes:

Also, a lot of their effectiveness comes in interactions with County staff that don’t rise to the level of votes or official policy. A County Board member asking about a specific issue will get more attention than a random member of the public, and that can lead to real change.

[DismalScientist]

@baiskeli 98342 wrote:

They don’t vote the same though. Have you noticed the saga over Libby Garvey, for instance?

and the threats to drum her out of the party…

[baiskeli]

@DismalScientist 98360 wrote:

and the threats to drum her out of the party…

There were no such threats. It’s not even possible to drum someone out of the party. If she wins the nominations for her seat, she IS the party. She was removed from the leadership, but that’s because she was actively working for an opposition candidate, not because she disagreed with Democrats about something.

Libby Garvey is a Democrat who doesn’t vote the same as other Democrats. This is a fact. If you think only party affiliation matters, good luck convincing Democratic voters in Arlington to re-elect long-time Republican Vihstadt.

[rcannon100]

@baiskeli 98361 wrote:

There were no such threats.

Trying not to enter this discussion – but, well at least from my vantage point – there were. I had some discussions with Dem leadership. They wanted her hide. They were furious. And they were going to do everything they could to get at her. Given the last two elections, I suggested that instead of vilifying Garvey, maybe they should name her as Chair of the party. That led to an explosion.

I will admit, I only was talking to a few of the Arl Dem Leadership – but they would have put her on a long boat with a short paddle if they could have.

[Author]

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