June 2011 Blog Posts

Pike Neighborhoods Plan Hands-on Community Design Session

Saturday was the heart of the Pike Neighborhoods Plan Charrette: the Community Hands-on Design Session.  I was impressed by the number of folks willing to be up and around at 9am on a Saturday ready to do 5 1/2 hours of urban planning.  As we arrived, we signed in and were split up to different tables by Civic Association.  Each table was focused on a portion of the Pike that included their Civic Association.  Since I'm a Penrose resident, I was at a table for the eastern end of the Pike - our area covered from approximately Glebe Rd to...

The Pike Neighborhoods Plan Kick-off

Tonight was the kick-off meeting for the Pike Neighborhoods Plan Charette.  You may be wondering "What is the Pike Neighborhoods Plan?" or "What's a Charette?" or "What did I miss if I wasn't there?!"  Read on to find out. What is the Pike Neighborhoods Plan? You may be familiar with the work being done to revitalize Columbia Pike, or you may not.  There is a lot of history that provides important context: the Columbia Pike Initiative, the Columbia Pike Revitalization Plan, the Form Based Code, the Street Space Plan, the Multimodal Project, the Pike Transit Initiative.  The opportunity before us all right...

Welcome and Introduction

Welcome to Engage Arlington. My goal with this blog is to promote civic engagement in Arlington by helping spread information about what is going on within the County and how your voice can be heard. My name is Chris Slatt, and I live in the Penrose neighborhood of Arlington near Columbia Pike. The opinions expressed in this blog are my own.  I have no relationship with the County other than as a resident and as Secretary of the Penrose Civic Association.  My goal is increased participation by residents in our government, whether those residents share my views or not. ...