The Buckingham Herald Tribblog

Thanks for the update on Buckingham!

Jane Scruggs

Labels: buckingham villages, letter

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 7:49 AM 0 comments

Where have I ever called Patrick Hope a "name?" Perhaps you're confusing me with someone else? I have criticized Hope on his I-66 widening stance, as well as his endorsement by an anti-helmet-law, Ron Paul supporter. That's about it as far as I know.

- Lowell Feld

Mr. Feld pens "Blue Virginia" a blog that, among other things, supports Miles Grant in the race for the House of Delegates. He is referring in the letter to yesterday's HeraldTrib Today column where I explained why I like Patrick Hope in the race and how I am tired of seeing name calling by Mr. Feld and Ben Tribbett, another blogger supporting Miles Grant. I should have said that Mr. Feld in my opinion is unnecessarily mean-spirited, while Mr. Tribbett is the one who calls people names. --ST

Labels: 47th, campaign, election, Grant, house of delegates, letter, patrick hope

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 9:03 AM 0 comments

Please plan to attend ~ and bring your neighbors and friends ~ to enjoy hot dogs with all the fixings, cool side salads, soda and our traditional “Bethel Strawberry Special.” We’ll also have plenty of other home-made desserts for sale at our Bake Sale Table, and lots of games available to entertain the kid in all of us.

A portion of the proceeds from the festival will be donated to the American Red Cross (Arlington Branch).

Bethel Church is located at 4347 Arlington Blvd. (Northeast corner of Arlington Blvd. and George Mason Dr). Free parking is available in the Red Cross parking lot next door (access to lot off Trenton or Arlington Blvd). Church driveways are reserved for those with special needs. Bethel Church is handicapped accessible.

For more information about the event, please call Bethel’s main office at (703) 528-0937.

Labels: bethel, church, letter, strawberry

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 10:15 AM 0 comments

I live in Arlington Oaks and I'm a big fan of your blog (I particularly liked your article about Ballston Station, even though I think it's ridiculous they didn't call it Buckingham Station). I just started blogging again after something like a seven-year break, and was wondering if you wouldn't mind taking a look and giving me some feedback? I'd like to trade links as well if you're interested.

The URL for my site is http://www.bewealthygethappy.com

Thanks!

Keith McClellan
Buckingham

Labels: blogging, Buckingham, BV1, letter

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 10:20 AM 1 comments

THANKS for your great community news and information -- so valuable to our community.

I'm writing, as a 15-year Buckingham resident, requesting you to post a plea, reflecting not just my own sentiments but many that I hear from neighbors: Please CLEAN UP and SLOW DOWN, Arlington!

Our local streets are filthy with litter, a lot of it cigarette butts. Please don't litter -- so very inconsiderate -- and clean up the debris surrounding your residence, including the gutters and sidewalks. Our neighborhood is really becoming a mess due to the carelessness and laziness of a few.

And please obey the speed limits, especially on the secondary streets that may not have posted the legal speed limit of 25 MPH. The speeders are endangering the lives of our residents and their pets.

Thank you,
David Giger
Buckingham

Mr. Thurston:

Your blog is fantastic! Thanks for all your hard work, it's much appreciated.

Dick Williams
Arlington Forest

Labels: letter

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 11:51 AM 0 comments

1. Development = Upscaling

This seems self-evident, but a lot of people have trouble pulling the thread on the economics of re-development. Sam Chon bought Glebe Market for $1 (or whatever) and is selling it for $100. The buyer has to do something that will cover the purchase and continue to make a profit. So he seeks greater density (height) and charges new tenant stores more,which soon squeezes out Mom and Pop stores in favor of the chains who can afford the rent. This happens everywhere - you find M+Ps in older and low-rise developments where they could afford to buy; you don't find them
in Times Square.

If you track back, even the advent of the M+P was an upscale redevelopment of what was previously farmland (and no doubt people were despairing of losing THAT). You never see redevelopment of buildings to lower, less dense and retro uses. We all love the old days, and the individual and quirky M+Ps that gave a place character before the homogenizing effects of big money loans driving the developer to the common denominator. But until you can convince people to take a loss when they sell... (Nevermind, that local demand convinced the developer that
there would be a market for Trader Joes or Applebees.)

2. The above notwithstanding, Grand Int'l Mart in 7 Corners and Alexandria
may be the kind of ethnic grocery Buckingham is looking for but at a size
that can sustain the new rents.

If you have any influence with the developer, mention it. Their floorplate is larger than Glebe's, but they may be ready for a smaller application.

Reid Goldstein

The writer is referring to last week's HeraldTrib Today column. --ST

Labels: buckingham center, letter, redevelopment, retail

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 9:11 AM 0 comments

I welcome emails-to-the-editor (I love to get them) as well as comments posted to stories or letters.

I assume that any email that deals with news or issues of the day is meant for posting to the site, unless I am told otherwise. I will only post letters with full names (and I have to be sure that the email address it came from is owned/controlled by the person at the bottom of the letter).

I will edit letters as little as possible.

I value your opinions whether or not they match my own. I will never edit the meaning of your letter.

I may edit for length, but the great thing about the ‘Net is the infinite size of memory and space. If needed, I will edit for clarity, while staying true to your ideas, for spelling, for punctuation and for AP style (i.e.: “I walked on Pershing Dr.” will be changed to “I walked on Pershing Drive”).

I will not publish libelous items, and will remove personal information not necessary to the content (i.e.: your email address, your phone, the question you asked as an aside).

Comments policy...

Comments can be added to any story simply by clicking on the “Post a Comment” link at the bottom of the story. Anyone can do it, and I look forward to them. Unlike letters, however, comments can be anonymous, and I will not edit them.

As with letters, comments that I disagree with will not be edited or removed.

That said, I might, just might, remove comments when needed. Libelous comments will be removed the instant I see them. Comments that unnecessarily attack the writer, not the writer’s ideas, will be removed.

I am bringing this up because...

I do not always agree with what Patè McCollough says, but I respect the fact that she takes the time to write to me, that she is willing to have her ideas posted, and that she is willing to put her name to her ideas. She takes the same risks I take when I put my opinions out there, and I respect her for that. The same goes for Nancy Bukar who wrote a letter that she knew would cause her some grief, yet she took the chance anyway.

Last week, Ms. McCollough wrote a letter that received an anonymous comment. It was mean-spirited, and I thought of pulling the comment. In the end I left it since I did not think it was quite bad enough. I cannot tell you how much happier I would have been had the writer had the same guts as Ms. McCollough. I know that at times anonymity is necessary, but I think it gets used too much.

--Steve Thurston, writer/editor of The Buckingham HearldTribblog.

Labels: comment, letter

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 11:33 AM 1 comments

I was the person who suggested the four way stop at N. Thomas Street and N. Pershing Drive. I was sitting next to Carrie Johnson. I see the accidents (at least once a week) of cars hitting each other. One day it will be a person, and then, maybe, someone will listen. I am not a resident of the Gates, I live in Buckingham Village 3.

["Gates" is the Gates of Ballston apartments. BV3 is the block on the north side of Pershing between George Mason Drive and N. Thomas Street. See Wednesday's HeraldTrib Today for the original story on this topic. --ST.]

I don't think the plans look as good as they should. They look like they don't belong. Put in some affordable housing and with some changes, they would be acceptable. The plans aren't even close to looking like what Paradigm is doing down the street. And you and I both know what a huge fan I am of Paradigm's plans. (Hah!)

I was so angry when I read the blog, I decided to email you rather than blast you in public. I got home so late that night, that I didn't attend a BRAVO meeting earlier. If I am going to give up something that will benefit my neighbors: I would at least appreciate credit for what I said that will benefit my neighbors..

It isn't a walk in the park for most of my neighbors who do things right, to put up with vandalism, harassment and fear from those who don't. That is a police issue. But to label all day workers as a problem is just plain unfair.

I lived in the Oaks [Arlington Oaks] for almost 14 years. My attitude toward BV & the Gates was that poverty isn't a crime. At least people go to work. It was just too bad that the management didn't maintain the property [the original BV property]. It certainly isn't maintained here where I live without harassing Paradigm. I am lucky, I am high profile enough that management takes care of my unit. But I get calls about the others in my development who aren't so lucky.

On the plus side, thank you for confusing me with Carrie. I should be so fortunate to be as knowledgeable and talented as she.

Please, get it right...you are a reporter. I look forward to hearing about it in the next blog.

Pate McCullough

BRAVO

BU-GATA

Tenant, BV3

Labels: letter, redevelopment

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 9:07 PM 2 comments

I want to thank you for posting the community forum notice on your site. If you hadn't, we would never have known about it. I mentioned this to the moderator and, as you no doubt already know this, she said that notices were distributed only to three civic associations....Two of my neighbors were also able to attend.

I went to the first historic review board meeting where the developer/architect presented their plan. It's interesting to see how it has changed since then.

Thanks again for your blog--such a fantastic source of information on our neighborhood.

Stacy Furukawa

Labels: letter, redevelopment

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 8:07 AM 0 comments

First of all, I really appreciate the information you provide about the community - it's vital and interesting. Thank you.

Recently, a situation has come to my attention in this neighborhood that I want to bring to your attention, as I am not sure how to handle it.

As you may recall, I live in the Chatham. I have been dog-sitting for friends since last Monday, and therefore am out with the dog around 5 p.m. to walk her. Since having the dog on these walks, I have noticed a number of people, all men, traipsing through the Chatham parking lot in the back around this hour, walking across Arlington Oaks property and even walking on the sidewalk in front of the Chatham (inside the boundary line) to get to the church on the corner of Pershing and the Route 50 service road, the Arlington Assembly of God.

The purpose of their travels is to obtain food - the church provides food for the homeless. While I applaud the efforts of the church to serve the community, I do have concerns about how those who obtain these free meals conduct themselves in our neighborhood. And I have heard some anecdotal stories to that effect - someone being asked for money in our parking lot, cars being broken into, human waste found on the premises, people living and hiding in the large pine trees on Route 50 (right in front of the church) and the assorted beer cans and bottles I have seen dotting this area.

I spoke with our property manager about this (and he is quite good at what he does) and he informed me that he has approached the leadership of the church twice about this problem, and was basically told that because the church does not control these people, there is nothing they can do about it, and that they would continue in the same vein. Basically, he said "too bad." Not very neighborly.

I had a couple of questions after hearing this - why can't the church make an announcement at these free meal opportunities and ask those to whom they provide service to please respect the neighborhood and not trespass on private property? Does the church provide any other social services to help these people and thereby stave off other bad behavior? And, as a neighbor, shouldn't they try and make the area comfortable and safe for all the residents?

I'm frustrated and at a loss here, but I have felt uncomfortable more than a few times when out and about at this hour. Any thoughts you can provide on the situation would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Nancy Bukar

Labels: church, homeless, letter

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 1:45 PM 9 comments

I read the letter about planting milkweeds for butterflies.

My experience with milkweeds goes back to when I was a teenager, and thought it would be a great idea to drop a few seeds in a two acre field by our house.

Sure enough they spread like wild fire, and I got a job pulling them out (not entirely voluntary).

Sincerely,

Louis Quay

Labels: garden, letter

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 10:08 AM 1 comments

Just a tip re: attracting butterflies:

We attended a "Butterfly Fiesta" at an environmental center in Maryland a couple of years ago (www.thorpewood.org), and we learned among other things that one should plant MILKWEED to feed butterflies. So if that's what you're going for, do it. We started a Butterfly garden last year and it was a great success, and the more plants and longer you have them, the more they learn it's the cool place to hang out. "Build It and They Will Come."

Good Luck with the Garden.

John Marston

Labels: environment, garden, letter

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 9:07 AM 0 comments

Regarding your interest in planting wildflower seeds on the Paradigm property:

The Arlington County Government or the Virginia Cooperative Extension Office can probably provide you with free wildflower seeds for the Paradigm property. One of these organizations distributes free packets of seeds at county fairs and other county events.

I am not sure who you should contact about this. I suggest that you start with Jamie Bartalon, a county government urban forester. Martin Ogle, a naturalist at Potomac Overlook Regional Park, may also know the source for the free seeds.

If you can find the source of the free seeds, ask the source to recommend wildflower species that attract butterflies and/or that provide food for other insects. Some wildflower species are better than others for such purposes.

If someone owns or can borrow gardening tools, there should be little or no cost for the seeding project.

I don't have the time available to plant the seeds. Perhaps somebody else does.

Bernie Berne

I'll look into it. Thanks. The writer, for those of you who don't know, is referring to my "HeraldTrib Today" post from Wednesday, Feb. 20. –ST

Labels: environment, garden, letter

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 9:00 AM 0 comments

I saw your story today about new viewers, and thought I'd send you an e-mail to
let you know I'm reading. I've been checking your blog for about a month or so
and very impressed...it looks like a lot of work! I'm not a Buckingham
resident, but live "next door" in Arlington Forest.

Thanks,

Max Lyons

Thanks for writing, and I'll reiterate how nice it has been to see new viewers coming to the site. --ST

Labels: letter

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 9:59 AM 0 comments

I would like to give credit to Pat Hope, president of BCCA [Buckingham Community Civic Association], who was handing out sample ballots at 7 a.m. when the early risers went to vote. I will say the gym was pretty empty but a few of us voted before work.

Ilene Gerber

Labels: BCCA, letter

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 10:54 AM 0 comments