Sunday, August 16, 2015

APS Planning Is Inadequate for Arlington's Projected Population Growth



Hey Yupette,

I watched the School Board meeting last Thursday and saw APS's Planning Guru John Chadwick's, AFSAP (Arlington Facitities and Student Accommodation Plan 2016-25) presentation. It's on the apsva.us Web site under the August 13th meeting agenda.

What a bunch of ad hoc planning and wishful thinking. Everyone in County Government knows the County is dedicated to massive population growth and urbanization over the next 25 years. We are talking about at least 20,000 more pre-K through 12 students among a projected population increase of 66,000.

The Taj Mahal high schools that were just completed (Wakefield and Yorktown) will soon have additions. More trailer classrooms were installed over the Summer. Any additions to existing schools (e.g., Abingdon) will be at capacity when the additions are completed. APS will have to build a new school on the TJ Middle School campus and build large additions to the elementary schools near TJ.

So much for vibrant New Urbanism which has made Arlington into an expensive mess, with much worse in store for us in the future. I don't even want to think about how much our taxes will increase over the next 10 years.

Thanks for your blog.

Julie
22205


48 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm expecting residential real estate taxes to increase 5% to 7% each year for the next 10 years.

Anonymous said...

How much are the additions to W-L and Yorktown going to cost?

Anonymous said...

APS could have had a perfectly OK high school if APS weren't so wacko over sports that they tore down the old Wakefield HS.

Anonymous said...

New Urbanists want to tear down every old school and replace it with a mega school at at least $60 million per school.

Anonymous said...

I will not vote for Democrats in November. Thirty five years of tax-borrow-spend for their New Urbanism craziness is enough. My quality of life is going to be about zero in five years.

Anonymous said...

Stratford is next. Old school buildings get in the way of expensive sports-recreation-entertainment "amenities" that have nothing to do with education.

Anonymous said...

I want an audit of who is chosen to build all the expensive add-ons to new and renovated schools and how they are chosen. Is there a sealed bid process or what?

Anonymous said...

As was mentioned in this blog before, there's a big equestrian program at Congressional School in Annandale, 5 miles from Arlington.

Anonymous said...

I DID NOT move from a condo to a neighborhood of single family homes in 22203 to watch my neighborhood razed to build condos. NO to any more New Urbanists on the County Board !!

Anonymous said...

Obviously the New Urbanists can't pack 66,000 more people and 20,000 more public school students into Arlington by 2040 and preserve older schools like Stratford.

Anonymous said...

Or preserve anything resembling a suburban lifestyle.

Anonymous said...

No to Dorsey and Cristol on the County Board. Two more in the pockets of Smart Growth developers.

Anonymous said...

'Smart Growth'? Like food trucks competing with restaurants? Like looking down at a used car lot from the balcony of your new $750,000 condo?

Anonymous said...

Like looking down at verbal altercations, fights, and high-speed escapes into DC by drunken Millennials from the balcony of your new $750,000 condo

Anonymous said...

County Board will approve razing of single family home neighborhoods to build condos long before it will approve razing of used car lots to build condos.

Jeff said...

County Government SUCKS. Developers get countless hours of the County Board's attention to build more of the same mixed-use millennial in-fill mess. Ordinary citizens get two or three minutes....and are almost always ignored.

Anonymous said...

I am sick and tired of dodging Millennials riding bikeshare bicycles recklessly.

Anonymous said...

'Success' of Arlington Economic Development under Guru Victor Hoskins? He and the residents along Glebe Road between Fairfax Drive and Washington Blvd. no longer get get to see 4 year old Nissan SUVs in the used car lot. Replaced by recent-vintage Mercedes and other upscale vehicles.

Anonymous said...

Dig that yellow Maserati.

Anonymous said...

This is going to cost a minimum of $50 million more per year for who knows how many more years in the future.

Anonymous said...

I am sick and tired of Millennials.

Anonymous said...

33 Years of Yuppies 33

Anonymous said...

The First Yuppie (DC Resident) is 54 years old.

Anonymous said...

The first Yuppies (born in 1960) are eligible to join AARP.

Anonymous said...

Yes, I would say that as crazy as the New Urbanists are the number of pre-K through 12 students in the public school system will be at least 40,000 in 2040.

Anonymous said...

Victor Hoskins and AED are packing as many food trucks as possible into the B-R Corridor to compete with restaurants. What kind of 'Economic Development' is that?

Anonymous said...

New Urbanists are Nuts and Victor Hoskins is the First Smart Growth Squirrel.

Anonymous said...

What kind of "Economic Development" encourages people with no restaurant experience to start restaurants in the B-R Corridor and then packs food trucks into the neighborhood?

Anonymous said...

Victor Hoskings lives in Georgetown.

Anonymous said...

How about a posting titled: I'm Leaving Arlington, and You Should Too".

Anonymous said...

Then there are the closeted LGBTs in the local media who want Arlington to be 'Neverland on the Potomac' for their fellow closeted LGBTs no matter what the future consequences.

Anonymous said...

Expensive Mess - Exactly !!

Anonymous said...

Time to fire Victor Hoskins for setting up the food truck vs. restaurant confrontation via 'Food Truck Thursdays'.

Anonymous said...

They are all sleazy smart growth scum politricksters who are jamming as much as possible into this tiny county to fund their pet special interests. All they give a s*** about is more $$$$ from meals tax and more $$$ from more taxes on more tear-down McMansions and infill condos. Doesn't matter if a thousand food trucks from outside Arlington compete with Arlington restaurants at Noon every weekday and all day on weekends. Doesn't matter to them if all the smaller homes in Arlington are replaced by McMansions.

Anonymous said...

Their Smart Growth 'infill everything with mixed use redevelopment' so-called 'planning' wasn't working so they hired a Smart Growth Guru - Victor Hoskins - who tells them to in-fill even more.

Anonymous said...

What happens during the next economic recession? Their response? "What's a recession"?

Anonymous said...

Agree -- What kind of irresponsible 'Economic Development' is pitching restaurant ownership in the B-R Corridor?

Anonymous said...

What do they care? They live in Fairfax County and commute one-per-SUV to and from Arlington like the rest of County Staff.

Anonymous said...

Stock market crash? What's that?

Anonymous said...

They're a bunch of damn Rockefeller-Scranton-Romney Republicans from 50 years ago.

Anonymous said...

Pave paradise and put up a parking lot...then fill the parking lot with food trucks.

Anonymous said...

How much will the additions to Yorktown and Wakefield cost us?

Anonymous said...

Stock market meltdown? The First Yuppie is busy deliberating what medal he's going to award the two military guys who tackled the ISIS guy on the train in France.

Anonymous said...

Probably the DSC - Distinguished Service Cross.

Julie said...

I was banned from ArlNow for posing the following question: Can there please be a traffic ordinance so bicyclists have to walk their bicycles on the sidewalk in crowded areas like Clarendon?

Anonymous said...

Hey, I was banned from ArlNow for asking why food trucks are parked outside restaurants.

Anonymous said...

Because the County Board can't say no to any special interest....including food trucks from Fairfax County.

Anonymous said...

School Board is having a closed meeting with AED next month.