Residents comment with green dots on what they want to see in their parks. They also wrote sticky notes with individual comments on needs and wants. Photo by Eden Brown
Arlington residents were given four chances over the past week to weigh in on their parks, recreation, and natural resources. “POPS,” a Plan for Our Spaces, was initiated by the county’s planners and the Parks Department to solicit input from residents. They gathered on Friday, Feb. 5, at the happy hour at Whitlow’s on Wilson Boulevard to drink Dale’s Pale Ale and put green dots on the charts around the room.
Residents were asked to prioritize more WIFI access, urban agriculture and farmers markets, community centers, and hiking trails, to name a few categories. There will also be focus groups and a mailed questionnaire asking questions of residents so that a “needs assessment” can be set up. Caroline Haynes, chair of Arlington County Park and Recreation, and Lisa Grandle, Arlington’s Park Development division chief,
actively solicited the views of residents at Whitlow’s. They spoke about thinking ahead to the needs of an increasingly older population in Arlington, and some of the concepts which had been raised with them at meetings like this. Adult playgrounds? This is a trend in an aging baby boomer population where swings, balance bars, and fresh air are alternatives to TV and shopping malls.
Haynes said Arlington has to have the political will to look 30 years down the road and imagine what is wanted in terms of parks and green spaces. “Ask the Planning Commission how involved they are in this process; they should be here tonight,” she said. “I’m not sure they are looking at the big picture, or taking a comprehensive view of the county down the road. That is what this process aims to do.”
For those who didn’t know about the meetings, POPS has a facebook site and also advertises its events on Meetup. See www.parks.arlingtonva.us.