Arlington's Car-Free Diet Blog

Festival goers talk about their Car-Free Diet lifestyle while rockin' to the blues at the Columbia Pike Blues Festival. 

 

More Great Photos From Columbia Pike Blues Festival

Columbia Pike Blues Festival

Arlington's Car-Free Diet was at the Columbia Pike Blues Festival Saturday. Were you there too?  Check back soon to see more photos.

 

A perfect reason to start a new workplace walking routine...

 
There are numerous benefits for exercising together including support, commitment and motivation. Additionally, you’re more likely to enjoy your exercise session in the company of friends. But with a busy work schedule and plenty of other commitments, it’s hard to find the time and wherewithal to make it happen. 

Enter National Walk @ Lunch Day^®, an annual workplace event that encourages you to get up from your desk and on your feet at lunchtime. Established by BlueCross BlueShield, National Walk @ Lunch Day^® is designed to complement your busy lifestyle, improve personal health and decrease the costs of healthcare for employers and employees. 

This year, National Walk @ Lunch Day is Wednesday, April 27, just two weeks away!  It’s a perfect reason for you and your colleagues to start a new workplace walking routine! 

Don’t know how to get started?  Planning a walk is easier than you think.  Here are some helpful tips for getting your co-workers up on their feet to join you for a lunchtime walk on National Walk @ Lunch Day^®. 

• Determine a walk route.
• Invite your friends and colleagues by email and/or send out an evite.
• Hang up posters and fliers around the office promoting the event.
• The day before the event, check the weather and update participants so they are dressed properly. (LINK to weather info)
• On the day of the event, send out a final reminder to participants.
• Meet at your designated starting point and WALK!

For additional workplace walking tips and to find more information about National Walk @ Lunch Day^®, check out WalkArlington Works at WalkArlington.com.  National Walk @ Lunch Day^® is just one of the steps you and your co-workers can take toward a healthier self. 

 

April 1 is Walk to Work Day – No Fooling!

 
The first Friday of April is National Walk to Work Day.  April 1 is also known as April Fool’s Day. This means that National Walk to Work Day 2011 falls on April Fool’s Day.  But that doesn’t mean that walking to work is a joke.  In fact, in Arlington, it’s a way of life for at least 6 percent of Arlington residents!  What about you?

Are you actually within walking distance of your workplace?  If you don’t already walk to work, why not head out a little earlier than usual Friday and walk the distance?  You might want to wear different shoes, but that’s probably the only change you’d need to make!

Maybe you don’t live close enough to work to walk.  But walking is certainly part of your commute, whether you walk to a bus stop, a Metro station, a carpool, a bicycle, or (perish the thought) a car.  So why not get on the bus or Metro at a stop or station that is farther from your home or workplace than your usual location and walk the rest of the way on April 1?  Or park your bike (or your car) farther away from your workplace and walk the rest of the distance. 

Of course, if your commute just doesn’t allow you to cover part of the distance on foot, think about  walking at lunch or after work, before heading home. Check out our Walkabouts -- WalkArlington's series of neighborhood walking routes -- for ideas on where to go.  See if any colleagues want to join you and make a social event out of it!

No matter how you work walking into your work day, chances are you’ll feel more energized when you arrive at work and more productive all day long. And you just might want to make every Friday Walk to Work Day, especially now that we’re in the prime spring/summer/fall walking season.

And just in time for Walk to Work Day, WalkArlington and Arlington Transportation Partners have put together a new resource to help you incorporate more walking into your workplace routine.  WalkArlington Works: A Step-by-Step Guide to a Walking Workplace debuts online this week and in print next month.

This quick guide compiles ready-made resources for turning your workplace into a walking workplace in three simple steps.  Check it out online or contact info@walkarlington.com with your name and mailing address if you’d like to receive a printed version in April.

Meanwhile, get your walking shoes ready for National Walk to Work Day on Friday, April 1.  Then let us know how your walk to work goes, what you might do differently next time, and when you plan to do it again.

WalkArlington will be looking for you on the sidewalks and streetscapes of Arlington Friday.  No foolin’!

Lauren Hassel
WalkArlington

Celebrating Car-Free Day

In celebration of World Car-Free Day on September 22, Arlington's Car-Free Diet held a breakfast for local Car-Free Diet retail partners to thank them for their participation in the Car-Free Diet and how they can continue to help spread the word about going car free and car lite to the community.

The event was held at Revolution Cycles in Clarendon and provided an opportunity for business owners to meet with representatives from BikeArlington, WalkArlington, Fresh AIRE, and Arlington Transportation Partners and learn about the various transportation options available in Arlington County.

At the event, two businesses were honored with plaques for their ongoing active and local partnerships with the Car-Free Diet. The Crystal City BID received the Pioneer of the Year award for their participation in helping to bringing Capital Bikeshare to Arlington. Revolution Cycles was presented with the Partner of the Year award for their continued support of the Car-Free Diet.

Thank you to everyone who participated in this event and for helping to make it a success!

Commuters Urged to Ditch Their Wheels for 'Car Free Day'

Clunker Cash for Car-Freedom? September 22 and Beyond!

All the excitement about the success of the Cash for Clunkers program and the release of a recent study about how homes in more walkable neighborhoods are worth more than similar homes in less walkable neighborhoods got me to thinking, what would have happened if car-freedom had been part of the Cash for Clunkers equation?

What if folks who traded in a clunker had been allowed to use their cash to purchase or pay the mortgage on a home in a walkable neighborhood rather than buy a new, more fuel-efficient car?

We've all heard how the Cash for Clunkers program has helped to revive auto sales, but not as much publicity has surrounded the findings of a CEOs for Cities study by Joe Cortright entitled “Walking the Walk: How Walkability Raises Housing Values in U.S. Cities.”

The study analyzed data from 94,000 real estate transactions in 15 major markets, including Arlington. Using additional data from Walk Score, "Walking the Walk" found that in 13 of the 15 markets, higher levels of walkability were directly linked to higher home values.

My theory is that if some of the folks who participated in the Cash for Clunkers program had been given the choice to go car-free, perhaps they might have invested their clunker money in a home in walkable neighborhood.  And just as Cash for Clunkers helped the auto industry, choosing to go car-free could have benefited the economy by enhancing the local tax base. This choice would also contribute to individual wealth by increasing the value of what is, for most people, their biggest asset.

Whether or not you've made the choice to go car-free or car-lite, here's cause for celebration! World Car-Free Day 2009 is this Tuesday, September 22, so make plans now to leave your car at home or go car-lite on Tuesday! Whether you walk, bike, take transit, carpool with a friend, or work from home, car-freedom can be yours! 

Just pledge to go car-free or car-lite at www.carfreemetrodc.com. If you already commute car-free or car-lite, you can still pledge as a way to highlight your choice of using alternative modes of transportation. (Either way, make sure you register so you can win prizes!) 

Then as Car-Free Day turns to Car-Free night, join Arlington County Commuter Services to celebrate your car-freedom at Arlington's Car-Free Diet Celebration. The festive night of car-free fun runs from 4-8 p.m. on Tuesday at Mister Days in Clarendon. We'll be celebrating World Car-Free Day and the launch of Arlington's new Car-Free Diet Seven-Day Plan with free food, raffle drawings, trip planning assistance and more! 

Thanks to Arlington's Car-Free Diet Retail Partners, you can continue the celebration all week with Car-Free Day discounts at participating establishments from September 22-25. Just print out this Car-Free Day coupon and be sure to thank our Retail Partners for supporting World Car-Free Day!

Oh, and if Arlington's World Car-Free Day goings-on aren't enough to convince you to ditch the gas-guzzler, the entire week of September 21-25 is Try Transit Week! What more incentive do you need?

Whether you walk, bike, bus (ART 41 and 77 or Metrobus 38B and 24P) or Metro (Orange Line-Clarendon), we hope to see you at Mister Days on World Car-Free Day!

Lauren Hassel
WALKArlington

On World Car-Free Day, Come to Clarendon and Walk from Rush Hour to a Happier Hour

  This Monday, September 22, come celebrate World Car-Free Day with a WALKArlington Walkabout of Clarendon, Arlington's original downtown! This rush-hour-to-happy-hour evening tour will take walkers from Clarendon's Metro Park through the pedestrian-friendly core of this thriving urban village and back again. Speakers will share anecdotes about Clarendon's unique history, cultural resources, gathering places, and car-free lifestyle. After all, Clarendon was car-free before car-free was cool!

The hour-long Walkabout kicks off at 6:30 p.m.; walkers should arrive by 6:15 p.m. so we can head out on time! Meet at the west end of the Clarendon Metro escalator awning, near the large pine tree. Check out the Clarendon Walkabout route map to see where we'll be heading. (For this abbreviated Car-Free Day Walkabout, we'll cover stops 1-4 and 7-10 only.)

WALKArlington's Car-Free Day Clarendon Walkabout is free and open to the public. Registration is not required.

And thanks to Arlington's Car-Free Diet and the Clarendon Alliance, Clarendon's many restaurants and shops will be offering World Car-Free Day discounts and promotions to customers who've gone car-free. Just take the Car-Free Diet Challenge to get your coupon, print it out, and bring it along on Monday!

So, ditch the car and take Metro's Orange Line to Clarendon, hop on Metrobus, ride Arlington Transit (ART), bike or walk. Explore all of your transit options at www.commuterpage.com/art/villages/clarendon.htm !

And don't forget to come back to Clarendon from noon to 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 27, for Clarendon Day, Arlington's biggest party!

Lauren Hassel
WALKArlington
Arlington County Commuter Services
Department of Environmental Services

January 29 Car-Free Diet Expo Features "How To Live Well Without Owning A Car" Author Chris Balish

Co-host of the TV show The CW Now and author of How To Live Well Without Owning A Car, Chris Balish, will be visiting the area from Los Angeles as he attends Arlington's Car-Free Diet Expo on Tuesday morning, January 29. This is your chance to meet the author and get an autographed and free copy of the Special Arlington, Virginia Edition of his book, which can be your practical guide for going on the Car-Free Diet.

Says Google about the book:

"The first practical, accessible, and sensible guide to living in North America without owning a car. It exposes the true costs of car ownership and shows how getting rid of your car can simplify your life and put you on the road to financial freedom. The book is packed with realistic, economical alternatives to owning a car, including chapters on carsharing, carpooling, and even car-free dating. It includes more than 100 real-world tips, strategies, and success stories from people who are happily car-free or "car-lite," from cities to suburbs. According to a 2004 American Automobile Association study, the average American spends $8,410 per year (roughly $700 per month) to own a vehicle."

The Expo, held at the hotel Palomar in Rosslyn, has two sessions. The first from 8:00 - 10:00 am is designed for the business community and property managers to help them help their employees and tenants go car-free or car-lite. The second session from 10:30 until 12:00 noon is designed to give anyone practical tips on going car-free or car-lite. All attendees will receive a free autographed copy of Mr. Balish's book and be eligible for many prizes being given away by the dozen vendors there to provide you with information. RSVP today!  Send us an email or call 703.247.9299.

And here's a fun YouTube video of a report from a L.A. TV station report about Chris' story about the book. Hope to see you at the Expo!

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Chris Hamilton is the Commuter Services Chief for Arlington County, manager of CommuterPageBlog and a biking/Metro commuter from Rosemont in Alexandria.