A Reston-based pub was voted as the best place to get a drink in the D.C. area.
A WTOP poll by readers and listeners ranked Makers Union, which is located at 1811 Library Street in Reston Town Center, as the best restaurant to get a drink. The pub beat out hundreds of other bars in the area.
Clyde’s — a chain that has locations throughout the region and is bringing a new one to Reston Station — and Bethesda, Maryland-based Caddies On Cordell came in third and second respectively.
Also named a runner-up for best brunch, Makers Union describes itself as a pub for the people. It has two new locations in the works at The Wharf in D.C. and at Metropolitan Park in Arlington, which are slated to open this summer.
According to its website, the pub uses local ingredients “whenever possible” and showcases destination drinks from local makers.
The poll also ranked restaurants and establishments across several other categories, including best bakery, brunch, burger, coffee shop, international cuisine, seafood and comfort food.
Other chains also ranked high on the lists. For example, Big Buns Damn Good Burger — which has locations in Reston, Herndon, Vienna and Fairfax — was voted as the best burger spot, and Ledo Pizza was named the best pizza spot.
Outside of Reston, Fairfax City’s High Side — an Asian street food restaurant and bar located at 4009 Chain Bridge Road — topped the list for best international cuisine. L’Auberge Chez Francois in Great Falls and Our Mom Eugenia, which has restaurants in Great Falls and Merrifield, also made the top 10 for that list.
Photo via kazuend on Unsplash
(Updated at 10:30 a.m.) It’s another day of poor air quality for Fairfax County and the rest of the D.C. area.
As wildfires continue to burn in Canada, the resulting smoke has clouded the East Coast in a sometimes orange-tinted haze of particulate matter. As of 9 a.m., Fairfax was at 313 on the Air Quality Index (AQI) — a Code Maroon for hazardous air that’s even more severe than yesterday’s Code Red.
Today’s AQI appears to be the highest for the D.C. region since records began in 1999, according to Ryan Stauffer, a NASA scientist who studies air pollution.
The highest alert on the official AQI, Maroon is a health warning of emergency conditions that can affect everyone, according to AirNow, which monitors official air quality based on data reported by federal, state and local agencies.
Air Quality Alert for Thursday, June 8 🚨
Due to the wildfires in Canada, an air quality alert has been issued for today, Thursday, June 8. The air quality is unhealthy for everyone in Fairfax County and the region.
Stay informed: https://t.co/0SheATD3Zg pic.twitter.com/iHffXGXIWh
— Fairfax County Government 🇺🇸 (@fairfaxcounty) June 8, 2023
Record-breaking bad air quality in DC area yesterday dating back to 1999. Today probably will end up worse. https://t.co/YG1C95A31U
— Capital Weather Gang (@capitalweather) June 8, 2023
Everyone is advised to limit their exposure to the air pollution by staying inside or limiting the level of exertion required for outdoor activities, Fairfax County says.
Fairfax County Public Schools has canceled all outdoor activities on school grounds for the day, including recess, P.E., sports and after-school programs. The Fairfax County Park Authority has also canceled all outdoor classes, activities and amusements.
“Wildfire smoke is a mix of gases and fine particles from burning trees and plants, buildings, and other material,” the county said in an emergency blog post. “Wildfire smoke can make anyone sick, but people with asthma, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), or heart disease are more likely to experience health effects of smoke. Pregnant women, babies and children are also at risk.”
In a twist, the masks that proliferated during the COVID-19 pandemic have made a comeback as the most effective way to filter particles from air pollution. In New York, which had the world’s worst air quality yesterday, N95 masks are being handed out for free today.
The worst of the pollution is expected to start clearing tomorrow (Friday), when a Code Orange AQI is forecast, but until then, it’s probably best to stay indoors if possible and mask up.
Image via VDOT
Northern Virginia is the place to be if you’re shopping in the D.C. area, a recent poll of local residents found.
A handy 61% of respondents favored Northern Virginia when asked what’s the best place to shop in the region by the Washington Post and George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government, which conducted the wide-ranging poll from Feb. 17-27.
In comparison, just 18% of respondents chose suburban Maryland, and 13% chose D.C., with 7% saying they had no opinion, according to results released on Friday (April 7).
Northern Virginia’s dominance in this particular area can likely be traced to Tysons — at least based on a comment by James Hackley, identified by the Post as chief style officer for a clothing store in Takoma Park, Maryland.
In the DMV area, without a doubt, Northern Virginia has the best shopping. The reason? You have the old Tysons and Tysons II. So if you’re looking for the higher-end designer things, that’s where you go. That’s just a known quantity. No one else really competes with that. D.C., they tried to make major inroads with the CityCenter area, but it’s still a nascent being compared to Tysons and Tysons II. Those are big malls. That’s where people go to shop, because if you’re driving in your car, you’re getting an hour to go shopping someplace, you want it to be a destination. You’re not just going to one store. You want to hit a bunch of other stores as well.
Established in 1968 and 1988, respectively, Tysons Corner Center and Tysons Galleria transformed once-rural farmland into a regional retail destination, a reputation that has persisted even as malls decline nationwide and high-profile crime and gun violence incidents leave some skittish.
Touching on topics ranging from Metro to the Washington Commanders, the Post-Schar poll was administered by phone to a random sampling of 1,668 adults in the D.C. area.
While we don’t have the capacity to match that level of scientific rigor, FFXnow is curious how the results line up with your perception of the region. Is Tysons still a go-to place for shopping, or do you have another preference — perhaps even outside Northern Virginia?
This month marks the third anniversary of the first Covid case in Fairfax County, and the Board of Supervisors has voted to bring the state of emergency to a close.
The emergency declaration that has been in place since March 17, 2020 officially ends today (Wednesday).
The declaration provided increased flexibility and resources to address public health issues. The county said in a release there will be no direct impact of the declaration ending on the county’s operational responses, which were already scaled back in December.
The county’s relaxed policies on outdoor dining and using speakers for activities will continue until March 2024.
A new set of bills before the General Assembly would allow a casino to be built somewhere along the Silver Line corridor, Washington Business Journal first reported.
The casino could be placed somewhere around Tysons, the Reston Town Center or Herndon based on the stipulations of the proposed legislation, which would allow a casino in an urban county with at least 1 million residents.
Legislatively speaking, the casino isn’t a sure bet. It’s got a long way to go before it’s a reality, as it would still need to be approved by the Board of Supervisors and a ballot referendum.
The proposal comes amid a rush of new legislation around gambling, with several types being recently legalized over recent years. New casinos are planned in Norfolk, Portsmouth, Danville and Bristol.
The legislature is also looking at some ways to offer additional support for those suffering from a gambling addiction.
Photo via Kvnga/Unsplash
If you’re driving along the highways in Northern Virginia, do you usually hop into an express lane or do you prefer to tough it out in the normal lanes with the rest of the proletariat?
The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) announced last week that the new I-66 Express Lanes running from the Beltway down to Centreville are set to fully open today (Tuesday).
“[VDOT and partners] announced today that the westbound direction of the new 66 Express Lanes from I-495 (Capital Beltway) to Route 28 in Centreville remains on schedule to open on or about this Saturday, Nov. 19,” VDOT said in a release. “The eastbound direction of this same 13-mile section of express lanes is expected to open by the end of November and could open as early as next Tuesday, Nov. 22, depending on weather and other factors.”
Along with the expansion, this month marks the 10-year anniversary of the express lanes opened on I-495. Since Express Lanes started being added to the highways around Northern Virginia, they’ve become largely ubiquitous along I-495, I-95 and I-395.
Intended to allow faster travel, the lanes charge vehicles based on demand, which can lead to eye-popping tolls. In two weeks, drivers will need to have at least two passengers to use the I-66 lanes for free, an increase from the current HOV-2 requirement.
(Updated at 9:40 a.m. on 9/30/2022) Metro’s extension of the Silver Line through Herndon into Loudoun County is finally starting to look like a reality, instead of a hypothetical, albeit expensive, project.
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority unveiled new maps for its rail system last Friday (Sept. 23) that featured the six new stations, among other changes. A day earlier, its general manager got the go-ahead to set an opening date, though one has yet to be announced.
Coming six years after its initial projected opening of 2016, Silver Line Phase 2 will bring the D.C. region’s subway system into Loudoun for the first time, with stops at Dulles International Airport and Ashburn. Along the way, trains will pass through Reston Town Center, Herndon, and Innovation Center in the Dulles area.
Despite frustrations with the project’s many delays, Fairfax County officials remain hopeful that the rail line’s arrival will be a boon for residents and businesses in Reston and Herndon, fueling growth akin to what Tysons has seen since the Silver Line’s first phase opened there in 2014.
Are you excited to enter the shiny new Silver Line stations, potentially as soon as next month? Or have Metro’s ongoing safety and reliability issues turned you off of the transit system for now?
There has been no shortage of thinkpieces about how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed workplaces, from the waning demand for office space to widespread staffing deficits as workers reevaluated their goals and working conditions.
One trend that may be here to stay is the growing acceptance of remote work, with many people who can telework saying they would do it all or most of the time, if given the option.
While available, detailed data on remote work is limited, about a third of workdays are now being done from home, a decline from the height of office shutdowns in 2020 but well above pre-pandemic levels, The Washington Post reported in August.
According to the Post, remote work has been most prevalent in white-collar sectors, like finance and technology. Northern Virginia, including Fairfax County, is among the places with the highest remote-work rates.
Though many offices have reopened, commuting remains down in the D.C. region. In Virginia, 35.9% of businesses increased telework during the pandemic, and 64.7% of them intend to stick with it after the pandemic, the Northern Virginia Regional Commission says based on federal labor statistics.
Has the pandemic changed where or how you work? If you have the option to work remotely, are you taking advantage of it, or do you prefer going to a physical workplace?
Photo via Clay Banks/Unsplash
Trash collection has become a hot mess in Fairfax County of late.
After FFXnow reported earlier this week on local officials’ efforts to address an avalanche of complaints, many community members added their tales of woe to the ongoing saga of late or entirely neglected pickups, ineffectual communication, and reductions in service without accompanying decreases in fees.
One commenter hasn’t gotten pickups in four weeks, while another said that American Disposal Services — the private hauler that has emerged as the primary troublemaker — misses over half their scheduled collection days. Accumulating garbage and recycling has spawned a rat infestation at the Hollybrooke Condominiums in Seven Corners, according to a tipster.
In addition, multiple community members confirmed that they’d been notified of an impending 10% rate increase by American Disposal, which reduced pickups from twice to once a week this spring, citing staffing challenges.
While it’s difficult to gauge just how widespread the issue is, local government officials told FFXnow that comments they’ve gotten or seen on social media — and their own experiences — suggest residents across the county have been affected.
Have you seen a noticeable deterioration in your trash service lately? Feel free to vent or perhaps brag (within the bounds of our comments policy) about your waste collection experiences below.
It’s August, and we have fully arrived at the hell’s front porch portion of the D.C. area’s seasonal cycle.
Over the past week or so, thermometers have been clocking in the upper 80s and 90s, but with the humidity adding an extra 10 degrees to every day, the summer heat offers an almost tangible reminder that, despite all the concrete, asphalt and landscaped lawns, Fairfax County is still a wetland at heart.
Like other kinds of extreme weather, heat can be dangerous, contributing to hundreds of deaths per year in the U.S., and climate change will likely push that toll higher.
Absolutely gross humidity right now. Reagan National reporting dew point of 78…awful. It's just 87 but that makes it feel like 100. pic.twitter.com/CiTBd4DWer
— Capital Weather Gang (@capitalweather) August 8, 2022
To take your mind off the prospect of hot, muggy days becoming even more of a norm in the future, what’s your go-to method of handling this summer weather? Do you try to escape with a vacation, or are you more apt to seek relief at the nearest swimming pool or ice cream shop?
If you have other tips and secrets for cooling off, feel free to share them below.
Photo via john labelette/Unsplash
