Linking Arlington (Or: Allow Myself to Introduce ... Myself)

Hey, this is Miles, making my first post as part of Team WUA! As my idol Troy McClure would say, you may remember me from such blogs as The Green Miles.

I thought I'd start out with my favorite Arlington links. New Arlington residents seem to see themselves as DC people who happen to sleep in Arlington, or even people from (insert hometown here) who happen to sleep in Arlington.

But you pay taxes in Arlington, you vote in Arlington, and Arlington issues will pop up on your radar screen quickly. In my five years in the county, I've needed the police (my sweet ride was vandalized), the Planning Commission (asking them to keep Dr. Dremo's open in Courthouse), and the Virginia Employment Commission (when I was unemployed last summer).

On to the links, a mix of fun and functional:

* Arlington Alert: Sign up to get email or text message alerts on everything from traffic jams to water main breaks. When I was in Boston last weekend, I found out it was snowing heavily in DC thanks to Arlington Alert, so I wasn't surprised when my flight back was delayed.

* Arlington Connection and Sun Gazette: Arlington's local newspapers, great sources for news on local businesses, county government, and statewide issues impacting Northern Virginia.

* Buckingham Herald TribBlog: I wish every neighborhood had a blog like this. It's what online citizen journalism is supposed to be -- hyper-local reporting,
down to the block level.

* CommuterPageBlog: A great resource no matter how you get to work -- Metroing, busing, driving, walking, or biking.

* Night Out in Arlington: Most nightlife directories are several pages long and in tiny type. If I ever do manage to spot a cool event, I feel like I've found Waldo. But Night Out narrows the list down to just the most interesting events happening here in Arlington.