Arlington's Best Diner Goes Smoke-Free

They said Arlington's bars would never voluntarily go smoke-free ... then Liberty Tavern did and places like Eleventh, Union Jacks, and Clarendon Grill soon followed.

They said sports bars would never go smoke-free ... then Summers created a separate smoke-free bar, followed by Four Courts and Crystal City Sports Pub, and Thirsty Bernie's opened entirely smoke-free.

Now Arlington's best diner, Bob & Edith's at Columbia Pike & S. Wayne St., is going 100% smoke-free:


Arlington bars and restaurants have no excuses left for not going smoke-free. Really, what are places like Rock Bottom, Bailey's, and Ri Ra's waiting for?

Hmmm. Maybe there's a pattern here. Seems like locally-owned places tend to listen to Arlingtonians and go smoke-free, while nationally-managed chains tend to stick to their smoky status quo. What do you think?

What's the next hot neighborhood?

Washington Business Journal recently published an article titled "The hunt for the next hot spots" in which Richard Florida identifies trends in DC area development. He highlights Arlington as a place that 20 years ago no one would have predicted as a popular place for young professionals to want to live.

Ballston and Clarendon are highlighted as trendy urban neighborhoods that came as a surprise to demographers.

According to the article, 77% of Gen Y-ers (or Millennials) plan to live in an urban core. This is a dramatic departure from the suburban ideal that was embraced by our parents. Another interesting trend is the end of "White Flight" which had a major effect on housing trends of our parents generation. DC has seen an increase in the white population since 2000.

So what is the future hot spot? In Arlington, this article points to Shirlington and Columbia Pike as examples of areas that are benefiting from an increase in transit options and development.

What do you think?