WALKArlington PACER: Finish the Year on the Right Foot!

December 9, 2005

Featured in this edition:

• Last Walks of 2005
• Walking (and Biking) in Winter
• Walking in the News
• Walkable Community
• New Quiz for Walkers

Last Walks of 2005

Here are a few ways to keep you and your family active through the New Year.

Walk the Midpoint: Ashton Heights Walkabout Video and More! Bundle up and head for the geographic epicenter of Arlington. Jay Fisette, County Board Chair for 2005, leads the latest walkabout through Ashton Heights, the Urban Village he calls "home." Follow his trail on paper and/or view the video version, both based on the "live" Oct. 1 Neighborhood Walkabout. More...

Saturday, December 10 -- Historic Alexandria Candlelight Tour.  Tag along on a walking tour of five sites in Old Town Alexandria. Read more...

Saturday, December 10 and Sunday, December 11 -- Mount Vernon by Candlelight  Learn about the (George and Martha) Washington family's Christmas traditions; tour the candlelit Mansion including the rarely-seen third floor; meet historical characters including Martha Washington. Read more...

Wednesday, December 14 and Thursday, December 15 - U. S. National Arboretum Full Moon Hike.  Join this vigorous walk through the moonlit gardens and collections. Read more...

Then check out the WALKArlington Event Calendar... http://www.walkarlington.com/go/events.html to plan your late December and January outings!

Walking (and Biking) in Winter

Cold-weather walking. You want to walk in winter -- but please! It can get mighty cold out there!  Visit the new WALKArlington health section for tips on preparing your mind and body for encounters with the elements. Read more...

Cold-weather biking.  For some great information on keeping your two-wheeled vehicle in motion this winter, visit our sister website, Bike Arlington. Read more... 

Transit users: Check out the article below, and perhaps you'll be doubly motivated to bundle up and include walking or biking in your daily commute!

Walking in the News

Great news for busy people who use transit!  The American Journal of Preventive Medicine studied over 3300 transit users and concluded that walking to and from public transportation can help physically inactive populations, especially low-income and minority groups, attain the recommended level of daily physical activity. Read more...

Rides in the City??? Speaking of transit: if you haven't already checked out the latest website in the growing CommuterPage.com family, visit Rides in the City for the hippest information on commuting to be found anywhere on the Internet. Woman-on-the-street columns (and podcasts); tips for commuters; cool links and more.  Read more...

Walk -- and live, on average, 1.3 years longer. That was the good news for walkers on the front page of a recent edition of The Washington Post.  The even better news -- but you had to dig to find it -- was that moderate exercise  (20 minutes a day of brisk walking for example) yields a healthier life no matter how long you live.  Read more...

Moving Crew  Have you discovered "Moving Crew" -- the live online chat moderated by Washington Post reporters each Tuesday morning at 11? Following the story above, several readers submitted questions related to walking. For example: is playing 18 holes of golf considered good exercise? Answer: (based on anecdotal evidence) even riding in a cart results in a heart rate in the low end of the cardio training zone about half the time; carrying clubs for 9 of the 18 holes burns close to 700 calories. Yo, that's a lot of calories for a s-l-o-w sport like golf! Let's face it: walking rocks! Read the transcripts of this week's online discussion...

They are "WALKINGArlington" in St. Paul! According to the Dec. 5 Twin Cities Pioneer Press, Ramsey County, MN Commissioner Jan Parker learned of Arlington County's  successes with WALKArlington about a year ago. She wanted to follow the county's lead in linking public health to the way communities are designed and so "Active Living Ramsey County" was born. Read more...

Care to catch up on more news for pedestrians? Click here!

Walkable Community

Grapefruit in Clarendon -- and other Wilson Boulevard projects. A couple of projects for pedestrians - one in Clarendon and one in Ballston - are highlighted in this report by WALKArlington Urban Designer David Goodman.  In Clarendon, a new pedestrian "nub" or curb extension is shaped like a section through a Florida citrus - which should come as no surprise to anyone who knows that Goodman spent six years in that sub-tropical state before moving to the DC area! Read more... 

New Quiz  - for Walkers and Bikers

WALKArlington, Bike Arlington. In celebration of the advent of WALKArlington's sister website, Bike Arlington, here are ten questions about two of Arlingtonians' favorite activities. Click here to take the quiz!

For now, that is all! See you next year!