Additional after-school opportunities will be available to youth in Green Valley at the start of this school year.
The Center for Youth and Family Advocacy (CYFA) is expanding “The Zone,” its literacy-focused after-school program, to students in first and second grades at Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary School.
Encore Stage & Studio last week paid tribute to local photographer Cindy Kane, who for most of the past decade has chronicled its youth-theater performances.
Kane has proved “very special to our organization,” Encore executive director Sara Duke said in a presentation held July 18 during intermission of “The Addams Family” at Thomas Jefferson Community Theatre.
This regularly scheduled column is written by Eli Tucker, Arlington-based Realtor and Arlington resident. If you would like to work with Eli and his team in Northern Virginia and the greater D.C. Metro area, you can reach him directly at [email protected].
Question: How much of an impact do you think the ROAD to Housing Act will have on housing affordability in Arlington?
Answer: The Road to Housing Act became law ten days ago, with the stated goal of improving housing affordability in the United States.
I don’t see many policies in the Act that will improve affordability in the Arlington/Northern VA/DC Metro markets, outside of incentives for more affordable multi-family housing, but there are policies that should improve affordability in other markets that are more saturated with institutional investors that own swaths of single-family homes (e.g. Atlanta and Phoenix) and for manufactured/mobile homes.
The Local Conversation Needs to Change
If we are going to improve affordability in our market, most of the change has to be done locally/regionally, not nationally, but it requires a paradigm shift in how we discuss and solve for housing affordability.
Affordability Disconnect: Near Term Expectations Not Realistic
A disconnect between housing affordability expectations and reality prevents the right community and political conversations from happening. We expect/demand housing affordability immediately, ignoring the difficulty, and consequences, of achieving it that quickly.
Stable and healthy housing affordability is a long-term process requiring gradual change over a 10-15+ year period.
Demand-Side Solutions Won’t Work
Demand-side solutions, such as lower interest rates or easier financing, artificially inflate home values, as seen during the COVID-era housing boom and early 2000s. They are not a good long-term solution to affordability because they push values even higher (along with your property taxes) and affordability gets worse when rates/lending normalize and no longer provide artificially low monthly payments.
Supply-Side Solutions Are Not Immediate
Most policy discussions focus on supply-side solutions: building more/faster and denser housing (e.g. Arlington’s Missing Middle/Expanded Housing Option), incentivizing more existing home sales, or disincentivizing concentrated ownership by companies and individuals. Econ 101 tells us that more supply = lower prices = affordable housing (winner winner!).
This is the only path to stable, long-term housing affordability…BUT, at current interest rates, prices must drop 30-35% in the United States to become affordable, at current income levels. A 30-35% drop in home values would devastate the economy, so a supply-side solution won’t (shouldn’t) provide immediate affordability. (more…)
An Arlington pie store known for its buttery, hand-crafted treats is receiving national attention.
Livin’ The Pie Life, known for its flaky crust and loyal community following at 2166 N. Glebe Road, is currently in the running for Newsweek’s “America’s Best Pie” award.
Join us on August 1 between 10 AM to 2 PM for a drop‑in event for the whole family! Explore our Dojo—the high‑tech, STEAM‑driven space where you can dive into activities like MakeCode Arcade, Roblox, Minecraft, robotics, 3D printing, drones, VR, and more. While you’re here, take advantage of our amazing enrollment specials, or simply enjoy a fun day of coding, meeting new friends, high fives, and plenty of Hi‑Yahs!
A honk at two people riding scooters in the road escalated into a thrown rock and a kicked car in south Arlington, according to Arlington County police.
It happened around 6:45 p.m. yesterday (Thursday) in the 2900 block of S. Glebe Road, near Four Mile Run Drive.
*Mamistad Groups meet IN PERSON-only the introductory Zoom call is virtual. :)
Pregnancy and new mom groups are a lifesaver when it comes to normalizing those feelings we just can’t be prepared for.
Whether you’re after a quick polish change or a leisurely spa pedicure, Arlington has no shortage of nail salons to help you sit back and unwind.
Here are the nominees for “Best Nail Salon in Arlington” as part of our ARLnow Readers’ Choice awards.
Did we miss your favorite spot? Write it in!
Voting will close in two weeks.
Voting for Best Hair Salon in Arlington is still taking place. Be sure to cast your vote before voting closes next Friday at 8:30 a.m.
Two weeks ago, we voted on the Best Wineries Near Arlington. The results are now official:
The recent closure of Ayers Variety & Hardware was a stark reminder that nothing is forever, even businesses that have built generational relationships with customers.
The shuttering of the store that served Westover for nearly 80 years is also an indication of how challenging current times are for many of Arlington’s other small businesses, community leaders say.
Following resistance in the General Assembly this year, a new working group has been appointed to study possible changes to Arlington’s Affordable Housing Ordinance.
County Board members on Tuesday chartered the eight-member, limited-term working group, which will spend the next four months developing proposed revisions. The current Affordable Housing Ordinance outlines ways for developers to gain additional density for projects by building affordable units or contributing to the Affordable Housing Investment Fund.
Falls Church leaders are about to hit the launch button on their most significant affordable-housing effort.
City Council members on Monday, July 27 are slated to appoint a seven-member screening committee to rank prospective partners for redeveloping portions of the Virginia Village site.
Rosslyn Tower Sold — JBG Smith sold the 377-unit Central Place Residences to Boston-based Berkshire Residential Investments for $206.25 million. A covenant leaves open a future condo conversion, which would make the 355-foot building the region’s tallest condo tower. [WBJ]
Cloud Firm Opens Crystal City HQ — Knox Systems opened its Washington-area headquarters in Crystal City, consolidating its security and risk operations teams closer to federal agencies. Fresh off a $25 million funding round, the company employs nearly 70 and projects 30% headcount growth by year’s end. [Press Release]
Clean Air Cred — Arlington ranks among the nation’s 10 cities with the cleanest air, with good air quality on 84% of days despite the recent bout of hazardous wildfire smoke. Clean air is one metric behind the county’s ninth straight fittest-city title. [Capital Weather]
Rejoin D.C.? — “There is another way for Arlington to become a city,” the D.C. Council posted, responding to ARLnow’s report that the county couldn’t pursue cityhood until at least 2032. [Council of DC/X]
Fairfax Schools Curb AI — Fairfax County Public Schools will bar elementary students from using generative AI, keep tablets and laptops out of preschool and kindergarten, and prohibit personal devices during class. The school board approved the restrictions, which include narrow exceptions, at its July 16 meeting. [FFXnow]
It’s Friday — Look for mostly sunny skies with a high near 83 and a light northeast wind of 1–8 mph. Skies turn mostly cloudy overnight with a low around 66. [NWS]
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