Around Town

A look back at 2022, in photos and in Arlington’s biggest storylines

By Jo DeVoe
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ARLnow is ringing in the New Year with a look back at 2022 through our photo and story archives.

Our photographer, Jay Westcott, compiled a slideshow, above, to encapsulate the stories and moments that made 2022 memorable and remind us of the sights and seasonal shifts that make Arlington home.

After two years of living with Covid, the last 12 months held a continuing return to normalcy in tension with a deepening divide over how Arlington should look and function. On discussions of housing shortages, pedestrian fatalities and fluctuating crime rates, there is a sense that something needs to be done — exactly what remains the question.

The “Missing Middle” housing study and proposed zoning changes embodied this tension the most. While never cracking the Top 20 stories of 2022, the county’s incremental steps toward legalizing housing types such as duplexes, three-unit townhomes and buildings with up to six or eight units in districts zoned exclusively for single-family homes roiled the county.

Residents staged rallies for and against the proposed zoning changes, broke anecdotal Planning Commission meeting attendance records, booed and hollered in a County Board meeting, opined about the “Arlington Way” and ginned up more interest in the Arlington County Board race — one that ultimately went for incumbent Democrat Matt de Ferranti.

In response, the Arlington County Board added community engagement sessions and directed staff to make a number of changes to the proposal, which members later said address some community concerns.

High-profile crashes, including two pedestrian deaths, led residents and the County Board to demand more action on traffic safety. But with crash causes as diverse as alcohol, high speeds, unspecified medical emergencies and sun glare, could slower speeds, road treatments and education ever eliminate pedestrian deaths and serious injuries?

Questions also remain about how prosecutors and judges should serve criminal justice. We took a close look at competing assertions about whether reform efforts led by Arlington’s top prosecutor, Parisa Dehghani-Tafti, are tackling or enabling crime rates.

Still, Arlingtonians came together to mourn the loss of a man and a teenager who each left an indelible mark on their community.

Activist Kent Carter, who died protecting his girlfriend during a shooting on the island chain of Turks and Caicos, was remembered as a family man who led efforts to reform and establish community oversight of the police department. Washington-Liberty high school senior Braylon Meade, who died in a car crash involving a drunk teen, was remembered for leading his basketball team by example.

As evidenced in this year’s gallery, construction hummed along, as Washington-Liberty High School expanded, apartments were built and the first phase of Amazon’s second headquarters prepares to open next year.

Amid all this, the pandemic receded farther into the rear view window for many. Masks became optional in schools, county facilities and on Metro and airplanes earlier this year. Arlington County permanently closed its public vaccine clinic a week before Christmas and has shuttered testing sites.

Yesterday (Thursday), many of you said 2022 was better than 2021. We at ARLnow wish you an even better 2023.