A Northern Virginia-based cafe selling sandwiches, salads and smoothies has set its sights on Falls Church for its newest location and its first drive-thru.
Sweet Leaf Cafe is coming to 603 W. Broad Street, the former location of a drive-thru Smoothie King. According to the business, this is the first new Sweet Leaf to open in five years.
Targeted traffic enforcement and education events are coming to Arlington this month as part of an annual safety campaign.
This winter’s Street Smart Campaign, a region-wide initiative, focuses on improving drivers’, pedestrians’ and bicyclists’ awareness and compliance with traffic laws.
When your home no longer feels quite right, it can be hard to know what to do next.
Maybe your family needs more space, your layout no longer works, or your 1940s Cape Cod is simply ready for a modern update. Deciding whether to remodel, rebuild, or move requires thoughtful planning and a clear understanding of the costs, timelines, and trade-offs involved.
There is no one-size-fits-all answer. Every home, lot, and family is different, which is why working with an experienced local builder can help you make a more informed decision.
Here are four key questions to ask before you decide.
For many Arlington homeowners, the neighborhood is the reason they bought the home in the first place. If your neighbors, schools, walkability, or favorite local spots make Arlington feel like home, remodeling or rebuilding may be worth exploring before deciding to sell.
If you plan to stay for the next five years, a thoughtful remodel or addition can help preserve the location and character you love while improving the home’s functionality. However, if you truly see this as your “forever home”, a larger renovation or a teardown-and-rebuild might be a better option to give you the space and comfort you need, without trying to force an older home to work around its existing limitations.
Some homeowners choose to phase renovations over time. That approach can work well, as long as you start with a clear master plan to ensure each stage supports the next and avoids costly rework later.
On the flip side, if you plan to sell soon, a smaller-scale remodel, such as a kitchen renovation, might make more sense to avoid overinvesting in a project that may not recoup its full value.
Arlington is unique because much of a home’s value comes from the land and location. This means that, in general, Arlington property values will always support just about anything you would like to do to your house or property. The real question is how much you want to invest.
A major renovation, addition, or new custom build may affect appraisal and financing differently. New construction often appraises higher initially than a similar remodeled home, but over time, a well-executed renovation can ultimately be worth more than a newly built home.
As you plan a renovation, you may reach a point where building new makes more sense than continuing to work around an older home’s limitations. A new build can provide a more functional layout, better efficiency, and stronger long-term value. On the other hand, some homeowners considering new construction may find that a thoughtful remodel and addition can accomplish everything they need while making their dollars go further.
That is why understanding the numbers early matters. (more…)
Falls Church election officials are once again planning to try to persuade school leaders to close one or more of the city’s schools during major future elections.
They’re particularly focused on Oak Street Elementary School, which serves as a polling place for one of the city’s three voting wards. (The Falls Church Community Center is the polling location for Wards 2 and 3.)
This Memorial Weekend: Argentine Festival USA Returns May 23
EVENT HIGHLIGHTS:
A 34-year-old D.C. woman is facing several charges after allegedly driving drunk, rear ending another driver, and assaulting a police officer.
The incident started around 8:15 p.m. Sunday with a crash in Ballston and ended in an arrest on N. George Mason Drive near Virginia Hospital Center.
Internationally acclaimed pianist Carlos César Rodríguez joins NCE for a luminous performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s beloved Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major, “Elvira Madigan,” celebrated for its elegance, lyricism, and timeless appeal. Artistic Director and violinist Leo Sushansky takes center stage in Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, a cornerstone of the violin repertoire, offering a deeply personal and passionate interpretation of its sweeping romantic lines.
The program is further enriched by Florence Price’s Adoration, a work of profound beauty and spiritual warmth, and Johan Svendsen’s Romance, cherished for its lyrical charm and expressive simplicity.
Michael Wardian Still Racing — “On top of training up to six hours a day, the Arlington resident juggles a packed schedule as a husband, father of two teenage boys, and businessman… His brother, Matt, suspects Wardian’s ability to function on about five hours of sleep helps. ‘He ruthlessly prioritizes how he spends his time,’ says Matt… ‘He gets up early and runs, he runs at lunchtime, finishes work, and runs to his son’s game or practice.'” [Northern Virginia Magazine]
Pickups Collide on I-395 — “Two white pickups met on I-395N at the express lane ramp across from the Pentagon this afternoon. The driver trying to take that left side ramp, even though they were in the right lane and beyond the entrance, is from a company whose motto includes “Safety” and “Damage Prevention”. Injuries not reported to be serious.” [Dave Statter/X]
More EDVA Drama — “A senior federal prosecutor in Virginia was fired after a disagreement about whether he would take charge of the Trump administration’s effort to reindict James B. Comey… Mr. McBride had been in the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Virginia for only a couple of months, temporarily serving as the top deputy to Lindsey Halligan after more than a decade as a federal prosecutor in Kentucky.” [NYT]
Local Record Store Floods — “Following significant flooding after a water leak this past weekend, a vinyl record store in Del Ray has closed for the foreseeable future and is considering a move. Crooked Beat Records owner Bill Daly told ALXnow today (Monday) that a pipe on the roof of the building burst, flooding the basement record shop at 2417 Mount Vernon Avenue with several inches of water and ruining merchandise.” [ALXnow]
It’s Tuesday — Expect sunny skies and a high near 50, along with a calm wind turning south at 5 to 9 mph in the afternoon. For Tuesday night, the sky will be mostly cloudy, accompanied by a low around 40. A southwest wind will blow at 8 to 11 mph, with gusts reaching up to 20 mph. [NWS]
Good Monday evening, Arlington. Let’s take a look back at today’s stories and a look forward to tomorrow’s event calendar.
The following articles were published earlier today — Jan 12, 2026.
Here is what’s going on Tuesday in Arlington, from our event calendar.
Expect sunny skies and a high near 50, along with a calm wind turning south at 5 to 9 mph in the afternoon. For Tuesday night, the sky will be mostly cloudy, accompanied by a low around 40. A southwest wind will blow at 8 to 11 mph, with gusts reaching up to 20 mph. See more from Weather.gov.
“Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change.”
– Jim Rohn
The MonumentCam screenshot above is used with permission of the Trust for the National Mall and courtesy of EarthCam.
Thanks for reading! If you have something to say about an issue of local note not covered today, feel free to post it as a letter to the editor on our new forum.
A series of weekend closures at the Crystal City and Reagan National Airport Metro stations is taking place between February and June.
Blue and Yellow Line trains won’t run in affected areas during the closures, which are for passenger and crew safety during the construction of a second entrance to the Crystal City station.
Members of the Arlington County Democratic Committee have elected a chair after a spirited race.
Paul Ruiz, who had served as deputy chair for the past two years, defeated finance chair Tony Weaver on Jan. 7 to succeed Steve Baker as party leader.
A cupcake vending machine has departed Reagan National Airport, but several new dining spots are still on their way.
Sprinkles Cupcakes has closed its “cupcake ATMs,” including one at the airport that opened last year, as it shuttered all locations nationwide last week.
