Family members of the people who were killed in the midair collision near Washington Reagan National Airport watch a video before a Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing at Capitol Hill, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)
The House failed to approve a bill Tuesday that was crafted after last year’s tragic midair collision near Washington D.C. to require all aircraft flying around busy airports to have key locator systems to prevent such crashes. The collision of an airliner and an Army helicopter killed 67 people.
The National Transportation Safety Board has been recommending such Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast systems to be installed since 2008. The bill that already passed the Senate would have required aircraft to be equipped with a system that can receive data about the locations of other aircraft. The complementary ADS-B Out system that broadcasts an aircraft’s location is already required.
Demolition work at the Joyce Motors site (staff photo by Dan Egitto)
Demolition has begun at the Joyce Motors site in Clarendon, and another nearby project may be getting underway soon.
The home of the longtime auto shop at 3211 10th Street N. has been fenced off and demo work was in full swing today (Tuesday) as crews broke and hauled debris under a towering crane.
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…)
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) hopes to maintain national competitiveness on AI while preparing the U.S. economy for potentially massive disruptions brought on by new technology.
Speaking yesterday (Monday) at the grand opening of a new Ballston office for the cybersecurity company KnowBe4, which focuses on human and AI risk management, the senator emphasized the need to prepare for sweeping technological changes and their impacts on society.
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 D.C. man has been arrested in connection to a string of recent burglaries at Arlington businesses — including two break-ins at a popular Langston Blvd hardware store.
More than a dozen charges have been levied against Jimmie Lamont Williams, including four counts of burglary and five counts of destruction of property, the Arlington County Police Department announced Tuesday.
Campaign signage in median, May 2025 (staff photo by Scott McCaffrey)
Political campaign signs could soon be a thing of the past on Arlington medians.
County Board members in March are expected to consider a staff recommendation that would prohibit all signage — commercial, personal and political — on county-owned median strips and areas between sidewalks and roadways.
Plans for the Leckey Gardens site at 2031 N. Woodrow Street (via Arlington County)
County Board members will return tonight (Tuesday) for more discussion on an affordable housing proposal on Langston Blvd following debate at a weekend meeting.
At a lengthy discussion on Saturday, Board members and the public zeroed in on remaining concerns at the Leckey Gardens Apartments site — including building height, tree canopy and parking — before deferring final action to tonight’s meeting.
Falls Church leaders at Feb. 18, 2026 agenda-setting session (screenshot via City of Falls Church)
Expiring affordability commitments and a large site where leaders could potentially expand affordable housing are presenting questions for Falls Church policymakers.
“There’s a policy decision: What are the choices before us?” Mayor Letty Hardi said at a Feb. 18 meeting to set the timetable for discussion of key upcoming issues.
Snow along Long Branch (Flickr pool photo by ksrjghkegkdhgkk)
Top Zips Include 22205, 22046 — “Check out our ranking of the Top 20 Hottest Zip Codes in Northern Virginia… Buyers eyeing family-centric Westover neighborhood in North Arlington “really need to be prepared” since demand is high, says The Davenport Group founder Blake Davenport… When a home hits the [Falls Church] market, “it sells very quickly because of limited supply,” Davenport says.” [N. Va. Magazine]
Pentagon City Store Burglary — “1100 block of S Joyce Street. At approximately 2:52 a.m. on February 23, police were dispatched to the report of a burglary alarm. Upon arrival, it was determined two male suspects forced entry into the business by breaking a glass door, stole merchandise and destroyed property before subsequently fleeing the scene in what is described as a grey sedan.” [ACPD]
Ballston Dog Poo Complaints — “Does snow give people a pass on picking up their dogs poop? Now that the snow is melted, the sidewalks are covered in dog sh– and it is disgusting. There needs to be public shaming for this.” [Reddit]
Flyover Planned Today — From AlertDC: “The U.S. Military will conduct an Aircraft Flyover in the NCR over Arlington National Cemetery on Tuesday, February 24, 2026, at approximately 12:00PM.”
Calls to Keep Barcroft Gymnastics — “Instead of cutting programs, the county should consider raising prices, introducing a sliding scale based on income, or offering more classes. In North Arlington, I often hear parents say, “I wish I could get my child into gymnastics, but it’s impossible since the classes are always full!” Please reconsider this decision for the sake of many families who rely on these programs.” [Letter to the Editor, Fox 5]
Governor Endorses Beyer — “Governor Abigail Spanberger today endorsed Congressman Don Beyer’s reelection as Representative for Virginia’s 8th Congressional District.” [Press Release]
Victor Hoskins Leaving Fairfax — “Hoskins is taking his talents back to the private sector after a 15-year run in Greater Washington public service, which has taken him from D.C. to Prince George’s to Arlington to Fairfax. It is a stretch marked by transformational wins such as landing Amazon.com Inc.’s HQ2 in Arlington, securing Qatari funding for CityCenterDC and a Buzzard Point soccer stadium deal in the District, and launching SpaceNext and the Quantum World Congress in Fairfax.” [WBJ, N. Va. Magazine]
Measles Outbreak Unlikely — “Meredith Robinson, a disease epidemiologist at the Virginia Department of Health, told ALXnow that state health officials “don’t have concerns of widespread community transmission,” as about 95% of kindergarteners statewide are vaccinated for the disease — the recommended percentage to provide herd immunity.” [ALXnow]
It’s Tuesday — Expect sunshine and a high near 39 today, accompanied by a northwest wind of 7-11 mph with gusts up to 20 mph. Moving into Tuesday night, there’s a 30% chance of snow after 1 am, turning into a rain mix after 4 am. Clouds will increase, and the temperature will drop to around 32. A light south wind will pick up to 6-11 mph by the evening, with possible gusts reaching 21 mph. [NWS]
Want more local news from around the region? Check out our newest sister site, WSHnow.
Expect sunshine and a high near 39 today, accompanied by a northwest wind of 7-11 mph with gusts up to 20 mph. Moving into Tuesday night, there’s a 30% chance of snow after 1 am, turning into a rain mix after 4 am. Clouds will increase, and the temperature will drop to around 32. A light south wind will pick up to 6-11 mph by the evening, with possible gusts reaching 21 mph. See more from Weather.gov.
💡 Quote of the Day
“Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking.” – William Butler Yeats
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