Sales of Christmas trees and other seasonal items are returning to Arlington and Falls Church for the holiday season.
As usual, many holiday markets begin shortly after Thanksgiving, representing an annual tradition and local pilgrimage for countless buyers and sellers in the area.
A Courthouse bakery and cafe with New Orleans roots is celebrating 15 years of business this week with free treats and a lunchtime special.
Bayou Bakery is serving free orders of baby beignets to the first 100 guests after doors open at 7 a.m. on Thursday morning. The restaurant at 1515 N Courthouse Road will also offer a deal at lunchtime that day: a soup and sandwich combo for $15.
Welcome to Kami’s Korner where we’ll take a deep dive into Arlington’s condominium market by focusing on what’s coming next. From emerging developments to shifting trends, this space will spotlight the opportunities and insights shaping the future of condo living in Arlington.
To understand where the market is today, let’s look at how the condo market has changed. What began as an affordable housing alternative for first-time homebuyers has become the pinnacle of true luxury urban living typical of a world-class city. Let’s explore the 20-year evolution of new condos in Arlington.
Early 2000s: Affordability Focused. Condominiums in the early 2000s were aimed primarily at first-time homebuyers. Affordability was key and this type of housing in Arlington wasn’t glamorous quite yet. The market was steady and interest rates, at just under 7% in 2001, were deemed attractive. Most buildings had 100- 200 units and the average size for a new condominium in Arlington was 950 sq ft.
Mid-2000s: Market Heats Up. In 2003 the market began to pick up speed, fueled by the abundance of financing and essentially loans that required no documentation or proof of affordability. During this time Ballston saw several apartment to condo conversions. Condo units were generally designed as apartments so unit sizes were smaller among all unit types. Finishes were acceptable but not great. This is when granite countertops became the epitome of quality.
New builds like Liberty Center in Ballston shifted the average size down while finish quality and livability of design improved. It was probably the best building of that generation. Like many others at that time there was a rush to buy and buildings were very successful in pre-sale. (more…)
Falls Church leaders have begun talks on a possible tax surcharge on commercial property to fund transportation improvements.
If it’s enacted, owners of non-residential parcels in the city could pay an additional rate of up to 12.5 cents per $100 assessed value each year, similar to surcharges in neighboring Arlington and Fairfax counties.
Arlington has once again ranked as one of the most generous localities in the nation, by one measure.
The county clocked in at No. 1 in Charity Navigator’s latest ranking of the most charitable “cities” with a population between 200,001 and 500,000 people.
🫶✨ Calling all Swifties! ✨🫶
Get ready for a night celebrating every era as The Fearless Eras, DC’s only all-Taylor Swift cover band, takes over The Renegade in Arlington for more than 3 hours of Taylor’s biggest hits and fan-favorite deep cuts.
Arlington Public Schools leaders hope to return to a lower, pre-Covid level of student absenteeism by 2030.
“That last year before the pandemic, 2018-19, we were around [an] 8% rate. We have been using that number as a goal, our star, for the last couple of years,” said Darrell Simpson, executive director for student services, during a Nov. 13 briefing of School Board members.
SNAP Benefits Resume — “Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Update – Nov. 17, 2025. The federal shutdown is over. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits have resumed, and December benefits are expected to be issued according to the normal schedule.” [Arlington DHS/X]
Educator Event at Barrett — The National Education Association on Monday launched its American Education Week celebration with a special event at Arlington’s Barrett Elementary School, attended by NEA president Becky Pringle and cookbook author Jeremy Scheck. The organization also made two financial contributions, one to help pay down unpaid student-lunch balances across Arlington Public Schools and another to support the school’s healthy-food education programs. [NEA]
White House Flyover — From AlertDC: “The U.S. Military will conduct an Aircraft Flyover in the NCR over the White House on Tuesday, November 18 at approximately 11:08AM.”
Crystal City Crash on Camera — “I hate this intersection. The crash this morning is a very common scenario at Route 1 & 23rd Street… Drivers are left to guess when the light changes. Often they guess wrong.” [Dave Statter/X]
Design Awards Deadline Extended — “DESIGNArlington is a biennial awards program that seeks to increase public awareness of outstanding design and to recognize and encourage design excellence… All submissions must be received by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, November 21, 2025.” [Arlington County]
Exhibit at Arlington Nat’l Cemetery — “Army National Military Cemeteries (ANMC) is pleased to announce the opening of a new exhibit in the Memorial Amphitheater Display Room, featuring a rare artifact from the USS Maine. The U.S. Navy ship tragically exploded in Cuba’s Havana Harbor on Feb. 15, 1898—killing more than 260 sailors and Marines and leading to the Spanish-American War.” [Press Release]
Some Counties Invited to W. Va. — “Texas is no longer the only state Virginia lawmakers are currently quarreling with. Earlier this month, West Virginia state senator Chris Rose created a resolution that invites 27 Virginia counties and three Maryland counties to join the Mountain State.” [Northern Virginia Mag]
Flu Season Could Be Bad — “Experts worldwide are warning of a new flu outbreak as the DMV begins tracking seasonal flu cases. It could be a cold-season double whammy, with a new flu strain and a chillier-than-normal winter forecast for D.C. The new flu strain, a version of H3N2, emerged over the summer. Experts are worried that it doesn’t match the strain used to create this year’s flu vaccine.” [Axios]
Alexandria Keeping NSF — “The National Science Foundation (NSF) will remain in Carlyle, after it announced an official search for office space last summer. Through NSF’s decision, Alexandria will retain 1,600 NSF federal employees and scientist jobs, the city announced.” [ALXnow]
Cold Blast Coming — “As of now, Thanksgiving week is looking rather mild, with highs most days in the mid-50s to low 60s. By the weekend after Thanksgiving, however, models suggest we’ll transition to much colder weather as a dip in the jet stream allows Arctic air to surge in from the north.” [CWG]
It’s Tuesday — Rain is likely after 1pm, with increasing clouds and highs around 50°F. Afternoon winds will come from the southwest at around 5 mph. Precipitation chances are 50%. Tuesday night, rain is expected mainly before 1am, with lows around 41°F. Rain chances rise to 90%, with new amounts between a quarter and half of an inch. [NWS]
Flickr pool photo by Alan Kotok
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 — Nov 17, 2025.
Here is what’s going on Tuesday in Arlington, from our event calendar.
Rain is likely after 1pm, with increasing clouds and highs around 50°F. Afternoon winds will come from the southwest at around 5 mph. Precipitation chances are 50%. For Tuesday night, rain is expected mainly before 1am, with lows around 41°F and southeast winds at 3 to 5 mph. Precipitation chances rise to 90%, with new amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. See more from Weather.gov.
“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.”
– Mark Twain
The MonumentCam screenshot above is used with permission of the Trust for the National Mall and courtesy of EarthCam.
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For a fifth season, the Bishop O’Connell Knights girls field-hockey team continued to find success under the leadership of Megan Sullivan.
This fall, the high school squad won the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference tournament for the first time, nipping top seed St. John’s, 1-0, in the championship match.
County Board members have set public hearings next month on increasing taxi fares, expanding a Green Valley Park and designating a home as a local historic district.
The Board also set a hearing on possible changes to the county’s residential parking program, adopted a meeting schedule for 2026, approved an office-to-residential conversion project in Courthouse and approved a contract for new pedestrian bridges in two parks.
