Arlington County is collecting feedback on a plan to build 47 townhomes at a site currently approved for a six-story assisted living facility.
The rows of three- and four-bedroom townhomes on a 2.8-acre property at 2134 N. Taylor Street would replace a proposal for a 175-unit senior living center that the County Board approved in April 2020.
In a 2023 ARLnow poll, nearly two-thirds of respondents said they would pay more or compromise on schedule in order to fly out of National Airport instead of Dulles.
In the comments, several people mentioned the “super lame” and “interminable” people movers at IAD as being a key factor.
Well, those lumbering, decades-old “mobile lounges” may be on the way out, just months after airport officials said they could be in operation for another 15-20 years. Following a crash involving a people mover that injured more than a dozen people, President Trump says the federal government will be leading an effort to “rebuild” the airport, with a likely focus on eliminating the 1960s-era vehicles.
More from the Associated Press:
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that his administration will embark on a reconstruction of Dulles International Airport in northern Virginia.
“We’re also going to rebuild Dulles airport because it’s not a good airport,” Trump said during a meeting of his Cabinet members at the White House. “It should be a great airport, and it’s not a good airport at all. It’s a terrible airport.”
Dulles is one of the three Washington-area airports and its quality is a hotly-debated topic among Washingtonians.
Trump, a former real estate mogul, said the Dulles building was “incorrectly designed.” He nonetheless praised Eero Saarinen, the Finnish-American architect who designed the main terminal at Dulles.
“We’re going to turn that around and we’re going to make Dulles airport — serving Washington and Virginia, Maryland, etc. — we’re gonna make that into something really spectacular. We have an amazing plan for it.”
His motorcade took an unannounced drive through Dulles in early November. At the time, the White House said Trump wanted to take the detour to the airport to assess potential future projects.
During Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy singled out the controversial “people movers” that ferry travelers in between concourses. One of the vehicles, which are also called “mobile lounges,” crashed in November. […]
The Transportation Department announced later Tuesday that it is inviting bids for a Dulles project that would build “completely new terminals and concourses” at the airport. The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority said in a statement that it will work with the Transportation Department to build upon the existing $7 billion plan to improve Dulles.
This morning we’re wondering: would significant updates to the airport, beyond those already made or under construction, make you more likely to fly out of Dulles?
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…)
Flyover This Morning — From AlertDC: “The U.S. Military will conduct an Aircraft Flyover in the NCR over Arlington National Cemetery on Wednesday, December 3, at approximately 11:08AM.”
Arlingtonian Named Health Honcho — “Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger today announced the first cabinet secretary appointment of her administration, Marvin Figueroa, to serve as Virginia’s next Secretary of Health and Human Resources… He lives in Arlington, where he remains committed to serving the Commonwealth he has long called home.” [Press Release, Virginia Mercury]
Va. Budget Challenges Ahead — “The state’s fiscal outlook for the next few years is “skewed to the downside” and more likely to take a negative turn than a positive one, staffers for legislative money committees said in two recent analyses. They blame inflation, federal job cuts, tariffs imposed by the Trump administration and increases in the state’s obligation to cover social safety-net programs.” [Washington Post]
Spanberger Talks to Post — “Virginia Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger (D) will take office in January with consolidated power across state government that would be the envy of any ambitious governor, but with looming budget problems that could throw a wrench into her plans. “I will be governor during a time when we will have to make some harder choices,” Spanberger said recently in an interview.” [Washington Post]
Board Member on Gov’t Change — “Hopefully you’ll notice that nowhere am I saying “I hate change” or “I don’t think there is anything to work on.” I think there is A LOT to work on. That doesn’t mean I’m obligated to agree to a process that isn’t thoughtful, one that could actually hurt our community and the issues I care about.” [Maureen Coffey/Bluesky]
Robbery in Crystal City — “400 block of 23rd Street S. At approximately 6:35 p.m. on December 1, police were dispatched to the report of a robbery by force. Upon arrival, it was determined the male suspect entered the business, concealed merchandise and began acting disorderly. When an employee confronted him, the suspect shoved them before exiting the store without payment.” [ACPD]
Toys for Tots at Fire Stations — “Our Toys for Tots drive is wrapping up soon — the final day to drop off donations is December 7th! If you haven’t donated yet, there’s still time to bring a new, unwrapped toy to Fire Stations 2, 5, 8, 9, or 10. Every gift helps make the holidays brighter for a local child.” [ACFD/X]
New Deputy Sheriffs — “The Arlington County Sheriff’s Office proudly announces the graduation of ten new deputies from the Northern Virginia Criminal Justice Training Academy on Monday, December 1, 2025.” [Arlington County]
Warner Running for Reelection — “In a campaign announcement, the Virginia senator said he was running for reelection to rein in America’s economic crisis, particularly regarding the impact of artificial intelligence on job displacement.” [Associated Press]
A Long December — “D.C. could see its coldest and snowiest December in nearly a decade as a wintry weather pattern has settled in and shows few signs that it will relent… We’re projecting temperatures to average 2 to 4 degrees below normal, or the coldest December since at least 2017, and about two inches of snow.” [CWG]
It’s Wednesday — Expect sunny skies and a high of 42 degrees, with northwest winds at 5 to 10 mph turning light from the west in the afternoon, and gusts possibly reaching 21 mph. Wednesday night will be mostly clear with a low around 28 degrees and calm winds. [NWS]
Good Tuesday 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 — Dec 2, 2025.
Here is what’s going on Wednesday in Arlington, from our event calendar.
Expect sunny skies and a high of 42 degrees, with northwest winds at 5 to 10 mph turning light from the west in the afternoon, and gusts possibly reaching 21 mph. Wednesday night will be mostly clear with a low around 28 degrees and calm winds. See more from Weather.gov.
“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”
– Chinese Proverb
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.
*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.
Arlington’s commonwealth’s attorney is returning fire to the House Judiciary Committee for questioning her handling of an ongoing criminal investigation, accusing it of overstepping its authority.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti has declined to provide numerous documents that Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) requested regarding an investigation of a local activist critical of the Trump administration. Arguing that many of these documents are confidential, she suggested that the request is “an improper incursion” into Virginia’s sovereignty and her own authority over local cases.
A 5K race and winter celebrations in South Arlington are taking place this weekend, bringing road closures.
The Arthritis Foundation Jingle Bell 5K, A Very Village Holiday winter market and The Lodge holiday festival are all happening on Saturday, and road closures begin on Friday evening.
The farmers market in Ballston is shifting to stay open all year long, allowing shoppers to continue visiting through the winter.
The Freshfarm Ballston Market, located at 901 N. Taylor Street, will be open from 3-6 p.m. during the winter season, just an hour shorter than its hours of 3-7 p.m. between April and November, the Ballston BID announced yesterday (Monday).
After years of delays, a major redevelopment project on Columbia Pike is returning for County Board consideration later this month — offering a path forward for an abandoned strip mall.
Toll Brothers Inc. is seeking final county authorization to replace the Fillmore Gardens Shopping Center on the 2600 block of Columbia Pike with a 6-story mixed-use property with 271 apartments and about 15,000 square feet of retail space.
A local chain of food carts offering halal cuisine has expanded to Ballston.
Tasty Treat parked another cart outside Ballston Quarter last month, bringing a new, locally owned fast casual option to the neighborhood. Located on the Wilson Blvd side of 850 N. Randolph Street, this is the business’s third spot in Arlington, joining others in Rosslyn and Crystal City.
