County Board members are honoring WETA’s upcoming 61st birthday and pledging to support the public-media outlet as it faces budget challenges and a hostile Trump administration.
“We are extremely proud to defend you and stand by you,” Board Chair Takis Karantonis said on Sept. 16 during the presentation of a proclamation honoring the organization’s first day on the air: Oct. 2, 1961.
Marymount Rises in Rankings — “In U.S. News & World Report’s 2026 Best Colleges Rankings, Marymount reached its highest-ever position among all National Universities, rising 15 spots to No. 273. For the first time, Marymount is ranked No. 1 among all Virginia private institutions.” [Press Release]
Big Raise for Arlington Startup — “Auterion LLC, an Arlington-based provider of software for military drones, said Tuesday it has raised a $130 million Series B round to expand its offerings… The company has now raised about $195 million to date. Defense and national security startups in Greater Washington are enjoying a surge of large funding rounds, thanks to new technologies and policy shifts under the Trump administration.” [WBJ]
Blower Ban Meeting — “Did you hear the news? Arlington County is considering a year-round prohibition of gas-powered leaf blowers. Don’t miss our virtual community meeting where we’ll discuss this potential change together. Thurs, Sept 25 6:30-7:30 PM.” [Arlington County/X]
Costs, Threats Worrying Va. Voters — “Christopher Newport University’s Wason Center poll, released Thursday, shows that the rising cost of living continues to dominate as the No. 1 voter issue in Virginia at 21%, mirroring multiple VCU Wilder School polls this past year. Threats to democracy came in second at 18% in the Wason Center poll.” [Axios]
It’s Wednesday — Expect partly sunny skies with an 81°F high and calm winds shifting south at 5 mph in the afternoon. For Wednesday night, there’s a 60% chance of precipitation, including potential showers and thunderstorms before 11 pm, transitioning to likely showers and maybe a thunderstorm after 2 am, with a low of 69°F. [NWS]
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…)
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 — Sep 23, 2025.
Here is what’s going on Wednesday in Arlington, from our event calendar.
Expect partly sunny skies with an 81°F high and calm winds shifting south at 5 mph in the afternoon. For Wednesday night, there’s a 60% chance of precipitation, including potential showers and thunderstorms before 11 pm, transitioning to likely showers and maybe a thunderstorm after 2 am, with a low of 69°F. New rainfall amounts could range from a tenth to a quarter of an inch, with higher amounts possible during thunderstorms. See more from Weather.gov.
“The power of imagination makes us infinite.”
– John Muir
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.
Todd Isao Endo was born in Los Angeles, California on December 30, 1941, just three weeks after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, to Frank Aiji Endo and Alice Yuriko Sumida Endo. In 1942, Todd and his family were imprisoned by the U.S. government along with 125,000 other Japanese Americans during World War II. The Endo family was detained at Rohwer Internment Center in Arkansas until 1945. After their release, Todd’s family relocated to Ohio before settling in the Washington, DC area. There Todd grew up and attended school graduating from Wheaton High School in 1959. A strong scholar/athlete, Todd played basketball and baseball, participated in student government, and won the Japanese American Citizens League national oratorical contest in 1962. Todd continued his education at Oberlin College where he met lifelong friends and continued to enjoy academics and play sports (soccer, basketball & squash). He graduated in history in 1963.
Compelled by his family’s experience of unjust treatment during the internment, and urged by his mother Alice to recognize parallels between the Japanese American experience with the unjust treatment of African Americans, Todd became involved in the Civil Rights Movement, participating in the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963 and later taking part in the voting rights demonstrations in Selma, Alabama in 1965.
Join the Rosslyn BID and Arlington Arts at the 34th Rosslyn Jazz Fest 2026 featuring live jazz, food trucks, local vendors, and family-friendly activities in the heart of Rosslyn! This year’s lineup is bringing a diverse mix of performers and bands redefining the jazz music genre including Plena Libre, Sally Baby’s Silver Dollars, Parlor Greens, and Dogo du Togo & the Alagaa Beat Band.
A woman was injured by a tree on a relatively remote section of the Pimmit Run Trail this afternoon.
The incident happened around 2 p.m. on the trail, which runs along Pimmit Run near the Arlington-Fairfax County border. Initial reports suggest the woman was struck by a large, falling tree branch, suffering potential back and neck injuries.
Work on a permanent roundabout at the intersection of Military Road and Nelly Custis Drive is moving forward, but it won’t be finished for a couple years.
The project, which follows temporary changes to the intersection in 2021, will involve widening sidewalks, upgrading utilities and installing a rain garden at the center of the roundabout.
The Mary Riley Styles Library in Falls Church isn’t bursting at the seams right now.
But without a consistent effort to keep only the most appealing materials on the shelves, the library director could see that day approaching.
A new dining promotion is bringing autumnal dishes including pumpkin-flavored pancakes, pasta and cocktails to Ballston starting next week.
At least 13 restaurants are participating in Pumpkin Palooza, a new dining punch card program hosted by the Ballston Business Improvement District. Participants must try six eligible menu items at Ballston restaurants by Nov. 6 to qualify for a fall mug giveaway.
For two seasons now, the Bishop O’Connell Knights have won little during the early portion of their high-school football campaigns.
Through four contests this fall, the private-school squad owns a 1-3 mark, losing to the Washington Patriots (2-2) of Charles Town, W.Va., by a 29-14 score in its most recent contest, played the night of Sept. 19 in non-conference action.
