It’s an imperfect system, but Arlington Alert remains Arlington County’s go-to way of informing tens of thousands of residents about local emergencies.
The county’s emergency communication system, which counts over 35,000 members of the public as users, is designed to keep people informed about local traffic, hazardous weather and other major events.
Shirlington’s annual Irish transformation is returning this weekend for Celtic Festival 2025.
The event, led by Samuel Beckett’s Irish Gastro Pub at 2800 South Randolph Street, will bring live music, dancers, bagpipes and more to Campbell Avenue.
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…)
Amid shifting federal guidelines on Covid-19 vaccines, some pharmacies around Arlington are now offering the shots without requiring a prescription.
Only days ago, all CVS locations in Virginia required a prescription for most patients to receive the latest version of the vaccine. That’s no longer the case, CVS spokesperson Amy Thibault told ARLnow today (Wednesday).
A combination halal steakhouse and peri peri chicken shop is closing in Crystal City, leaving its space to a Nashville-inspired chicken and burger chain.
Peri Peri Original & Kallisto Steakhouse plans to shutter sometime next month, owner Zayan Abbasi told ARLnow. Soon after, it will be converted into a new location for Abbasi’s expanding Nash and Smashed franchise.
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.
Asked to name national political figures they admire, aspirants for the County Board cast a wide net from left to right across the political spectrum.
The question was posed by former Board member John Vihstadt at the Sept. 2 Arlington County Civic Federation debate. A Republican and three independents are challenging incumbent Democrat Takis Karantonis in the Nov. 4 election.
Two redevelopment proposals, $4.9 million for street improvements and planned renovations at Lacey Woods Park are all on the agenda for an upcoming County Board meeting.
Other agenda items include $365,810 in arts grants, $500,000 for “digital equity grants” and $150,000 in funding for local food security initiatives.
After months of discussion, the Falls Church City Council has unanimously voted to change how the city funds residential trash collection and recycling.
City Council members voted 7-0 yesterday (Monday) to shift from a trash system funded through general taxes by all property owners, to one where only those in single-family homes and townhouses pay the cost.
9/11 Memorial Event Tomorrow — “Arlington County Government invites the community to join neighbors, County leaders and staff, and first responders as we commemorate the lives lost in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and express gratitude to those who responded that day. The County’s wreath-laying ceremony will begin at 9:30 a.m.” [Arlington County]
Sexual Battery in Ballston — “4200 block of Fairfax Drive. On September 8, police received an online report for a late sexual battery. It was determined at approximately 11:10 a.m. on September 5, the male victim was inside a business when the male suspect approached him from behind, grabbed his buttocks and fled the scene.” [ACPD]
Traffic Issue in East Falls Church — “While this area has always been busy, the situation deteriorated several months ago after a flashing yellow light was added to the turn lane for eastbound Route 29 drivers turning onto North Fairfax to access the I-66 westbound ramp… The flashing yellow works adequately at other times of day, when there are breaks in westbound Route 29 traffic. However, during the morning rush, such breaks do not exist, and the brief green arrow is the only safe time to turn.” [Letter to the Editor]
Readers’ Choice Voting FYI — Our “Best HVAC Company” poll is getting a ton of votes! Unfortunately, many are a result of inauthentic voting patterns. As with all Reader Choice polls, those votes will be discarded before the final results are announced… If your business is nominated, you’re welcome to encourage your customers to vote, but repeat voting will not work.” [ARLnow/X]
Eatery Catches Flak for WH Catering — “Good Company Doughnuts posted this earlier today about catering for the White House, but it appears to have since been deleted.” [Jessica Sidman/X, Reddit, Jessica Sidman/X]
Beyer Blasts Qatar Blast — “Netanyahu is so hellbent on sabotaging peace talks designed to stop the killing and free hostages that he is now literally blowing up negotiations. The U.S. should not support what Israel is doing. Trump is either complicit in this strike and lying, or was played for a fool.” [Rep. Don Beyer/X]
Insulin Cost Investigation — “Attorney General Jason Miyares today announced that his Office is investigating several insulin manufacturers and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) for potential violations of the Virginia Consumer Protection Act related to the manufacture, promotion, reimbursement, and sale of insulin.” [Office of the Attorney General]
Morning Chill Returns — “Both Reagan National and Washington Dulles International airports had their coldest low temperatures of the season so far. National dipped to 56 degrees and Dulles 46 this morning.” [CWG/X]
It’s Wednesday — Showers are likely in the morning, followed by mostly cloudy skies and a high near 72 with a north wind around 7 mph. The chance of precipitation is 30%. For Wednesday night, expect partly cloudy conditions, a low around 60, and a north wind between 3 to 5 mph. [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 — Sep 9, 2025.
Here is what’s going on Wednesday in Arlington, from our event calendar.
Showers are likely mainly before 9am, followed by mostly cloudy skies and a high near 72 with a north wind around 7 mph. The chance of precipitation is 30%. For Wednesday night, expect partly cloudy conditions, a low around 60, and a north wind between 3 to 5 mph. See more from Weather.gov.
“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?'”
– Martin Luther King, Jr.
The MonumentCam screenshot above is used with permission of the Trust for the National Mall and courtesy of EarthCam.
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