The National Weather Service has issued a Flood Watch for Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax County, the District and surrounding areas.
The watch is now in effect and goes through 9 p.m. Heavy storms are expected this afternoon and evening, with the potential for flash flooding from excessive rainfall.
A new voucher program for Arlington residents seeking to buy electric bicycles is kicking off tomorrow.
The e-bike voucher program will provide about 250 vouchers that can be redeemed at participating bike shops. The main vouchers are as follows.
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…)
An award-winning fast-casual restaurant serving Middle Eastern street foods is planning to open in a new location in Crystal City.
Falafel Inc has confirmed plans to open at 500 23rd Street S. on Restaurant Row, where Burke & Herbert Bank closed in 2023. The restaurant, which currently has a spot in nearby Water Park, is known for its affordable prices and efforts to fund food assistance for refugees.
A longtime bar and grill on Columbia Pike is introducing new specialty dishes from Bolivia this summer with the help of an overseas restaurateur.
L.A. Bar & Grill’s wide menu of bar snacks and entrees is expanding with Chillamicito, a new pop-up offering a popular Bolivian food, pique macho. The bar at 2530 Columbia Pike launched the menu this summer through a partnership with chef Andrés Ferrufino.
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.
Everest may be a peak puppy.
A playful explorer just six months old, Everest is looking for adoption from the Animal Welfare League of Arlington (AWLA).
Arlington’s perpetual cat-and-mouse game with people attempting to avoid vehicle taxes continues.
“There are people who will do anything in their power to dodge the system,” Commissioner of Revenue Kim Klingler says. “It makes you want to find them even more.”
Artificial-intelligence tools will play a larger role in Arlington Public Schools classrooms and operations in the coming school year.
After a pilot program last year that involved about 400 educators, the school system has selected SchoolAI as its primary artificial-intelligence tool. In addition, staff will have access to Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini and NotebookLM for professional use.
Reminder: Fair Starts Today — “Starting next Wednesday, Aug. 13, and lasting through Sunday, Aug. 17, this year’s fair at the Thomas Jefferson Community Center (3501 2nd Street S.) includes a relocated beer garden and a new partnership with the Department of Parks and Recreation.” [ARLnow]
Burbs Hit Harder By DOGE — Federal spending cuts under the Trump administration have severely impacted Greater Washington’s economy, with significant job losses and reduced government contracts, particularly affecting Northern Virginia and suburban Maryland. Despite these challenges, there are positive trends in mobility, visitation, and the apartment rental market, suggesting resilience in the region. [WBJ]
Exposure in East Fall Church — “2800 block of N. Westmoreland Street… at approximately 7:00 p.m. on August 1, the female victim was walking outside when the male suspect approached her and attempted to engage her in conversation. The victim continued to walk past the suspect during which he exposed himself before fleeing the scene.” [ACPD]
Arlington Trivia on Local TV — “Annie Mae hosts this segment of Hometown Trivia in Arlington, VA.” [Fox 5]
Free ANC History Walk — “Arlington National Cemetery, in partnership with @USArmyMuseum, will host a free, two-hour guided walk at ANC on Friday, Sept. 12, at 9 a.m.” [ANC/X, NMUSA]
It’s Wednesday — Expect scattered showers and thunderstorms, potentially intensifying after 3pm, with a high temperature around 89°F and south winds at 3-6 mph. There’s a 60% chance of precipitation, with new rainfall amounts ranging from a tenth to a quarter-inch, or higher during thunderstorms. Later, the chance of precipitation will decrease to 40% with showers and thunderstorms likely before 2am. Anticipate a mostly cloudy evening with the temperature dropping to around 73°F. [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 — Aug 12, 2025.
Here is what’s going on Wednesday in Arlington, from our event calendar.
Expect scattered showers and thunderstorms, potentially intensifying after 3pm, with a high temperature around 89°F and south winds at 3-6 mph. There’s a 60% chance of precipitation, with new rainfall amounts ranging from a tenth to a quarter-inch, or higher during thunderstorms. Later, the chance of precipitation will decrease to 40% with showers and thunderstorms likely before 2am. Anticipate a mostly cloudy evening with the temperature dropping to around 73°F, and wind calming down as the night progresses. See more from Weather.gov.
“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”
– Confucius
The MonumentCam screenshot above is used with permission of the Trust for the National Mall and courtesy of EarthCam.
Thanks for reading! Feel free to discuss the day’s happenings in the comments.
