The Arlington County Police Department is disbanding its Gang Unit amid a shift in tools available to officers investigating gang-related crime.
Personnel within the Gang Unit, which investigates gangs and provides street-level gang enforcement, will be reassigned elsewhere in the Criminal Investigations Division, ACPD spokesperson Alli Shorb told ARLnow.
Behind Arlington’s public safety employees and first responders are a pair of social workers supporting them through therapy and mental health services.
Donna Young and Leslie Geer joined the county as public safety wellness coordinators in 2023. Equipped with backgrounds in clinical social work, the duo spearheads employee wellness trainings, ensures agencies have adequate wellness policies and offers short-term therapy and mental health services.
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…)
Arlington’s rash of satirical posters has continued to expand its orbit, taking on another political candidate and a local towing company.
With more cropped images and whimsical captions, new signs have appeared at the intersection of Fairfax Drive and N. Quincy Street in the Ballston area. They poke fun at Advanced Towing, independent County Board candidate Audrey Clement, and Democratic County Board challenger James DeVita (and his unique signs).
Local entrepreneur MaryBeth Powers is being featured on an episode of Women in Power, a series that highlights inspiring women whose passion, perseverance, and purpose have made a meaningful impact in their communities.
The episode shares the remarkable story behind Teddy’s Turmeric Tamer®, an all-natural daily wellness topper for dogs that was born from love and determination. After MaryBeth’s beloved dog, Teddy, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer and given just 2–4 weeks to live, she refused to give up hope. Through extensive research and a commitment to natural wellness, she created a unique blend of premium ingredients to support Teddy’s health. Teddy went on to enjoy three more years filled with love, comfort and quality of life.
Dogs in Rosslyn are sure to have a ball with some new play equipment that was placed in Gateway Park’s dog park over the weekend.
Volunteers from R-Dogs, the dog park’s nonprofit sponsor, installed new ramps and a platform for four-legged friends at 1300 Langston Blvd on Sunday, bringing their pets along for an inaugural play-date.
We’re ending Movie Nights on the Pike with a scream.
Join us at Penrose Square for a special outdoor screening of I Know What You Did Last Summer, the iconic summer slasher that became a defining horror film of the late 1990s.
A man was carjacked in Courthouse over the weekend, by a pair of pistol-packing suspects.
It happened around 3 a.m. Saturday near the Taco Bell Cantina, on the 2000 block of Wilson Blvd. The man was inside his parked Toyota Corolla with the windows down when a male and a female suspect approached, drew guns, punched him in the face, and stole his car, according to police and scanner traffic.
What could be Falls Church’s next major redevelopment project has taken a small but key step forward.
At a meeting last week, members of Fairfax County’s Planning Commission signaled that they will recommend that the Board of Supervisors authorize further study of a 2.4-acre parcel fronting Route 7.
Arlington’s representative on a panel studying D.C. Metro funding is opposing a region-wide sales tax to support the transit system.
Instead, County Board member Matt de Ferranti believes Virginia, D.C. and Maryland should each determine how they will pay for the extra regional costs now estimated at $500 million to $600 million a year.
Dump Truck Crash — “Multiple people sustained minor injuries in a collision involving three vehicles in Arlington on Monday morning. Minutes before 8 a.m., the Arlington County Police Department (ACPD) responded to the report of a crash at S. Walter Reed Drive and S. Four Mile Run Drive. Investigators said a vehicle was traveling south in the northbound lanes of S. Walter Reed Drive when it struck a dump truck — causing the dump truck to hit another truck.” [DC News Now]
Beyer Welcomes Khan Suri — “Thrilled to welcome Dr. Badar Khan Suri back following his prolonged, unjust detention in Texas. The Trump Administration persecuted him and others to spread fear on American campuses, tearing him away from his family in the process, until a judge halted it. So glad he’s home.” [Rep. Don Beyer/X, ACLU]
New Mural at Mall — “Fashion Centre at Pentagon City… is slated to reveal a new community mural that brings art, culture and vibrancy to the heart of Arlington. Created in collaboration with celebrated artist Sabrina Rupprecht, this bold installation is a visual love letter to the region’s diverse heritage and dynamic future, offering a local interpretation of the center’s offerings mixed with iconic D.C. elements.” [Press Release]
It’s Tuesday — Expect clouds to increase throughout the day, accompanied by a high temperature of around 72 and a gentle north wind at 6 mph. During Tuesday night, anticipate showers mainly after 2 am, with the low temperature dropping to approximately 56. A calm wind will shift and become southeast at roughly 6 mph after midnight. The chance of precipitation stands at 90%. [NWS]
NOTICE TO CREDITORS OF THE ESTATE OF CLIFFORD WHARTON
Date of Death: 3/4/2025
Notice is hereby given that Clifford Wharton], late of Falls Church, Virginia, died on 3/4/2025.
All persons having claims against the estate of the decedent are required to present them, duly verified, to the undersigned Personal Representative Administrator, at the address stated below, within 2 months after the date of this first publication or be forever barred.
Personal Representative: Tara Petty
Address: 405 N Main St, Butler MO, 64730
Date of First Publication: 5/19/2025
