Arlington’s signature project honoring the nation’s 250th birthday is expected to attract a crowd of thousands in just a couple weeks.
The Arlington History Fest is slated for Saturday, May 9 at Kenmore Middle School — a date scheduled to avoid other events taking place in D.C. on the actual anniversary. It will feature more than 40 exhibitors, representation from the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (Old Guard), food trucks and dozens of historical reenactors.
Plans to open a new Iranian restaurant on Langston Blvd continue to face delays, six years after a local entrepreneur first sought to open a restaurant in the space.
Restaurateur Mohammad Esfahani has been trying to open a business at 5009 Langston Blvd since 2019, when he announced plans to open an All About Burger location and hookah lounge there. He has since pivoted to pursue an Iranian restaurant, Kolbeh (formerly Alvand) which he originally hoped to open in April 2025.
Is your home starting to feel a little too cozy?
Summer is often the time when many Arlington homeowners start to notice their homes feeling cramped, whether you have school-aged kids still at home, your college student has moved back in for the summer, or you’re preparing to welcome aging parents for an extended stay.
While it’s too late to complete a major renovation this summer, it’s the perfect time to start planning so you can live more comfortably next year. Your Arlington lot may be small, and Arlington zoning ordinances are notoriously tricky to navigate, but your property likely has untapped potential. You can maximize your lot through a side or rear addition, popping the top, adding an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) or outdoor living space, and/or finishing an underutilized basement.
With thoughtful planning, you can create the space your family needs while staying in the community you love, even on a small lot.
Before jumping into any addition or major renovation, it’s important to understand what your property can support and how your family’s needs may evolve over time.
One of the first steps is reviewing your plat (survey) to understand your buildable area, as one of the unique home-construction challenges in Arlington is that a majority of homes were built before current setback requirements were enacted, which impacts the scope of many construction projects. Setback requirements refer to the distance by which a home must be “set back” from the front, side, and rear property lines.
A word of caution: If your builder isn’t deeply familiar with Arlington’s setback rules and the available legal workarounds, your project can be derailed before it even starts.
As part of the strategic planning process, make sure you evaluate your long-term goals and create a master plan that accounts for all the spaces you intend to renovate. For example, renovating a basement without considering future plumbing, electrical, or HVAC needs can lead to unnecessary rework later.
And if you are undertaking a significant addition project, we generally recommend including a basement foundation, as it is not feasible to add one after initial construction is complete. Even if you choose to finish the basement later, it remains a more cost-effective way to add square footage than other areas of the house.
A thoughtful, whole-home approach helps create a smoother renovation process and a home that continues to meet your needs over time. Additionally, consider if you plan to live in your home late in your life – something we call aging in place. If so, knowing that is your long-term goal will influence your renovation project.
For many Arlington homeowners, a rear or side addition is the most straightforward way to gain usable square footage, as long as their plat allows for it. By adding square footage to your home, you can make space for a larger kitchen and family room, add a mudroom as your dedicated “drop zone” for all your kids’ sports equipment, and even add a main-level guest suite. Rear and side additions can be single or multi-story, even if you don’t pop the top on the existing structure.
One key consideration for a home addition in Arlington County, however, is understanding how the Department of Environmental Services calculates whether you are over or under 2,500 square feet of disturbed area. If your project clears, digs up, or grades more than 2,500 square feet of land, per their definition, you’ll be required to pay for extra county permits, civil engineering plans, and potentially expensive drainage systems to handle rainwater runoff.
When your lot coverage is limited by setback requirements, the only way to go is up!
We recently transformed an outdated 1,300-square-foot rental property in Highview Park into a spacious, modern home for a young family. Adhering to zoning guidelines required preserving the existing foundation, so we took the three-bedroom, two-bathroom home down to its foundation, expanded it slightly on the left side, and built up! The result is an essentially brand-new four-bedroom, three-and-a-half bath custom home that boasts 2,916 square feet across three floors.
One of Arlington’s least favorite insects is back for the spring, as invasive as ever.
Spotted lanternflies have begun hatching after their annual winter die-off and are currently in their nymph stage, Alonso Abugattas, Natural Resources Manager for Arlington County, informed ARLnow.
A local advocacy group is pressing Arlington Public Schools’ leaders to have students in class five days per week on a more frequent basis.
“APS’ own attendance policy highlights that ‘missing just two days a month can negatively impact learning,’ yet the district’s calendars routinely miss multiple days of instruction per month,” Arlington Parents for Education (APE) said in a recent newsletter.
Join us for the Little Lambs Academy Open House!
Families with children ages 3 months through 12 years old are invited to tour our facility, meet our staff, and learn more about the programs we offer. This is a great opportunity to explore our classrooms, ask questions about enrollment, and see firsthand what makes Little Lambs Academy a nurturing and engaging environment for children.
I-395 Chase Ends in Crash — A traffic stop on I-395 northbound turned into a high-speed chase Friday night after a driver refused to pull over near Exit 8B, according to Virginia State Police. The car sped through traffic, lost control near Exit 10A, struck a guardrail and hit another vehicle before the driver and three passengers fled on foot. The driver was later arrested by the Pentagon Force Protection Agency. [Dave Statter/X, WJLA]
Drug Take-Back Reminder — After the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Spring National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day this past weekend, ACPD is reminding residents that four permanent drug take-back boxes are available 24/7 for free, anonymous disposal of unused or expired medications. The boxes are located at Fire Station #2 (4805 Wilson Blvd), Fire Station #5 (1750 S. Hayes Street), Fire Station #9 (1900 S. Walter Reed Drive) and ACPD headquarters (14th Street N.). [Patch]
Air Force Memorial Reopens — “The Air Force Memorial is now open to the public following a routine cleaning of the spires.” Hours are 8 a.m.–7 p.m. through Sept. 30 and 8 a.m.–6 p.m. from Oct. 1 through March 31. [Arlington National Cemetery/X]
New Legal Notice — Restaurant-caterer seeks on/off-premises wine, beer, mixed-beverage license. [Public Notices]
It’s Monday — Expect patchy fog before 7 a.m., followed by sunny skies with a high around 69°F. Light winds will shift to an eastward direction at 5 to 8 mph in the morning. Monday night will be mostly clear, with a low near 47°F and southeast winds of 3 to 7 mph. [NWS]
Today’s Morning Notes are brought to you by Industrious. ARLnow has been in an Industrious office for years and we love the convenience — you get to focus on your work rather than worrying about brewing your own coffee or keeping the copy machine stocked. Industrious has several Metro-accessible coworking locations in Arlington.
Good Friday 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 — Apr 24, 2026.
Since it’s Friday, we’ve also compiled a list of the most-read articles of the week, below.
Here is what’s going on Saturday in Arlington, from our event calendar.
Here are the events planned for Sunday:
Showers are likely today, with possible thunderstorms after 5 PM, and mostly cloudy skies with a high near 66°F. Expect east winds at 10 to 13 mph, gusting up to 22 mph, and a 60% chance of rain with minimal accumulation except during thunderstorms. Overnight, showers and thunderstorms continue with a low around 47°F, northeast winds around 14 mph, gusts up to 22 mph, and a 90% chance of precipitation with new rainfall between a quarter and half an inch. See more from Weather.gov.
“In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity.”
– Albert Einstein
The MonumentCam screenshot above is used with permission of the Trust for the National Mall and courtesy of EarthCam.
We hope you have a great weekend, Arlington! 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. 👋
As its 60th birthday approaches, Encore Stage & Studio is expanding its reach while remaining true to its core beliefs.
“We’ve worked hard to advance Encore’s mission,” the organization’s board chair, Lisa Sullivan, said at an April 22 benefit breakfast at Washington Golf & Country Club.
Two buses crashed head-on near a Pentagon bus stop on Friday, injuring 23 people, including Defense Department personnel.
The Omni Ride and Fairfax Connector transit buses struck each other shortly before 7:30 a.m., according to a press release from the Pentagon Force Protection Agency. Emergency personnel transported 18 of the injured to local hospitals for further medical evaluation. Five were treated at the scene.
New county grants worth $80,000 seek to support renewed vibrancy in the Green Valley neighborhood — although leaders acknowledge the funding may not go very far.
The funds, which will be split among four organizations, will “jump-start some neighborhood activity that would bring neighbors together, create an environment of civic engagement and civic exchange,” Board member Takis Karantonis said.
