Arlington homeowners may find themselves facing a double-whammy at tax time again in 2025.
County officials say they are anticipating year-over-year tax-revenue growth of 1.7% to 2.5% for the fiscal year that begins next July, but growth in government expenses would be in the 3%-to-4% range.
Restaurant Coming to Food Court — “Pollo Campero is coming to the food court at [the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City mall]. They have seven other locations in Virginia, eight in Maryland, and one in DC. ” [Twitter]
Business Burglary Near Courthouse — “1900 block of Wilson Boulevard. At approximately 12:31 p.m. on November 25, police were dispatched to the late report of a breaking and entering. Upon arrival, it was determined at approximately 1:19 a.m. the male suspect forced entry into the closed business, stole an undisclosed amount of cash from a cash register and subsequently fled the scene.” [ACPD]
Still Looking for Missing Man — “UPDATE 11/26: ACPD continues to seek information on the whereabouts of Mr. Hendrickson. He was last seen on 10/21 driving a 2010 Blue Land Rover LR2 SUV with VA tags GM3849 and wearing a black/white plaid shirt, gray pants, and a baseball cap. Info? Call Police.” [Twitter]
Gov. to Trump Staff: Live Here — From Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin: “To all the new members of [president-elect Donald Trump’s] administration relocating to the area to make America great again, I am personally inviting you to make Virginia your home.” [Twitter, Axios]
Beyer Blasts Trump Tariffs — From Rep. Don Beyer: “No one wins a trade war. If imposed, these tariffs will lead to retaliation by both Canada and Mexico, two of our biggest trade partners, which would throw our deeply integrated economies into chaos and potentially lead us into a recession.” [Press Release]
Airport Parking Tips — “Early Tuesday morning, about 80% of long-term economy parking spots were already filled at Dulles and Reagan, while the long term lots at BWI Marshall were half-full. Travelers can reserve parking online at Reagan National and Dulles, but it has to be done more than 12 hours before arriving at the airport.” [WTOP]
F.C. Seeks Ability to Ban Smoking in Parks — The Falls Church City Council’s 2025 legislative-priorities package, adopted Monday night, again includes a call allowing localities to ban smoking outdoors on public property, especially in parks. Absent permission from Richmond, all local governments can do is request people not smoke in parks, which Falls Church does. –Scott McCaffrey
Turkey Day Rain — “Although there will be some Thanksgiving rain in the area, it should focus early enough not to mess with the day entirely. The heaviest looks to fall in the predawn into the morning. About half an inch seems like a good target locally. And, of course, we still need it.” [Capital Weather Gang]
It’s Wednesday — Expect increasing clouds and a high of 54 with calm winds shifting south at 6 mph in the afternoon. Rain will begin late Wednesday night, accompanied by patchy fog and a low of 45; precipitation chances are at 90%, with up to a quarter-inch expected. On Thanksgiving Day, rain will continue until early afternoon, followed by dissipating fog by 10am. The high will be around 54, with light winds changing to westerly gusts reaching 21 mph. [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 — Nov 26, 2024.
Here is what’s going on Wednesday in Arlington, from our event calendar.
Expect increasing clouds and a high of 54 with calm winds shifting south at 6 mph in the afternoon. Rain will begin late Wednesday night, accompanied by patchy fog and a low of 45; precipitation chances are at 90%, with up to a quarter-inch expected. On Thanksgiving Day, rain will continue until early afternoon, followed by dissipating fog by 10am. The high will be around 54, with light winds changing to westerly gusts reaching 21 mph. See more from Weather.gov.
“When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us.”
– Helen Keller
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.
Families will also have the opportunity to tour the Dojo, meet our team, learn about our coding programs and camps, and take advantage of special Open House enrollment offers.
Admission is free, but registration is encouraged.
Three standout senior girls field-hockey players who helped the Yorktown Patriots win a 2024 state championship were honored with Class 6 all-state selections.
Senior forward Elena Reiser was chosen as the Virginia High School League Player of the Year at the Class 6 level. Reiser scored 15 goals, had nine assists and took 62 shots in 22 games for Yorktown, which finished 18-4 in winning its second straight state title and third in four seasons.
Join DC Road Runners and Potomac Valley Track Club for our annual Family Night at the Track and Meet of Miles. The event is open to runners of all ages and paces as well as nonmembers.
This event hosts 400 meter and 800 meter races for kids ages 1-8, as well as multiple 1-mile heats for participants of all ages. There is also a 3K race that is open to participants of all ages.
The 6D North Region high-school football championship game has all the makings of a classic showdown, with plenty in common among the teams.
On Saturday (Nov. 30) at 1 p.m. in Vienna, the Washington-Liberty Generals will face the host Madison Warhawks in the tournament final.
At least three people were injured, including two children, after a car plowed into pedestrians in a crosswalk following a crash.
The crash happened around 3:10 p.m. at the intersection of S. Carlin Springs Road and 3rd Street S., near Kenmore Middle School and Carlin Springs Elementary.
The holiday shopping rush will continue after Black Friday with a local Small Business Saturday push.
Twenty-two stores and restaurants in Arlington and Falls Church are slated to participate in the program, which will go through Sunday this year.
At 20 years old, Esvin Gramajo Barrios Jr. wears many (chef) hats.
Since age 15, the Arlington native has worked hard to hone his culinary skills and launch his own bakeshop, Sweets by Esvin, out of the home he owns in Oxon Hill, Md. One day, he dreams of co-owning a bakery with his father, local chef Esvin Gramajo Hernandez.
Notice is hereby given that APEX STRATEGY L.L.C. , 2995 Akron St Woodbridge VA 22193, has filed an application for a certificate of public convenience and necessity authorizing passenger transportation as a common carrier over irregular routes, providing service in the geographic area composed of the Cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Fredericksburg, Harrisonburg, Manassas, Manassas Park, and Winchester and in the counties of: Arlington, Clarke, Culpeper, Fairfax, Fauquier Frederick, Greene, Loudoun, Madison, Orange, Page, Prince William, Rappahannock, Rockingham, Shenandoah, Spotsylvania, Stafford, and Warren counties and Statewide throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia for passenger transportation as a Non-Emergency Medical Transportation Carrier, as defined in the Code of Virginia Section 46.2-2000.
Any person who desires to protest the application and be a party to the matter must submit a signed and dated written request setting forth (1) a precise statement of the party’s interest and how the party could be aggrieved if the application was granted; (2) a full and clear statement of the facts that the person is prepared to provide by competent evidence; (3) a statement of the specific relief sought; (4) the name of the applicant and case number assigned to the application; and (5) a certification that a copy of the protest was sent to the applicant. The case number assigned to this application is MC2400596ST.
Written protests must be mailed to DMV Motor Carrier Services, Attn: Operating Authority, P. O. Box 27412, Richmond, VA 23269-0001 and must be postmarked on or before December 10, 2024.
Any protest filed with competent evidence will be carefully considered by DMV. However, DMV will have full discretion as to whether a hearing is warranted based on the merits of the protest filed.
