Hoping for the best but being ready for the worst seems to be the focus of Falls Church officials when it comes to Election Day security measures.
“Is Falls Church likely to be a low-risk area? Sure,” city registrar David Bjerke told Electoral Board members on Oct. 1.
It took 68 years, but the Washington-Liberty Generals have again started a season 6-0.
By rallying on the road to defeat the Herndon Hornets, 28-18,on Oct. 4 in Liberty District high-school football action, the Generals improved to 6-0 for the first time since 1956 when the team (then named Washington-Lee) finished the regular season undefeated at 10-0.
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…)
It’s now 300 career victories and onward for Bruce Hanson.
The longtime head high-school football coach reached the milestone the night of Oct. 4 when his host Yorktown Patriots routed the Centreville Wildcats, 34-7, in a non-district clash.
Mary Hynes admits to being a late bloomer on transportation and transit issues.
“I did not start out as a transportation person — at all,” she acknowledged.
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.
Advance Arlington (formerly the Arlington Committee of 100) will host a forum – “Governing in the 21st Century: Are Local Governments in Sync with Their Constituents” – on Wednesday, Oct. 9 at 7 p.m. at George Mason University’s Arlington campus.
Arlington County Board Chairman Libby Garvey and Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson will discuss the current state of local governance and whether residents of the community have input into decision-making.
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 — Oct 4, 2024.
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:
Expect a transition from mostly cloudy to sunny skies, with a high temperature near 77°F and a north wind at 6 to 8 mph. Saturday night will be clear, with temperatures dropping to around 56°F and a north wind blowing at 3 to 5 mph. See more from Weather.gov.
“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
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! Feel free to discuss the most-read stories of the week, the upcoming weekend events or anything else of local interest in the comments. 👋
There was, maybe, a tight smile or two as the Washington-Liberty Generals reluctantly gathered for a team photo.
But there also was a hunger for more.
A suspect is accused of cutting a police officer with the officer’s own knife yesterday (Thursday) following a reported theft in Pentagon City.
The incident occurred around 2:45 p.m. in the 900 block of Army Navy Drive, near the Westpost at National Landing shopping center.
A European-inspired bistro by the founders of For Five Coffee Roasters is slated to open in Virginia Square’s new nine-story office building next year.
The restaurant, The Angie, is expected to open in spring 2025, developer Skanska announced today (Friday). The “American French” concept includes 162 total seats, outdoor dining, a full-service bar, a barista bar, a lounge and a private dining room, according to a news release.
