Arlington has accepted an additional $20.7 million in federal and state funds as work on the new entrance to the Crystal City Metro station moves forward.
The Arlington County Board approved the hefty appropriation on Saturday. The Federal Transit Administration provided 80% of the funds, while 20% comes from the Virginia Dept. of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT).
Police are investigating three robberies in three different Arlington neighborhoods over the weekend.
Among the incidents are two armed robberies.
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 Transit (ART) workers are threatening to strike over a dispute about pay and work conditions.
About 80 ART workers staged a “practice picket” before dawn yesterday (Monday) in a show of solidarity and a signal that they are prepared to escalate the conflict with their county-contracted employer, France-based transportation company Transdev.
‘Brick’ Basket on Carlin Springs Road — “A mystery neighbor in Arlington County is going to great lengths to get the county and drivers’ attention to pedestrian safety. The tactic: A display with foam bricks, encouraging pedestrians to take them as a warning to drivers to slow down and pay attention… This is best thought of as provocative art of sorts meant to spark a conversation about safety.” [Fox 5]
Update on Ballston Shooting — From ACPD: “The victim and another male exited a vehicle and were walking towards a business when the four suspects approached, brandished firearms and demanded their property. The suspects then stole jewelry and an undisclosed amount of cash. During the course of the incident, the suspects discharged several rounds striking the victim, and causing property damage to two businesses and a residence.” [ARLnow]
Strike Hurting Boeing — “Boeing said it would freeze hiring and delay pay increases for its salaried workforce as the jet maker grapples with financial fallout from a strike launched Friday by its largest union. The [Arlington-based] company announced the cost-saving measures in a memo to staff on Monday and said it would also cut back orders from suppliers for its 737, 767 and 777 jets. The memo said Boeing also was considering temporary furloughs for employees and executives.” [Wall Street Journal]
New Name for APAH — “Over the past 35 years, the Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing has evolved to ensure that having a safe place to call home is available to those who need it most. Due to its rapid growth across the Washington, DC region at a time when finding affordable housing is becoming more out of reach, the nonprofit developer is changing its name to True Ground Housing Partners” [Press Release]
ART Ridership Update — “While still nowhere near pre-pandemic levels, Arlington Transit (ART) ridership levels continue to rebound. Slightly more than 2.4 million trips on the local transit system were taken in the fiscal year ending June 30, up from 1.92 million the preceding year, according to figures from the county government presented at the Sept. 10 meeting of a government body. Higher ridership, however, was accompanied by a decline in on-time performance.” [Gazette Leader]
New Speed Camera in F.C. — “The City of Falls Church launched its inaugural School Zone Speed Safety Program [on Monday] with a new speed safety camera on the 800 block of West Broad Street (Rt. 7) within the designated school zone of Saint James Catholic School… Speed safety cameras are operational with the 20 MPH speed limit when the Saint James Catholic School Zone lights are flashing during school arrival and departure.” [City of Falls Church]
It’s Tuesday — Expect cloudy conditions with a 50% chance of showers and a high near 75, accompanied by a 11-13 mph northeast wind and gusts up to 23 mph. Tuesday night will see a 60% chance of precipitation, including potential thunderstorms, with a low around 67, a 9-11 mph northeast wind, and gusts up to 21 mph. Rainfall amounts could range from a quarter to half an inch. [NWS]
Live standup comedy in Arlington on Friday July 31 starring Jim Bryan, Kim Villamera, and Greg Billet.
Friday, July 31, 2026
By TARA COPP Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Marine Corps in a ceremony at the commandant’s headquarters on Monday presented their highest noncombat medal to the parents of Cpl. Spencer Collart, who died last year after his V-22 Osprey crashed in Australia.
Good Monday 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 — Sep 16, 2024.
Here is what’s going on Tuesday in Arlington, from our event calendar.
Expect cloudy conditions with a 50% chance of showers and a high near 75, accompanied by a 11-13 mph northeast wind and gusts up to 23 mph. Tuesday night will see a 60% chance of precipitation, including potential thunderstorms, with a low around 67, a 9-11 mph northeast wind, and gusts up to 21 mph. Rainfall amounts could range from a quarter to half an inch. See more from Weather.gov.
“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
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.
Amazon has announced plans to return employees to working in person five days a week.
The company, whose Arlington employees currently work from HQ2 at least three days a week, is “going to return to being in the office the way we were before the onset of COVID.”
An 18-year-old man from Arlington has been charged with DUI Maiming after a crash at the Bluemont 7-Eleven store.
The crash happened just before 8 p.m. this past Saturday, Sept. 14. Police say the teen was drunk when he drove his vehicle through the front of the store at 5122 Wilson Blvd, seriously injuring a woman.
The annual Clarendon Day street festival is coming back next week with a full day of food and fun.
Nearly 90 shops and businesses are on track to be represented at the celebration, which will bring live music, vendors and family friendly attractions to Clarendon from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 28.
