Police are searching for a suspect after a man was reportedly slashed in the face in Ballston.
The incident occurred around 9:30 p.m. on Sunday, when a physical altercation between three men began outside the Hilton hotel at 950 N. Stafford Street, according to scanner traffic.
Fancy Gun Seized at Airport — “A Georgia woman was cited by police after Transportation Security Administration officers at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport intercepted a teal-colored gun with black floral designs on it among the woman’s carry-on items. The 9mm firearm was loaded with three gun magazines, totaling 30 bullets packed next to the gun.” [Press Release]
TSA Display at DCA — “Sandals. A baseball hat. An adorable stuffed panda. They all sat on a table in Ronald Reagan National Airport, and they all hid potentially deadly explosives. They weren’t the real thing but mock-ups of the kind of items the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has discovered over the years.” [WTOP]
USS Arlington at Weekend 5K — “Officers and crew of the USS Arlington visited Arlington and on Sept. 7 participated in the 2024 Arlington Police, Fire & Sheriff 9/11 Memorial 5K Run, where the ship’s contingent finished first in the ‘military teams’ category. The ship’s commander, U.S. Navy Capt. Ian Scaliantine, addressed the crowd and spoke of the honor it was for the USS Arlington sailors to participate in the race.” [Gazette Leader]
Another Win for Yorktown — “The Yorktown Patriots won the night of Sept. 6 to improve to 2-0 but head coach Bruce Hanson was not happy with how his football team played in the non-district high-school game. Too many mistakes and uneven play was how Hanson described the 28-13 home win over Jackson-Reed.” [Gazette Leader]
Good Signs for Local Economy — “Greater Washington’s economy is showing glimmers of improvement across several key data points. Apartments are filling up, visitors are going out and a record number of residents are employed. Those are the latest findings from CBRE’s REVIVE Regional Vibrancy Index.” [Washington Business Journal]
It’s Tuesday — Expect sunshine and a high temperature close to 85 degrees, complemented by a northwest wind at around 7 mph. Tuesday night will be mostly clear with a low temperature near 59 degrees; the northeast wind at approximately 5 mph will become calm during the evening. [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 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 9, 2024.
Here is what’s going on Tuesday in Arlington, from our event calendar.
Expect sunshine and a high temperature close to 85 degrees, complemented by a northwest wind at around 7 mph. Tuesday night will be mostly clear with a low temperature near 59 degrees; the northeast wind at approximately 5 mph will become calm during the evening. See more from Weather.gov.
“Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.”
– Vince Lombardi
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.
Arlington has fallen from No. 1 to No. 2 in a ranking of the most educated “cities” in the country.
The new ranking from Forbes Advisor spotlights Arlington’s status as having the nation’s highest percentage of residents aged 25 and older with bachelor’s degrees and graduate degrees — 78% and 43%, respectively. That’s a hair above last year’s percentages of 76% and 42%.
Live standup comedy in Arlington on Friday July 31 starring Jim Bryan, Kim Villamera, and Greg Billet.
Friday, July 31, 2026
A series of recent internal audits at Arlington Public Schools have revealed inconsistencies in the school system’s financial management practices.
The audits, which reviewed spending from 2022 to 2024, found that APS lacks clear policies for managing purchasing card usage, fuel expenses and school activity funds. They also highlighted limited training for employees overseeing these areas and weaknesses in oversight systems.
Here in Arlington, real estate is a spectator sport. Let’s take a look at some of the most and least expensive single-family homes sold last month (August 2024).
Most expensive single-family homes sold
Ruffino’s Spaghetti House is under new ownership, with plans to spruce up the menu and decor while still serving up customer favorites, management said.
New owner Henry Saavedra is reviewing the menu of Italian cuisine and plans to cut some items and add a few new ones — but regulars shouldn’t fret, he told ARLnow.
Another Compass Coffee is slated to open a couple of blocks away from the local chain’s current Ballston location.
The new location will replace a coffee shop that just shuttered last week.
If the cool mornings are any clue, cold and flu season is upon us — and that means many people are thinking about vaccinations.
Covid and flu vaccinations are currently available at many local pharmacies and medical offices.
“To ensure communities are protected this season, the CDC is recommending that everyone over age six (6) months get an annual flu shot AND an updated COVID-19 vaccine,” pharmacy chain CVS said in a late August press release, announcing the availability of vaccines.
“The ideal time to get vaccinated is in September or October, to restore and enhance protection against the most common viruses currently circulating before peak season starts,” the release continued. “Pharmacies are one of the most common places people choose to get vaccinated.”
According to CVS, 46% of people plan to get a flu shot and 60% of people planning to get the flu vaccine would like to get a Covid vaccine during the same visit.
We were wondering how that compares with vaccine plans in Arlington. Are you planning to (or did you already) get the jab?
