It’s going to be a scorching July 4 in the D.C. area.
Arlington County, along with D.C. and other surrounding areas, are under a Heat Advisory from noon to 8 p.m. Thursday. Potentially dangerous heat is expected amid Independence Day festivities — and there’s a possibility of storms throughout the day as well.
County offices, courts, community centers and all public library locations will all close Thursday for Independence Day.
Curbside collection of recycling, trash and organics will continue on regular hours, as will the special collection of brush, metal and e-waste. However, the Earth Products Yard and Household Hazardous Materials facility in Shirlington will close.
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…)
Most subscribers to the ARLnow Afternoon Update newsletter seem happy with the recent updates.
But if you’re among those who don’t love change or who greatly valued the article blurbs, you can now go back to the old format.
Arlington County police are investigating a somewhat unusual road rage incident in Rosslyn.
It happened Tuesday afternoon near the intersection of Key Blvd and N. Nash Street. According to police, two male drivers “were stopped in their vehicles at a stop sign when they became involved in a verbal dispute.” The suspect then allegedly threw a can at the other driver, reached into his car and stole his phone, before driving off.
🏡 Ready to Stop Dreaming and Start Planning for Homeownership?
Whether you’re thinking about buying your very first home or preparing for your next move, this FREE Home Buying Class is designed to give you the knowledge and confidence you need to take the next step.
The flavors of the Uyghur people are coming to Crystal City later this year.
Dolan Uyghur is planning to open its fourth D.C.-area location in the neighborhood in November, a representative of the restaurant confirmed to ARLnow.
What are some of the iconic places, buildings, monuments or businesses that most exemplify “old school Arlington?”
That’s what we were asking ourselves recently as our staff contemplated new designs for the ARLnow Shop. While some things immediately came to mind — see: photos in the gallery — we wanted to open it up to readers to make sure we’re not forgetting something.
Online Fireworks Viewing — From the Trust for the National Mall: “Can’t make it to the most iconic fireworks show in the U.S.? Catch the iconic National Mall fireworks on Independence Day on #MonumentCam at 9:09PM on July 4th! We’re broadcasting the entire show LIVE from the top of the Washington Monument! Click here: http://nationalmall.org/monumentcam.” [Twitter]
Fourth of July Bell Ringing — “The Arlington Historical Society will celebrate the nation’s 248th birthday with a bell-ringing at the Arlington Historical Museum on Thursday, July 4 at 5 p.m. ‘We’ll be doing this alongside bells all over the state,’ said Annette Benbow, who is leading the Arlington effort to commemorate the nation’s 250th birthday in 2026.” [Gazette Leader]
New Mental Health Crisis System — “Arlington County launched a new system to better respond to individuals who may be experiencing a mental health crisis. The system is in place to tailor a more effective response to those in need when someone dials 911. The Marcus Alert System establishes coordination between the 911 call center, the regional crisis center and law enforcement to enhance services and responses for people experiencing a crisis related to mental health, substance abuse or a developmental disability.” [NBC 4]
Local Appointed to GMU Board — “Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Friday, June 28, announced three new appointments and one reappointment to the George Mason University Board of Visitors… [including] Marc Short of Arlington, Partner, Advance Strategies, and former Chief of Staff to Vice President Mike Pence.” [Patch]
New D.C. Eatery Has Arlington Ties — “A popular sandwich shop with ties to the Italian Store in Arlington plans to open a second location on Barracks Row, three-and-a-half years after Compliments Only debuted from temporary space in Logan Circle. The restaurant from Pete Sitcov and Emily Cipes is tentatively slated to open by the end of the summer from a roughly 1,600-square-foot space at 526 Eighth St. SE.” [Washington Business Journal]
It’s Wednesday — Expect sunny skies and a high of 88, accompanied by a 6-10 mph south wind. As night falls, the weather will shift to partly cloudy skies with a low of approximately 72 and a 7-9 mph south wind. Independence Day brings a 50% chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2 pm, partly sunny skies, and a high of 95. The heat index may reach up to 101 with a southwest 6 mph wind. [NWS]
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 — Jul 2, 2024.
Here is what’s going on Wednesday in Arlington, from our event calendar.
Expect sunny skies and a high of 88, accompanied by a 6-10 mph south wind. As night falls, the weather will shift to partly cloudy skies with a low of approximately 72 and a 7-9 mph south wind. Independence Day brings a 50% chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2 pm, partly sunny skies, and a high of 95. The heat index may reach up to 101 with a southwest 6 mph wind. See more from Weather.gov.
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
– Franklin D. Roosevelt
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.
An indoor playground business is opening a location aimed at both kids and adults in Shirlington.
Scramble Parkour will be opening at 2900 S. Quincy Street, according to permits. It replaces The Energy Club gym, which closed last year amid a decline in membership.
