A new third-party candidate has announced a bid for Arlington County Board.
Madison Granger, a fitness professional and entrepreneur, is running with the endorsement of the Forward Party. She joins Democratic nominee JD Spain Sr., Republican candidate Juan Carlos Fierro and independent candidate Audrey Clement in the race for a single County Board seat in the Nov. 5 general election.
Safety Tool Helping APS — “A digital threat assessment form is helping Arlington, Virginia, school leaders better monitor concerning student behavior, Superintendent Francisco Durán said at a school board meeting Thursday… It launched this year, and has made reporting troubling behavior more accessible and easy to do, according to school board documents. It also gives the school system the option of monitoring concerning behavior in real time.” [WTOP]
Flyover This Morning — From AlertDC: “The US Military will conduct a flyover at the Arlington National Cemetery on Wednesday, June 26, 2024 @ 11:15 AM.”
New DJO Baseball Coach — “Chris Berset has been hired as the new head baseball coach at Bishop O’Connell High School, but he’s far from an unknown in the baseball circles of the metro area. Berset is co-owner of the decade-old Prime Time Baseball business in Alexandria, is the current manager/head coach of the past champion Alexandria Aces of the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League.” [Gazette Leader]
Local’s Young-Onset Parkinson’s Diagnosis — “For two years, we had been seeking answers for some unusual symptoms I was having. When the doctor finally returned with a young associate in tow, the look on his face made my heart race and the blood rushed to my face. He took off his mask, revealing an unmistakable look of defeat. I braced for impact. ‘Allie, has anyone in your family ever been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease?'” [Arlington Magazine]
It’s Wednesday — Showers and thunderstorms are expected after 2 pm, with increasing clouds and hot temperatures reaching a high of 98. Southwest winds will be at 7-10 mph and a 50% chance of precipitation. For Wednesday night, thunderstorms are likely before 11 pm with a low temperature around 72, and an 8 mph southwest wind. The precipitation chance is 70%, with potential rainfall amounts between half and three quarters of an inch. [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 — Jun 25, 2024.
Here is what’s going on Wednesday in Arlington, from our event calendar.
Showers and thunderstorms are expected after 2 pm, with increasing clouds and hot temperatures reaching a high of 98 and a heat index of 101. Southwest winds will be at 7-10 mph and a 50% chance of precipitation. For Wednesday night, thunderstorms are likely before 11 pm with a low temperature around 72, and an 8 mph southwest wind. The precipitation chance is 70%, with potential rainfall amounts between half and three quarters of an inch. See more from Weather.gov.
“You have within you right now, everything you need to deal with whatever the world can throw at you.”
– Brian Tracy
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.
Berset has coached the sport on various levels of play
Chris Berset has been hired as the new head baseball coach at Bishop O’Connell High School, but he’s far from an unknown in the baseball circles of the metro area.
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.
Melwood has formally submitted a site plan application for a 105-unit affordable housing project near Crystal City.
New renderings depict a five-story building with an 18,000-square-foot footprint at 750 23rd Street S., Melwood’s facility in Aurora Highlands, which it acquired after its 2017 merger with Linden Resources.
Do you want an energetic pup with big heart eyes?
Then meet Milo, the newest Adoptable Pet of the Week! This gorgeous guy is full of playfulness and energy, and is sure to keep up with your busy lifestyle.
Atilla Kan, a D.C.-area restaurateur who dished out Mediterranean flavors for nearly 50 years, died June 13. He was 82.
A native of Turkey, Kan was noted locally as founder of The Perfect Pita, which he and his family established in 1994. What started as a single takeout spot led to 14 different locations in the region, as well as a wholesale business offering pita, hummus and other Mediterranean foods.
Arlington has one of the highest proportions of luxury rental housing among U.S. cities.
That’s according to a new set of rankings from the real estate website Point2.
A unique breakfast option is coming to Clarendon later this summer.
Boasting gourmet toast dishes and other options, Toastique is targeting September to open its first Arlington location.
