The sushi and Thai food restaurant in Cherrydale at 3813 Langston Blvd has once again changed hands.
Now renamed Siam Miyaki, this represents the eatery’s fifth change in ownership in four years. Arlington residents Onin Saleerum and Isara “Ming” Tawkrue have taken over the lease from May Ditnoy, the previous owner of Siam Shinzo, which was previously known as Tuna Restaurant.
A driver crashed into parked vehicles and flipped his car this morning on a quiet residential street in Bluemont.
Arlington County police and medics are on scene of the crash, which happened shortly before 10 a.m. on N. Jefferson Street near the intersection with 6th Street N.
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…)
Public access at a forthcoming Rosslyn hotel is moving up in the world.
Instead of taking place on the eighth floor of the new Hilton hotel at 1900 N. Fort Myer Drive, county-facilitated events will now happen on the building’s 36th floor, following a unanimous Arlington County Board vote on Saturday.
Local GOP Focused on Statewide Races — “If Virginia turns out to be in play during the 2024 presidential election, as some polling suggests it might, the Arlington County Republican Committee chairman wants to make sure his organization does its part.” [Gazette Leader]
VHC Growth Request Deferred — “The deferral also was in reaction to the late publication of government documents related to Saturday’s hearing. Those documents only were made public on Wednesday, which fell ‘a little bit short’ given community interest in the hospital’s plans, said County Board Vice Chairman Takis Karantonis.” [Gazette Leader]
Weekend Robbery in Pentagon City — “At approximately 9:50 p.m. on June 15, police were dispatched to the report of an assault with injury. Upon arrival, it was determined the two female suspects stole the female victim’s credits cards and personal belongings from a back room inside a business and fled the scene. The female victim received alerts for fraudulent activity on her credit card and upon further investigation, she observed the two female suspects outside of a business in possession of her personal belongings. The victim confronted the suspects and a physical altercation ensued.” [ACPD]
Rave Review for NiHao’s Food — From food critic Tom Sietsema: “So many choices, so little time. We’re talking nearly 50 dishes on the all-day menu. You’d miss the point of the place if you skipped something that numbs the tongue. Cold sliced tendon and tripe, scattered with crushed peanuts and earthy cilantro and painted with chile oil, amounts to an offal good time.” [Washington Post]
County Governance Change Forums — “Proponents of changing Arlington’s 90-plus-year-old governance structure are hoping it is a breakthrough. But the prime legislative sponsor of changes is not that sure. Arlington County leaders have given the Arlington County Civic Federation the go-ahead to use county facilities, likely in late summer, to host a community forum on proposals that have been percolating for several years.” [Gazette Leader]
More Real Estate Price Drops — “Locally, the percentage of listing-price drops was in line with the region as a whole… In Arlington, 9.8 percent of homes saw listing-price drops, up from 8.4 percent and 8.6 percent, respectively.” [Gazette Leader]
Library Faces Lawsuit Threat — “A vocal local activist could ramp up her efforts against what she sees as a proliferation of the homeless in Arlington libraries to include a lawsuit against county officials. ‘Arlington Democrats will not silence my voice,’ Bobbie Fisher said at the June 15 County Board meeting, where during the public-comment period she again pushed for the firing of library director Diane Kresh for permitting what Fisher termed ‘a toxic, unhealthy and unsafe environment’ at a number of libraries.” [Gazette Leader]
It’s Thursday — Expect mostly sunny conditions and a high near 91 today, with calm winds picking up from the south at around 6 mph in the afternoon. For Thursday night, the sky will be partly cloudy, with temperatures cooling down to around 70, accompanied by a 6 mph south wind. [NWS]
Flickr pool photo by Erinn Shirley
Live standup comedy in Arlington on Friday July 31 starring Jim Bryan, Kim Villamera, and Greg Billet.
Friday, July 31, 2026
Interim tag removed as Nick Meyers takes the heading coach reins
No matter how next season unfolds, the campaign certainly should be more stable and normal for Nick Meyers compared to his first year as a varsity baseball coach at Yorktown High School.
Arlington County police are investigating gunfire along Route 1 in the Crystal City area this afternoon.
The incident happened around 2 p.m. on Route 1 near the airport ramps. Initial reports suggest that a driver in a late model Acura sedan fired at least two shots at another motorist, who was driving a pickup truck.
Republicans will field an Arlington County Board candidate this year.
The Arlington GOP announced today (Wednesday) that Juan Carlos Fierro will run in the November general election, facing whoever comes out on top of yesterday’s Democratic primary.
Initial results in Arlington’s Democratic County Board primary show a close race at the top.
JD Spain, Sr. leads the first round of vote tallying, with 33%, followed by Natalie Roy with 29% and Tenley Peterson with 23%.
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 18, 2024.
Here is what’s going on Wednesday in Arlington, from our event calendar.
Expect mostly cloudy skies with a high of 82°F and a low of 68°F. The humidity will be around 65%, with a 30% chance of rain and afternoon thunderstorms. Winds will be from the southwest at 10-15 mph, with occasional gusts up to 25 mph. The UV index will be moderate, at 5, so remember to apply sunscreen if spending time outdoors. See more from Weather.gov.
“Your time is limited, don’t waste it living someone else’s life.”
– Steve Jobs
Thanks for reading! Feel free to discuss the day’s happenings in the comments.
