Alexandria city vs. FCPS Alexandria

[Anonymous]

On the other thread, "Just how bad are alexandria city schools anyway?", someone described how, on a tour, the GW middle school principal acknowledged "boob day." Maybe I'm clutching my pearls here, but, I was just disgusted that "boob day" was so prevalent as to warrant the principal's involvement (and even mention it on a tour), and even she couldn't do anything about it. Can anyone say that their Fairfax middle school is similar? I mean, in my middle school many many years ago, I remember being warned about "flip up day" (where girls' skirts were flipped up), but it was more scaring the incoming 6th graders than anything real.

[Anonymous]

Isn't middle school, just by the age group involved, awful no matter where one lives?

If I was shoved off the sidewalk by pre-teens, I'd be marching them right back into school or giving them a lesson in manners on the sidewalk!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Listen, soulless wonder, that neighborhood has historically been AA going back to when freed slaves settled there. So it is whites who have invaded the neighborhood, not the other way around. I'm sorry you don't have garage for your Beemer because you haven't been able to buy a teardown next door, but let us know your address Cracker Barrell so we can slit your tires.

Sincerely,
Middle-class liberal

Not pp, but if you actually lived in the Parker-Gray section of Alexandria, you would know that the African-Americans who have lived there historically either (1) own their homes, or (2) have long since sold said homes to Yuppies for a hefty sum and moved to nicer houses in the slightly-further-out suburbs (with better schools). A lot of those in category #2 drive back for Church on Sunday, and they are friendly, prosperous-looking crowd, and I think they would be quite offended if you made the (quite racist, really) assumption that they and the folks that live in Alexandria's public housing are one and the same. Alexandria does import poor folks to fill the public housing (and it does have everything to do with the current city leadership preserving a solid voting block). Alexandria also has to be the last jurisdiction in America that is building new concentrated public housing, as everyone now understands it to be good for no one, and most particularly those who live in it. There have also been newspaper articles about how the Alexandria Police are "cooking the books" on crime statistics for the newer "mixed income" developments, as they don't want to drive down the prices for the ones that are just going up.

Sincerely,
Former Old Town resident who got tired of living in an open-air drug market and finding used hypodermics in my courtyard

[Anonymous]

"There have also been newspaper articles about how the Alexandria Police are "cooking the books" on crime statistics"

Cite, please.

[Anonymous]

I am PP, and I would be absolutely thrilled if we could demolish all of the public housing in Old Town, and have it replaced with modest homes owned by middle class African-American families. I wouldn't even mind if the city subsidized construction of "affordable housing" condos/townhouses that could be sold at a restricted price, but only to ALEXANDRIA's teachers, police, firefighters, nurses, etc. who currently can't afford to buy a place in Alexandria. That would be much better than tearing down existing public housing, then building sparkling new public housing in the same place, and continuing the status quo of importing freeloaders in from neighboring jurisdictions and requiring them to pay little/nothing in rent. As Alexandria has gentrified in the last decade, it has become a city with no middle class. Unless you're rich enough to pay half a million for a tiny townhouse or poor enough to qualify for public housing, you're out of luck around here...

But I'll keep my address to myself to avoid the tire-slashing. Stay classy, middle-class liberal. I appreciate your tolerance and devotion to freedom of thought and expression. You are a credit to liberals everywhere.

[Anonymous]

This voting bloc crap is a joke. The city is overwhelmingly Democratic, and that's not going to change. Time to wake up from your conserva-coma.

[Anonymous]

I am PP, and I would be absolutely thrilled if we could demolish all of the public housing in Old Town, and have it replaced with modest homes owned by middle class African-American families. I wouldn't even mind if the city subsidized construction of "affordable housing" condos/townhouses that could be sold at a restricted price, but only to ALEXANDRIA's teachers, police, firefighters, nurses, etc. who currently can't afford to buy a place in Alexandria. That would be much better than tearing down existing public housing, then building sparkling new public housing in the same place, and continuing the status quo of importing freeloaders in from neighboring jurisdictions and requiring them to pay little/nothing in rent. As Alexandria has gentrified in the last decade, it has become a city with no middle class. Unless you're rich enough to pay half a million for a tiny townhouse or poor enough to qualify for public housing, you're out of luck around here...

The city does currently subsidize the purchase of affordable housing by those with moderate incomes through the Moderate Income
Homeownership Assistance Program. A 4-person family making up to $95,000 can qualify for a $30,000 loan to make a down payment on a house or condo. These are good for homes worth up to $400,000.

Please stop making such ill-informed comments. And if you've left Alexandria, why not focus all of your energy and enthusiasm (!) on your current domicile? I'm sure your new neighbors will be happy to hear what you've found to complain about in Burke or Dumfries or wherever you are now.

[Anonymous]

I never said Alexandria has no affordable housing "programs." I said I'd love to see much of the public housing converted to middle class affordable housing. The problem is a lack of affordable housing stock. The city's "progam" to offer downpayment assistance for houses under $400,000 is hillarious--since you can't find any livable housing in Old Town/Del Ray/Rosemont for under $400,000. You're lucky to find a 1 bedroom condo at that price. If you're a hard-working middle class family who lives and works in Alexandria, the city offers you help buying a run down fixer-upper on the west side of town. Meanwhile, we're spending millions to build/renovate sparkling, brand new public housing, often in the best neighborhoods in town, and giving that away to free-loaders from all over the region. Just this week, the City is trumpeting the completion of its new West Glebe public housing, which, according to the Alexandria News includes:

"20 three-bedroom units and 14 four-bedroom units. All of the units have ceiling fans and upgraded Corian tiles in the bathrooms and kitchens."

Corian tiles in the kitchens and baths of our public housing! Poverty sure ain't what it used to be.... And why are we building 4 bedroom public housing units to begin with? ARHA supposedly requires kids to share bedrooms, so we're building public housing units that are designed for families with 6 kids! If you're too poor to support your family on your own, quit having more kids...

I know that, by staying in Alexandria, I'm forced to pay for all this--that's fine. But you can't force me to like it, or to agree not to criticize it. Sorry, your Brave New World hasn't arrived just yet. There are still some of us here who enjoy thinking for ourselves. Sorry if that makes you feel threatened or insecure. I know it's hard to defend this stuff when someone actually shines the light of truth on it.

[Anonymous]

So first you complain that all the public housing is in OT, and then you bring up a housing project that is in Arlandria. So, I guess you weren't right to begin with? OK.

And listen, champ, I'm not insecure. I live where I want, in a community that doesn't just support the haves. You're the one going on and one like some deranged old man on a street corner. Obviously, you have no where else to go. We could try to find you some public housing, but this one guy said it is such a waste. So here is a cardboard box. Enjoy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
You should be glad that the other jurisdictions don't "share the burden," giving Alexandria the opportunity to import poor people from surrounding areas so you rich liberals can feel self-righteous about all the "good" you're doing by putting lazy folks comfortably on the dole and sapping any incentive they might have had to escape the never-ending cycle of government dependence.

As an Alexandrian who pays to support all these loafers, I cringed to see them all lined up at GW middle school when Alexandria reopened the public housing waitlist last month. It was strange to see how few of these "poor" people arrrived on foot/by public transit. The parking lot was full of cars (nice cars, too), lots with DC and Maryland plates.

But what do you expect when a city spends millions building brand new, beatiful public housing units in the heart of Old Town (one of the most desirable neighborhoods in the region), and then lets anyone sign up to move in--even if they aren't Alexandria residents. When you read about former DC residents who have moved to public housing complexes in Alexandria for a better life, I'm sure it warms your heart. More human guinea pigs to be socially engineered by our coterie of bureacrats at City Hall and ACPS. More reliable Democrat voters to keep our city council majority in place! More criminals to steal packages off our porches, break into our cars, urinate in our alleys, and commit occasional violent crimes, too! Win-win-win!


I could not agree more with this post. As an Alexandria City tax payer it is so frustrating to watch this happen in my community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I never said Alexandria has no affordable housing "programs." I said I'd love to see much of the public housing converted to middle class affordable housing. The problem is a lack of affordable housing stock. The city's "progam" to offer downpayment assistance for houses under $400,000 is hillarious--since you can't find any livable housing in Old Town/Del Ray/Rosemont for under $400,000. You're lucky to find a 1 bedroom condo at that price. If you're a hard-working middle class family who lives and works in Alexandria, the city offers you help buying a run down fixer-upper on the west side of town. Meanwhile, we're spending millions to build/renovate sparkling, brand new public housing, often in the best neighborhoods in town, and giving that away to free-loaders from all over the region. Just this week, the City is trumpeting the completion of its new West Glebe public housing, which, according to the Alexandria News includes:

"20 three-bedroom units and 14 four-bedroom units. All of the units have ceiling fans and upgraded Corian tiles in the bathrooms and kitchens."

Corian tiles in the kitchens and baths of our public housing! Poverty sure ain't what it used to be.... And why are we building 4 bedroom public housing units to begin with? ARHA supposedly requires kids to share bedrooms, so we're building public housing units that are designed for families with 6 kids! If you're too poor to support your family on your own, quit having more kids...

I know that, by staying in Alexandria, I'm forced to pay for all this--that's fine. But you can't force me to like it, or to agree not to criticize it. Sorry, your Brave New World hasn't arrived just yet. There are still some of us here who enjoy thinking for ourselves. Sorry if that makes you feel threatened or insecure. I know it's hard to defend this stuff when someone actually shines the light of truth on it.





Holy cow wow. I can't believe that came out of your mouth. DCUM never fails to amaze.

[Anonymous]

Why did we resurrect this thread?

[Anonymous]

If you have something to say about ACPS, comment on the present situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I never said Alexandria has no affordable housing "programs." I said I'd love to see much of the public housing converted to middle class affordable housing. The problem is a lack of affordable housing stock. The city's "progam" to offer downpayment assistance for houses under $400,000 is hillarious--since you can't find any livable housing in Old Town/Del Ray/Rosemont for under $400,000. You're lucky to find a 1 bedroom condo at that price. If you're a hard-working middle class family who lives and works in Alexandria, the city offers you help buying a run down fixer-upper on the west side of town. Meanwhile, we're spending millions to build/renovate sparkling, brand new public housing, often in the best neighborhoods in town, and giving that away to free-loaders from all over the region. Just this week, the City is trumpeting the completion of its new West Glebe public housing, which, according to the Alexandria News includes:

"20 three-bedroom units and 14 four-bedroom units. All of the units have ceiling fans and upgraded Corian tiles in the bathrooms and kitchens."

Corian tiles in the kitchens and baths of our public housing! Poverty sure ain't what it used to be.... And why are we building 4 bedroom public housing units to begin with? ARHA supposedly requires kids to share bedrooms, so we're building public housing units that are designed for families with 6 kids! If you're too poor to support your family on your own, quit having more kids...

I know that, by staying in Alexandria, I'm forced to pay for all this--that's fine. But you can't force me to like it, or to agree not to criticize it. Sorry, your Brave New World hasn't arrived just yet. There are still some of us here who enjoy thinking for ourselves. Sorry if that makes you feel threatened or insecure. I know it's hard to defend this stuff when someone actually shines the light of truth on it.





Holy cow wow. I can't believe that came out of your mouth. DCUM never fails to amaze.

I am City resident and I agree with the PP and the bolded statement in particular. But I would go further and say that all public and low income housing should be done away with. It's ridiculous to suggest that someone who makes less than $40K per year can really afford the cost of living in a close in suburb. They are being set up for a lifetime of poverty.