South Arlington and North Arlington Schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think they'll light torches. 22207 will adapt and live with these plans; it's totally doable and it's the right thing to do.

Nope. Adding that many families--most currently not living in Arlington is going to sink in already overcrowded school system. Middle and secondary schools are BUTSTING at the seams.

This was idiotic on the Boards part.

This should not be on any candidates platform.

Schools and addressing commercial vacancy should be before this.

Arlington is shooting itself in the foot.

[Anonymous]

The plan isn't funded though, so is it just an expression of good intentions rather than something that is compulsory or enforceable? If there's a funding crunch, won't schools come first regardless?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The plan isn't funded though, so is it just an expression of good intentions rather than something that is compulsory or enforceable? If there's a funding crunch, won't schools come first regardless?

Not if the Board stays the same.

People need to vote in the Independents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think they'll light torches. 22207 will adapt and live with these plans; it's totally doable and it's the right thing to do.

Nope. Adding that many families--most currently not living in Arlington is going to sink in already overcrowded school system. Middle and secondary schools are BUTSTING at the seams.

This was idiotic on the Boards part.

This should not be on any candidates platform.

Schools and addressing commercial vacancy should be before this.

Arlington is shooting itself in the foot.

Better to add some in 22207 than smush all affordable housing into Columbia Pike. 22207 has had fewer FARMs kids than anywhere in the past and needs to start doing its share. And it's totally equipped to deal. It's the right thing to do instead of letting South Arlington slip further and further into the abyss. You can do it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The plan isn't funded though, so is it just an expression of good intentions rather than something that is compulsory or enforceable? If there's a funding crunch, won't schools come first regardless?

Not if the Board stays the same.

People need to vote in the Independents.

Two of the current members who voted for this plan will be out Jan 1. They aren't running again.

The Board turns over pretty regularly in Arlington and these plans take years to play out.

Yes, if there's a funding crunch, Schools have always come first. At least historically.

[Anonymous]

If you want your home values and school quality to be safe I would only buy in Yorktown. Wakefield is going to be over run and WL is going to get a lot of students that aren't exactly high performers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think they'll light torches. 22207 will adapt and live with these plans; it's totally doable and it's the right thing to do.

Nope. Adding that many families--most currently not living in Arlington is going to sink in already overcrowded school system. Middle and secondary schools are BUTSTING at the seams.

This was idiotic on the Boards part.

This should not be on any candidates platform.

Schools and addressing commercial vacancy should be before this.

Arlington is shooting itself in the foot.

Better to add some in 22207 than smush all affordable housing into Columbia Pike. 22207 has had fewer FARMs kids than anywhere in the past and needs to start doing its share. And it's totally equipped to deal. It's the right thing to do instead of letting South Arlington slip further and further into the abyss. You can do it!

But realistically they're still probably going to end up smushing most of it into Columbia Pike when the time comes, fair or not.

[Anonymous]

Ugh. So public land for "public good" got snuck back in?

Fuck VOICE. Seriously. It's clear they don't care about actual Arlington residents - only for finding more people to cram into Arlington.

There is already a limited amount of County public land available for parks and recreation. Wanting to convert that for AH stock is ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ugh. So public land for "public good" got snuck back in?

Fuck VOICE. Seriously. It's clear they don't care about actual Arlington residents - only for finding more people to cram into Arlington.

There is already a limited amount of County public land available for parks and recreation. Wanting to convert that for AH stock is ridiculous.

The language says no stand alone AH on park/county land. That gives them room to put it on top of community centers etc....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Board meeting was yesterday. Mi Voc Cuente had about a 100+ people there.
Card? Maybe 10

Game over

I'm confused. Many of the changes CARD was advocating for were included in the plan that was adopted, including the targets for geographic distribution. Anybody who thought CARD was trying to block the plan was not paying attention.

I don't have a stake in this, but I am curious to see what changes you are referring to that were successfully adopted. Is it in the specific requirements under the plan, or does the plan just vaguely refer to targets without requring them, which really just kicks the issue down the road?

The plan is better. Card would have liked some language limiting farm percentages in over burdened school zones. Like, don't add new additional AH to a school zone that is already 70%. The AH lobby lost their minds at that suggestion, but it was ultimately right to push for it. I think it helped negotiate a little more. It's still an insane percentage to be dedicating to housing - almost 20%... But it's unlikely they will hit their target anyway. Vihstadt brought up some fairly important issues, but they didn't get any traction. The board and special interests seem to think that columbia pike revitalization is a done deal, but as you go west, that idea gets really shaky. Arlington mill still can't get a commercial tenant for their retail space and the businesses in that crappy little strip mall have been grumbling ... Not sure what their complaints are. There isn't much parking over there, so that might be aggravating everything. If you need to park, you aren't going to drive over there. That leaves your establishment patronized entirely by people within walking distance- who don't have much disposable income. Saturday's meeting was a real kumbaya, feel good affair, and it's touching to hear people's individual stories. It spoils the mood when you start asking the deeper questions of long term costs and overall community development. The people living there will want some services - better transit, desent retail. You need a balance for businesses to set up shop.

So what was the outcome? More affordable housing in colombia pike?

Right now Columbia pike holds over 30% of the county's affordable housing - under the plan it moves down to 22%.
However, that's with increased density everywhere.
Also, public land for public good for sort of slipped back into it. Don't agree with that. Got the board to admit that geographic diversity needed to be addressed. The map above shows you the targeted areas. Lee highway is a bit more prominent now.

Let me guess, anything in the Yorktown pyramid was spared from the public housing projects

The plan focuses on major commuting corridors. They have some hair brained idea that they can turn the SFH's of the Yorktown pyramid into duplexes and triplexes. That worries me, because it won't happen up there. Those homeowners will light torches over that.
However, I could see that happening in the zipcodes around Columbia Pike. Imagine 3 families in those tiny little houses. That's much more likely to play out.

Sorry, why does that idea worry you?
It's the first time I've heard a sensible idea about geographic distribution into the far north of Arlington county.

[Anonymous]

PP, are you in a SF in the Yorktown pyramid?

[Anonymous]

I think if people buy into a SFH neighborhood- good for them, if you want a town house - buy a town house... ( I quite like town houses!)
I don't think it's cool for the county to come in after the fact and change the character of a neighborhood.
FYI!!!
I do not live in SFH in Yorktown.
There are quite a few older homeowners that think this is a swell idea. They have lived in the county for 30+ years and need help to afford to stay. Their taxes have out paced their fixed income and would like to age in place. Renting out basements seems appealing. While I am sympathetic to their plight- it's not a very neighborly stance. They had the benefit of living and raising their families in a nicely layed out, single family home neighborhood. The gen x, and millennial families that are paying through the nose to move into Arlington deserve no less.
Besides, should something like that come about it will not be affordable. The developers who have the cash to build in north Arlington are paying a premium for that land. Right now they are building 1.5 mil dollar homes- and happily letting them sit till there is a buyer. The money isn't there for them to build anything more modest. If they are allowed to split SFH plots into multi family - it will be three 800k units. Not affordable.
I know it would be better for Yorktown to carry some of the load here and it seems AH high density along Lee highway would be the best way to achieve that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think if people buy into a SFH neighborhood- good for them, if you want a town house - buy a town house... ( I quite like town houses!)
I don't think it's cool for the county to come in after the fact and change the character of a neighborhood.
FYI!!!
I do not live in SFH in Yorktown.
There are quite a few older homeowners that think this is a swell idea. They have lived in the county for 30+ years and need help to afford to stay. Their taxes have out paced their fixed income and would like to age in place. Renting out basements seems appealing. While I am sympathetic to their plight- it's not a very neighborly stance. They had the benefit of living and raising their families in a nicely layed out, single family home neighborhood. The gen x, and millennial families that are paying through the nose to move into Arlington deserve no less.
Besides, should something like that come about it will not be affordable. The developers who have the cash to build in north Arlington are paying a premium for that land. Right now they are building 1.5 mil dollar homes- and happily letting them sit till there is a buyer. The money isn't there for them to build anything more modest. If they are allowed to split SFH plots into multi family - it will be three 800k units. Not affordable.
I know it would be better for Yorktown to carry some of the load here and it seems AH high density along Lee highway would be the best way to achieve that.

1. This is exactly how everyone else feels, too! I bought my SFH with the same expectations. In fact, earlier in the thread a poster was describing this exact sentiment: he bought a SFH in a nice family neighborhood - it's not cool for the county to come in and artificially alter the neighborhood and its schools by bringing in large amounts of people that need assistance and can't contribute.
Let market forces dictate and let the area develop organically. Arlington is a very small place!!
That said; an elementary school in far north Arlington going from 2% to 15% farms will not change anything at all - you won't even notice. But a school going from 40% to 55%, or 60 to 75% is not good. Especially if it was just trending the other way.

2. Senior home owners do NOT pay real estate taxes in Arlington! Neither do some military service members. This was on the ballots not too long ago and won. When they are talking about seniors aging in place they are talking about seniors that have rented an apartment all their lives. Not seniors that are sitting on a 2 million dollar lot they bought for 15K a few decades ago. I don't think you need to worry about them. Their children will be the only ones who can afford Arlington, if the county continues this path... The families "in the middle" will be the ones moving out of Arlington, because they cannot shoulder the tax burden and real estate prices for overcrowded mediocre schools that the board apparently has in mind... But hey, it's ok for them to commute! However, a cab driver or freshly immigrated families must not be forced to commute - they HAVE to live in this small expensive county. That's at least the County Board's opinion....

I cannot fathom, why they think this would be a good idea for the county.

[Anonymous]

I've heard people complain about illegal boarding houses in south Arlington. I'm pretty sure there is one around the corner from my house. Changing the zoning would just make that a lot more rampant and worse.

[Anonymous]

The idea of increasing density in some of the Yorktown zone forgets the complete lack of amenities and infrastructure up that way, at least in some parts. You need a car to get everywhere and it's not easy access to the metro and there are no stores or anything within walking distance. You'd really need to "urbanize" the area a little with some more practical infrastructure to make it attractive to anyone not set on full-on suburban life. I'm not talking about Lee Highway, which does have those things and is appropriately included in the planning for adding housing units.