Arlington Missing Middle Housing Q&A

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Increased supply induces increased demand.

There are already a lot of new apartments and condos that have gone up in Arlington what is exactly missing?

Nothing is missing.

New 2500 sq ft duplexes are not really being built.

Although obviously those will be over 7 figures in desirable neighborhoods which is why they have unsuccessfully tried to rebrand the movement.

I think folks are going to have to get used to less square footage. 2,500 sq feet really a lot of space by historical standards:

https://www.newser.com/story/225645/average-size-of-us-homes-decade-by-decade.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Increased supply induces increased demand.

There are already a lot of new apartments and condos that have gone up in Arlington what is exactly missing?

Nothing is missing.

New 2500 sq ft duplexes are not really being built.

Although obviously those will be over 7 figures in desirable neighborhoods which is why they have unsuccessfully tried to rebrand the movement.

I think folks are going to have to get used to less square footage. 2,500 sq feet really a lot of space by historical standards:

https://www.newser.com/story/225645/average-size-of-us-homes-decade-by-decade.html

At the next board meeting for missing middle both NIMBYs and YIMBYs waving “Missing Middle : Get Used to Less” signs 😂

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I watched the speakers at the meeting last night and there were good points made by both sides of the debate. My personal opinion is that additional time is needed to understand the impact of these proposed changes to the infrastructure of the county. It seems that this proposal has been rushed through with very little exploration of how to execute MMH effectively. This CB does not have a great track record of careful consideration and it appears that they are on the verge of one more impulsive decision that has the potential to negatively impact the Arlington in terms of livability. (Which is why people want to live here in the first place.)

There seems to be little real planning around tree cover, parking, sewage, utilities, safety, traffic congestion, and school overcrowding which are real and legitimate concerns. The CB should at the very least pump the breaks and make sure they do their due diligence for the residents of the county before changing zoning. It appears they want to change the zoning first and then figure out how to execute while using the tax payers money to do so. However, there was mention by at least one speaker that this effort could be subsidized by the Federal government. If that is the case, that would explain the rush to pass these zoning changes but the CB should be up front about their motivations if that is indeed true.

I mean the planning has dragged on for years.

The county is assuming the impact will be 150 additional people a year and 9-13 new students. As 2/5 of the board is already checked out, guess it will be the next board problem deal with any issues if they are wrong.

https://www.arlingtonva.us/files/sharedassets/public/housing/documents/missing-middle/mmhs-phase-2-public-presentation_05.02.pdf

The planning may have been going on but it's not complete and it did not address how to actually execute this change. It's the details that matter but sure - what's the worse that could happen??

[Anonymous]

Racist

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Racist

I support making zoning changes. However, I do have concerns with ARL CB and (the County in general) their ability to execute changes properly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Increased supply induces increased demand.

There are already a lot of new apartments and condos that have gone up in Arlington what is exactly missing?

I think some of it is about access to the “good” schools in North Arlington.

I don’t understand the argument about good schools, these schools are good because parents are involved. If parents were similarly involved in lower performing schools then those schools will improve as well.

My grandmother only studied till middle school, was a person of truly modest means but each one of her 4 kids went to college with graduate degrees no less, this happened because she saw education as a way out and enforced strict discipline. These values are not related to wealth.

Well you don’t have to worry about your “good” schools because your new neighbors in a 1.4M dollar duplex are going to be involved as well.

I’m not going to address the rest of what you said.

You know who's not going to be involved, from what I can see in my Arlington neighborhood? Parents living in the new construction houses with 5 bedrooms or more. They're going private, and they won't give a (&# about private schools any more than they care about their carbon footprint (your Tesla doesn't solve everything, Trevor)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Increased supply induces increased demand.

There are already a lot of new apartments and condos that have gone up in Arlington what is exactly missing?

I think some of it is about access to the “good” schools in North Arlington.

I don’t understand the argument about good schools, these schools are good because parents are involved. If parents were similarly involved in lower performing schools then those schools will improve as well.

My grandmother only studied till middle school, was a person of truly modest means but each one of her 4 kids went to college with graduate degrees no less, this happened because she saw education as a way out and enforced strict discipline. These values are not related to wealth.

Well you don’t have to worry about your “good” schools because your new neighbors in a 1.4M dollar duplex are going to be involved as well.

I’m not going to address the rest of what you said.

You know who's not going to be involved, from what I can see in my Arlington neighborhood? Parents living in the new construction houses with 5 bedrooms or more. They're going private, and they won't give a (&# about private schools any more than they care about their carbon footprint (your Tesla doesn't solve everything, Trevor)

Does it matter if they go private? APS has admitted in a recent report that the county is so populous that they have passed the point where they could build their way out of the capacity crisis. It seems like people going private is actually part of their plan?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Increased supply induces increased demand.

There are already a lot of new apartments and condos that have gone up in Arlington what is exactly missing?

I think some of it is about access to the “good” schools in North Arlington.

I don’t understand the argument about good schools, these schools are good because parents are involved. If parents were similarly involved in lower performing schools then those schools will improve as well.

My grandmother only studied till middle school, was a person of truly modest means but each one of her 4 kids went to college with graduate degrees no less, this happened because she saw education as a way out and enforced strict discipline. These values are not related to wealth.

Well you don’t have to worry about your “good” schools because your new neighbors in a 1.4M dollar duplex are going to be involved as well.

I’m not going to address the rest of what you said.

If you are not willing to address the fact that the lack of parental involvement among low performing schools is a problem, you are missing one of the major educational issues of today. Many issues from language barriers to multiple jobs to parental dis-interest are the reasons, and we should all recognize that so these schools and parents will be given the help to make their children get a good education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I watched the speakers at the meeting last night and there were good points made by both sides of the debate. My personal opinion is that additional time is needed to understand the impact of these proposed changes to the infrastructure of the county. It seems that this proposal has been rushed through with very little exploration of how to execute MMH effectively. This CB does not have a great track record of careful consideration and it appears that they are on the verge of one more impulsive decision that has the potential to negatively impact the Arlington in terms of livability. (Which is why people want to live here in the first place.)

There seems to be little real planning around tree cover, parking, sewage, utilities, safety, traffic congestion, and school overcrowding which are real and legitimate concerns. The CB should at the very least pump the breaks and make sure they do their due diligence for the residents of the county before changing zoning. It appears they want to change the zoning first and then figure out how to execute while using the tax payers money to do so. However, there was mention by at least one speaker that this effort could be subsidized by the Federal government. If that is the case, that would explain the rush to pass these zoning changes but the CB should be up front about their motivations if that is indeed true.

I mean the planning has dragged on for years.

The county is assuming the impact will be 150 additional people a year and 9-13 new students. As 2/5 of the board is already checked out, guess it will be the next board problem deal with any issues if they are wrong.

https://www.arlingtonva.us/files/sharedassets/public/housing/documents/missing-middle/mmhs-phase-2-public-presentation_05.02.pdf

The planning may have been going on but it's not complete and it did not address how to actually execute this change. It's the details that matter but sure - what's the worse that could happen??

It could become like Minneapolis where the policy was so difficult to implement that little MM housing has been built in the last three years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Racist

You are right -- MM policy is racist. It will hasten the gentrification of once black neighborhoods and further erode Arlington's 9% black population.

Just look at the YIMBYs -- completely white except for the tokens they pulled in from "ally" groups like VOICE and the NAACP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Increased supply induces increased demand.

There are already a lot of new apartments and condos that have gone up in Arlington what is exactly missing?

I think some of it is about access to the “good” schools in North Arlington.

I don’t understand the argument about good schools, these schools are good because parents are involved. If parents were similarly involved in lower performing schools then those schools will improve as well.

My grandmother only studied till middle school, was a person of truly modest means but each one of her 4 kids went to college with graduate degrees no less, this happened because she saw education as a way out and enforced strict discipline. These values are not related to wealth.

Well you don’t have to worry about your “good” schools because your new neighbors in a 1.4M dollar duplex are going to be involved as well.

I’m not going to address the rest of what you said.

If you are not willing to address the fact that the lack of parental involvement among low performing schools is a problem, you are missing one of the major educational issues of today. Many issues from language barriers to multiple jobs to parental dis-interest are the reasons, and we should all recognize that so these schools and parents will be given the help to make their children get a good education.

A lot of the “low performing” schools in Arlington have high ELL populations. It doesn’t matter how involved the parents are for that group. They aren’t going to test as well as native English speakers. This shouldn’t be news to you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Increased supply induces increased demand.

There are already a lot of new apartments and condos that have gone up in Arlington what is exactly missing?

I think some of it is about access to the “good” schools in North Arlington.

I don’t understand the argument about good schools, these schools are good because parents are involved. If parents were similarly involved in lower performing schools then those schools will improve as well.

My grandmother only studied till middle school, was a person of truly modest means but each one of her 4 kids went to college with graduate degrees no less, this happened because she saw education as a way out and enforced strict discipline. These values are not related to wealth.

Well you don’t have to worry about your “good” schools because your new neighbors in a 1.4M dollar duplex are going to be involved as well.

I’m not going to address the rest of what you said.

If you are not willing to address the fact that the lack of parental involvement among low performing schools is a problem, you are missing one of the major educational issues of today. Many issues from language barriers to multiple jobs to parental dis-interest are the reasons, and we should all recognize that so these schools and parents will be given the help to make their children get a good education.

A lot of the “low performing” schools in Arlington have high ELL populations. It doesn’t matter how involved the parents are for that group. They aren’t going to test as well as native English speakers. This shouldn’t be news to you.

Yes, mass illegal immigration is indeed an issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Increased supply induces increased demand.

There are already a lot of new apartments and condos that have gone up in Arlington what is exactly missing?

I think some of it is about access to the “good” schools in North Arlington.

I don’t understand the argument about good schools, these schools are good because parents are involved. If parents were similarly involved in lower performing schools then those schools will improve as well.

My grandmother only studied till middle school, was a person of truly modest means but each one of her 4 kids went to college with graduate degrees no less, this happened because she saw education as a way out and enforced strict discipline. These values are not related to wealth.

Well you don’t have to worry about your “good” schools because your new neighbors in a 1.4M dollar duplex are going to be involved as well.

I’m not going to address the rest of what you said.

If you are not willing to address the fact that the lack of parental involvement among low performing schools is a problem, you are missing one of the major educational issues of today. Many issues from language barriers to multiple jobs to parental dis-interest are the reasons, and we should all recognize that so these schools and parents will be given the help to make their children get a good education.

A lot of the “low performing” schools in Arlington have high ELL populations. It doesn’t matter how involved the parents are for that group. They aren’t going to test as well as native English speakers. This shouldn’t be news to you.

Except those kids are usually not coming to the US as kids. Yes there are some but the majority of kids are born in the US to parents who don’t speak English at home. The reality is if we encouraged parents to learn English and speak it at home that those kids would learn English more quickly.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thought I would revive this thread since the county board held a 10 hour hearing today. Did anyone watch any of it? Did the Board members ask any questions or was it just for the public to make comments.

[Anonymous]

Bump. Does anyone care anymore? When is this issue going to be decided and when will the changes take affect (I assume it’s 100 percent happening in some form).