Arlington Missing Middle Housing Q&A

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone ever tried parking on a street with mixed housing? Our friends live on a street that has SFHs and is adjacent to some duplexes and condos. It's a nightmare. One family has three cars, and that's enough to disrupt the entire parking balance. There are cars parked up and down both sides of the street, which means only one car can get through at a time. They cannot park in front of their own house, there is never space for people who come over etc.

Yes I do this on my street. Sometimes I or guests have to walk a block. Parking issues occur near commercial areas or in lower income areas (think Arlington mill neighborhood). This would not be the case in most of Arlington where missing middle housing could be added.

Of course it would. One SFH means two cars on the street. One duplex means 4 cars on the street. One triplex is 6 cars on the street.

Why is a SFH putting ANY cars on the street? You have at least 4,000 SF of land regardless of where you are. Get the curb cut permit and put in some stones. Stop making parking for your cars and people who don’t even live in the neighborhood everyone else’s problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why isn't this being proposed for Bethesda, Chevy Chase or NW DC?

Because you do not have a Commonwealth's Attorney who is bound and determined to provide housing to every criminal she slaps on the wrist as part of her catch and release program. Come to Arlington, cut out a hundred air bags and sell them on the black market, get free housing.

Here they are! I knew the racists would show up soon. Don’t worry, criminal brown people probably can’t afford the $1.2m duplex anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why isn't this being proposed for Bethesda, Chevy Chase or NW DC?

Because you do not have a Commonwealth's Attorney who is bound and determined to provide housing to every criminal she slaps on the wrist as part of her catch and release program. Come to Arlington, cut out a hundred air bags and sell them on the black market, get free housing.

Here they are! I knew the racists would show up soon. Don’t worry, criminal brown people probably can’t afford the $1.2m duplex anyway.

If they're good enough criminals they can afford a $1.2 m duplex.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone ever tried parking on a street with mixed housing? Our friends live on a street that has SFHs and is adjacent to some duplexes and condos. It's a nightmare. One family has three cars, and that's enough to disrupt the entire parking balance. There are cars parked up and down both sides of the street, which means only one car can get through at a time. They cannot park in front of their own house, there is never space for people who come over etc.

Discouraging parking and cars is a feature not a bug. #carfreediet

Oh please. You can’t be “car free in Arlington.” And the push for it hasn’t worked for the past twenty years. Give me a break.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone ever tried parking on a street with mixed housing? Our friends live on a street that has SFHs and is adjacent to some duplexes and condos. It's a nightmare. One family has three cars, and that's enough to disrupt the entire parking balance. There are cars parked up and down both sides of the street, which means only one car can get through at a time. They cannot park in front of their own house, there is never space for people who come over etc.

Yes I do this on my street. Sometimes I or guests have to walk a block. Parking issues occur near commercial areas or in lower income areas (think Arlington mill neighborhood). This would not be the case in most of Arlington where missing middle housing could be added.

Of course it would. One SFH means two cars on the street. One duplex means 4 cars on the street. One triplex is 6 cars on the street.

Why is a SFH putting ANY cars on the street? You have at least 4,000 SF of land regardless of where you are. Get the curb cut permit and put in some stones. Stop making parking for your cars and people who don’t even live in the neighborhood everyone else’s problem.

Do you really live on a street in Arlington without anyone that parks on the street? I sincerely doubt it. People do it all the time. I think it’s annoying and I park in my own driveway but people park on the street ALL THE TIME.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone ever tried parking on a street with mixed housing? Our friends live on a street that has SFHs and is adjacent to some duplexes and condos. It's a nightmare. One family has three cars, and that's enough to disrupt the entire parking balance. There are cars parked up and down both sides of the street, which means only one car can get through at a time. They cannot park in front of their own house, there is never space for people who come over etc.

Yes I do this on my street. Sometimes I or guests have to walk a block. Parking issues occur near commercial areas or in lower income areas (think Arlington mill neighborhood). This would not be the case in most of Arlington where missing middle housing could be added.

Of course it would. One SFH means two cars on the street. One duplex means 4 cars on the street. One triplex is 6 cars on the street.

Why is a SFH putting ANY cars on the street? You have at least 4,000 SF of land regardless of where you are. Get the curb cut permit and put in some stones. Stop making parking for your cars and people who don’t even live in the neighborhood everyone else’s problem.

Do you really live on a street in Arlington without anyone that parks on the street? I sincerely doubt it. People do it all the time. I think it’s annoying and I park in my own driveway but people park on the street ALL THE TIME.

NP - I agree with you. But while I agree parking in general is a concern throughout Arlington, I don’t see how the proposed housing would be any worse. In our neighborhood, many of the tear downs have split lots and created long skinny homes. If people don’t use their garages to park, they only have 2 spaces, so they park on the street. A 6 or 8 unit building would require a parking pad; duplexes would just have 2 driveways, like a SFH.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why isn't this being proposed for Bethesda, Chevy Chase or NW DC?

DP. Are you actually familiar with any of these places? They already have a wider diversity of housing options than Arlington.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why isn't this being proposed for Bethesda, Chevy Chase or NW DC?

DP. Are you actually familiar with any of these places? They already have a wider diversity of housing options than Arlington.

This is totally backwards. Arlington has tons of duplexes, apartments, etc. Bethesda, other than downtown, and Chevy Chase, other than a few apartments on EW Highway, is almost entirely single family home zoning. No duplexes, etc. on those large 7-10k sq foot lots. Let’s change it!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why isn't this being proposed for Bethesda, Chevy Chase or NW DC?

DP. Are you actually familiar with any of these places? They already have a wider diversity of housing options than Arlington.

This is totally backwards. Arlington has tons of duplexes, apartments, etc. Bethesda, other than downtown, and Chevy Chase, other than a few apartments on EW Highway, is almost entirely single family home zoning. No duplexes, etc. on those large 7-10k sq foot lots. Let’s change it!!

There are tons of townhouses. Far more than in Arlington. I guess you are right that they aren’t specifically duplexes though but other connected housing. And in the prior comment that included Upper NW there are a lot of row houses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why isn't this being proposed for Bethesda, Chevy Chase or NW DC?

Because you do not have a Commonwealth's Attorney who is bound and determined to provide housing to every criminal she slaps on the wrist as part of her catch and release program. Come to Arlington, cut out a hundred air bags and sell them on the black market, get free housing.

Here they are! I knew the racists would show up soon. Don’t worry, criminal brown people probably can’t afford the $1.2m duplex anyway.

If they're good enough criminals they can afford a $1.2 m duplex.

That would make them republicans!

[Anonymous]

Arlington needs to increase their park and rec offerings before they encourage more population growth. The competition for camps, swimming lessons, gymnastics, etc are already cutthroat. It’s crazy to pretend like we have capacity to absorb more people without expanding parks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Arlington needs to increase their park and rec offerings before they encourage more population growth. The competition for camps, swimming lessons, gymnastics, etc are already cutthroat. It’s crazy to pretend like we have capacity to absorb more people without expanding parks.

If they added more options, would you support the proposal? Asking because many posters are complaining about specific effects (for example, parking) as if the county would gain their approval by fixing it.

Arlington did listen and addressed concerns about the size of multi-family housing. Structures must adhere to the same setbacks and heights as single family homes. But let’s get real—new complaints will arise each round because there are people who will not support missing middle housing in their neighborhood under any circumstances.

And that’s fine. Just be honest and say that. I’d rather the county focus on real concerns than trying to please people who will never be happy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arlington needs to increase their park and rec offerings before they encourage more population growth. The competition for camps, swimming lessons, gymnastics, etc are already cutthroat. It’s crazy to pretend like we have capacity to absorb more people without expanding parks.

If they added more options, would you support the proposal? Asking because many posters are complaining about specific effects (for example, parking) as if the county would gain their approval by fixing it.

Arlington did listen and addressed concerns about the size of multi-family housing. Structures must adhere to the same setbacks and heights as single family homes. But let’s get real—new complaints will arise each round because there are people who will not support missing middle housing in their neighborhood under any circumstances.

And that’s fine. Just be honest and say that. I’d rather the county focus on real concerns than trying to please people who will never be happy.

I agree with you, but both sides need to be brutally honest. The county equally needs to say, “Look, the schools are going to be a lot more crowded and we don’t have space money for more big parks. Housing is the priority and we will do what we can about the rest.” It needs to be said and the people fighting for these changes really need to understand and internalize the consequences. Stop pretending like we can have everything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arlington needs to increase their park and rec offerings before they encourage more population growth. The competition for camps, swimming lessons, gymnastics, etc are already cutthroat. It’s crazy to pretend like we have capacity to absorb more people without expanding parks.

If they added more options, would you support the proposal? Asking because many posters are complaining about specific effects (for example, parking) as if the county would gain their approval by fixing it.

Arlington did listen and addressed concerns about the size of multi-family housing. Structures must adhere to the same setbacks and heights as single family homes. But let’s get real—new complaints will arise each round because there are people who will not support missing middle housing in their neighborhood under any circumstances.

And that’s fine. Just be honest and say that. I’d rather the county focus on real concerns than trying to please people who will never be happy.

I agree with you, but both sides need to be brutally honest. The county equally needs to say, “Look, the schools are going to be a lot more crowded and we don’t have space money for more big parks. Housing is the priority and we will do what we can about the rest.” It needs to be said and the people fighting for these changes really need to understand and internalize the consequences. Stop pretending like we can have everything.

Schools at/or over capacity is my major problem with increasing density. I have been worried about it since they couldn’t figure out how to build a 4th HS. (I don’t want to hear about the lame Career Center.) Now they are trying to increase density even more. I’ve given up caring and sent my kid to a $50k private school. Not many have that option. Arlington is going to turn into Alexandria. Enjoy!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arlington needs to increase their park and rec offerings before they encourage more population growth. The competition for camps, swimming lessons, gymnastics, etc are already cutthroat. It’s crazy to pretend like we have capacity to absorb more people without expanding parks.

If they added more options, would you support the proposal? Asking because many posters are complaining about specific effects (for example, parking) as if the county would gain their approval by fixing it.

Arlington did listen and addressed concerns about the size of multi-family housing. Structures must adhere to the same setbacks and heights as single family homes. But let’s get real—new complaints will arise each round because there are people who will not support missing middle housing in their neighborhood under any circumstances.

And that’s fine. Just be honest and say that. I’d rather the county focus on real concerns than trying to please people who will never be happy.

If I believed they would actually do it, sure. But they won’t. Instead they send around surveys about fixing camp sign up by turning it into a lottery or staggering sign up times when the real problem is scarcity. Also have you seen the document where the county proposed future school sites? They are all heavily used parks near dense housing - Virginia Highlands, Quincy Park, Dawson Terrace, etc.