Reply to Reminder to vote for SB candidate in the Arlington Democratic Caucus this week!

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Reply to "Reminder to vote for SB candidate in the Arlington Democratic Caucus this week!"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]People who don't understand AH in Arlington *think* they are helping teachers and county workers have affordable places to live. That's not what is happening though. Because of income restrictions (many set by federal regs) most teachers and county workers make too much money to qualify for the vast majority of AH units in the County. There are some units set aside for "higher income" levels, but they are the exception and not the rule. And AH construction has been extremely profitable for many developers. They are able to make a developer contribution to the County's Affordable Housing Investment Fund (AHIF) and in exchange the County board waives certain density requirements so they can build more units in their non-AH apartment buildings. Then many of those same developers get the contract from Arlington County to build the AH buildings, with funds from AHIF. I have spoken with many well-meaning AH advocates (including my own pastor) and their heart is in the right place, but they don't understand how they are getting played by the developers. And they don't understand how building more AH is contributing to the school capacity crisis-- it is not just kids moving into AH buildings, but it is also the fact that developers are trading AH donations for extra units in their non-AH buildings and that also drives up school enrollment. I would love to see one of these churches donate their land to the County to build a new school or daycare instead of just building apartment buildings over the sanctuary.[/quote]

Yes!!!  All the people that are supposed to be helped with the "live where you work" motto (first responders, daycare workers, teachers, police officers), are generally not helped by the AH...  biggest group of AH that WE, as Arlington county TAX PAYERS subsidize, are construction workers and cab drivers, the majority of which don't even work near here, but are commuting to FFX county (per studies done on this).   AH is making Arlington less affordable for the middle class, while bringing in many kids that need lots of additional support (and more money) in the already overcrowded school system, and they are bringing in those kids only in some parts of the county, which is an even bigger issue, since only some schools are getting overwhelmed with kids that need additional resources, speak not a word of English, etc. 
 
They should set aside affordable units for seniors, and special professional groups, and perhaps some other units (that are much better distributed throughout the entire county) but otherwise let the market largely dictate.     As others pointed out, AH is a big money maker for developers and other lobbies, but is costing the tax payer, and taxing our school system.

So, not one person will be openly against AH though, which begs the question:  Can we really make a difference with our vote?  [/quote]

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