Reply to City of Alexandria rolls out timeline for massive housing reform project

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

But in the City of Alexandria, right now, where is the crisis?  Where are the droves of Residents (the Council's constituency) that are  in "a time of intense difficulty, trouble, or danger" over housing?  Unfortunately financial inequities exist, and they always will even in countries purporting to be socialist / communist (look at the immigrant populations in Sweden and France).  Alexandria need not destroy itself so DINKs can buy Del Ray townhouses or the Hill staffer can rent an apartment in Potomac Yard.  Weirdly, there are plenty of apartments available in the West End - [b]there are 46 units available right now at The Sherwood at Southern Towers[/b], so they are at 89% occupancy.   Right --- that developer who will make a cool million knocking down that perfectly good SFH to build three townhouses doesn't get a dime if we just encourage occupancy of the existing housing stock.  So it is a crisis of not getting the house one wants or thinks they deserve - what if one wants a SFH, do they not deserve that?[/quote]

The idea here seems to be that there is no housing crisis if vacant units are available. But there are always going to be vacant rental units available, just like there are always going to be units available for sale. People move in, people move out, people die, people combine households, people separate households...

Also, let's look at those units at The Sherwood at Southern Towers.

391 sf studio, 7 available, starting from $1498/month
514 sf studio, 10 available, starting from $1499/month
653 sf 1 BR/1 BA, 1 available, starting from $1690/month
721 sf 1 BR/1 BA, 8 available, starting from $1678/month
725 sf 1 BR/1 BA, 10 available, starting from $1755/month
884 sf 2 BR/1 BA, 2 available, starting from $2238/month
928 sf 2 BR/1 BA, 4 available, starting from $2290/month
1450 sf 2 BR/2 BA, 2 available, starting from $3013/month
1250 sf 3 BR/2 BA, 1 available, starting from $3002/month
[/quote]

So I guess you are trying to say these rents are outrageous and unaffordable ?

In reality, these rents aren’t too far off from the affordable housing rents offered by the City. Btw the City updates the list monthly.

https://www.alexandriava.gov/sites/default/files/2023-08/AUGUST%202023%20CAU%20Monthly%20Report%2008-03-2023.FINALTOUSE.pdf

[b]And from your other example  income of $57k is achievable if there are 2 working full time adults in the household. What then happens is they will often take in other relatives to help with the rent and no they don’t add them to the lease. [/b] [/quote]

How many working full time adults should live in a 595 sf 1 BR/1 BA apartment? [/quote]

2 adults is the usual max. You might be shocked to know but many people in the US live in 1 Br apts. There is nothing wrong with it and it’s not bad and it doesn’t mean the people living in them are “less than” though apparently it dies in your eyes [/quote]

Fine, 2 adults in the 595 sf 1 BR/1 BA apartment that's affordable with a $57,000 gross income. Now, where should their children live? And where should the other relatives live whom they have taken in to help with the rent?[/quote]

This proposal will not correct that issue unless you are talking about bonus height density. Most of the housing that will come out of this proposal will not be affordable. Rather, proponents argue, its existence will one day relieve pressure on the median and above median income markets, bringing down rent across the board.

The problem with this argument is that this area will continue to remain popular based on its proximity to DC and employers.

They also argue their current infrastructure/school projects will prepare the area for future needs. But they also continuously use old assumptions to determine future need. For example, they say new apartments are not a primary source for school kids historically. But if their argument is that SFHs are going to become unaffordable, then at some point those new apartments will become a source for school kids.[/quote]

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