I had to miss the meeting - can anyone give a recap?

Come to the JFAC meeting tomorrow (Tuesday) 7-9 pm at the County Board room. Wear school bus YELLOW to show your support for schools!

8 years is fine. Just get me through. I'll graduate one and have the other in 11th grade. Then I'll sell my house to one of those developers for their triplexes and get out of here.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gutshall means our sfh neighborhood's get split into triplexes.
I don't think he is against schools per se.
But elections have consequences.

What drives all the AH push? Does Fairfax do this as well?

What drives it?
Your neighbors. Arlington.
Seriously, this is a deeply entrenched idea and isn't changing anytime soon. Even if in 20 years the boomers that spearheaded these ideas are gone, it won't matter. Damage is done. These poor areas will be locked in.
Don't feel smug if you bought in Discovery land...
The developers can't wait to start start building luxury triplexes over there.
3 houses at 850k a pop, where they would have otherwise been lucky to get 1.8 mil.
Those lots will be housing 6-12 kids in no time.
Hope you are enjoying your spacious school now.
I give it 8 years. And that's being conservative.

Anonymous wrote:Gutshall means our sfh neighborhood's get split into triplexes.
I don't think he is against schools per se.
But elections have consequences.

What drives all the AH push? Does Fairfax do this as well?

Gutshall means our sfh neighborhood's get split into triplexes.
I don't think he is against schools per se.
But elections have consequences.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This statement on page 13-14 was also annoying... JFAC is okay using the cash to buy land for AH, but not for additional school space?

The value of the Carlin Springs site is less than the value of the Edison site. The
remaining value could be used to exchange for the VHC site at the north-west
corner of Lee Highway and George Mason Drive or the two residential
properties on 16th Street North. Instead, the Commission recommends that the
County request the remaining value be paid by VHC in cash. These funds
should be dedicated to the County’s Affordable Housing Investment Fund to
support to acquisition of additional properties for affordable housing in
Arlington.[i]

Yep--they don't see the cautionary tale of the city of Alexandria. See what years of Affordable Housing did to it's public school system.

They haven't been able to make a comeback for DECADES.

Arlington County is full of idiots.

Is there anything to be done about this, though? Or did Gutshall's victory just ensure we get AH forever more?

Anonymous wrote:This statement on page 13-14 was also annoying... JFAC is okay using the cash to buy land for AH, but not for additional school space?

The value of the Carlin Springs site is less than the value of the Edison site. The
remaining value could be used to exchange for the VHC site at the north-west
corner of Lee Highway and George Mason Drive or the two residential
properties on 16th Street North. Instead, the Commission recommends that the
County request the remaining value be paid by VHC in cash. These funds
should be dedicated to the County’s Affordable Housing Investment Fund to
support to acquisition of additional properties for affordable housing in
Arlington.[i]

Yep--they don't see the cautionary tale of the city of Alexandria. See what years of Affordable Housing did to it's public school system.

They haven't been able to make a comeback for DECADES.

Arlington County is full of idiots.

Anonymous wrote:This statement on page 13-14 was also annoying... JFAC is okay using the cash to buy land for AH, but not for additional school space?

The value of the Carlin Springs site is less than the value of the Edison site. The
remaining value could be used to exchange for the VHC site at the north-west
corner of Lee Highway and George Mason Drive or the two residential
properties on 16th Street North. Instead, the Commission recommends that the
County request the remaining value be paid by VHC in cash. These funds
should be dedicated to the County’s Affordable Housing Investment Fund to
support to acquisition of additional properties for affordable housing in
Arlington.[i]

It's not annoying, it's stupid and piss poor planning. Because it does NOTHING to further the goals of the AHMP by actually getting hard-to-acquire land along Lee Hwy for AH. Money for the AHIF just means that it will be funneled to developers to use for yet more infill development along Columbia Pike. Pack 'em in there--why stop at 80% fr/l rates in those schools? Let's go for 100%!!!!! And then give no additional money to APS build the adequate facilities needed to educate the students living in that housing. SO SMART. Who's running this? Because even the Housing Commission seemed to favor getting the land, in either or both locations, over some $$ for the AHIF.

This statement on page 13-14 was also annoying... JFAC is okay using the cash to buy land for AH, but not for additional school space?

The value of the Carlin Springs site is less than the value of the Edison site. The
remaining value could be used to exchange for the VHC site at the north-west
corner of Lee Highway and George Mason Drive or the two residential
properties on 16th Street North. Instead, the Commission recommends that the
County request the remaining value be paid by VHC in cash. These funds
should be dedicated to the County’s Affordable Housing Investment Fund to
support to acquisition of additional properties for affordable housing in
Arlington.[i]

Oh, and another Glen Carlyn resident saying that the county should just buy land where they "need" it. Lady, it's crowded everywhere. And where are they going to get this magic money and land that it's in the exact perfect location? You think they're sitting on a perfect solution and just looking to stick it to you? No. There's just no such thing. Also, your neighborhood is being bused to a HS that is not the geographically closest location. They could have sent all your PU's to Wakefield. Do you not understand this? You're not really in a position to be demanding perfect locations. A perfect location would be at Kenmore, so that you have a HS in walk distance instead of taking up seats at a school in someone else's neighborhood. See how this works, Glen Carlyn?

Anonymous wrote:I think we're screwed. I mean, I've thought that for a while, and this is just another confirmation.

https://commissions.arlingtonva.us/jfac/

There were a few letters about schools, but they are going to ignore those, because most quote the "40,000" students number, which the SB made a specific point in addressing in one of the recent meetings, saying that number was 0-14, not students. So anything that has that number they will totally pooh-pooh.

And the Glen Carlyn writer who was all "My kids went to public school but now I don't want any more schools near me"--you suck.

JFAC is asking for comments again on the new draft, so make your voices known. If you don't mind just shouting into the abyss, that is.

I love how she said a school would "ruin" her neighborhood. Lady, I'm sure the bus depot and materials staging will be so much more pleasant. What don't they understand? It's going to change. The best they can hope for is to get the least bad thing out of the deal.

And traffic is bad, but not because of the schools. It's bad across Arlington because we're not a sleepy little bedroom community any longer and we never will be again. Instead of trying to turn back time and MAGA (make Arlington great again), why not advocate for something that IS in the realm of possibility like a better network of sidewalks, pedestrian crossings, and bike paths, etc., that keep people out of the paths of vehicular traffic. Because we're only going to grow and keep growing, and nothing can stop that, but we can make it less painful for current and future residents by building the necessary infrastructure.

Anonymous wrote:The number was 0-14, not students?

What does that mean?

In presentations, the SB used a statistic from the county (i think) that says that by X year, there will be 40,000 kids in Arlington between the ages of 0-14. But at a recent meeting they criticized feedback they had received that cited this figure as 40,000 students, because that number includes kids not yet in school (babies/toddlers) as well as children who attend private school. So there won't be 40,000 public school students, they say.

The number was 0-14, not students?

What does that mean?

I think we're screwed. I mean, I've thought that for a while, and this is just another confirmation.

https://commissions.arlingtonva.us/jfac/

There were a few letters about schools, but they are going to ignore those, because most quote the "40,000" students number, which the SB made a specific point in addressing in one of the recent meetings, saying that number was 0-14, not students. So anything that has that number they will totally pooh-pooh.

And the Glen Carlyn writer who was all "My kids went to public school but now I don't want any more schools near me"--you suck.

JFAC is asking for comments again on the new draft, so make your voices known. If you don't mind just shouting into the abyss, that is.