Dear Members of the Arlington County Board,
The Arlington County Vision Statement reads: “Arlington will be a diverse and inclusive world-class urban community with secure, attractive residential and commercial neighborhoods where people unite to form a caring, learning, participating, sustainable community in which each person is important.”
We whole-heartedly endorse this vision. Arlington is a world-class community because of its diversity and its economic vibrancy. But Arlington’s diversity and vitality are at risk from a severe housing shortage that is getting worse every year.
Our housing crisis puts stress on Arlingtonians at every stage of life. Seniors struggle to find affordable rental homes or a place to downsize in their neighborhoods. Young professionals ready to buy cannot find starter homes. This is a brain drain, where our educated and committed neighbors are forced to relocate from Arlington. Every year, it is more challenging to fill critical County positions, like Extended Day workers, substitute teachers, and entry level police cadets. People who grew up here and want to continue to live here are being pushed out. Arlington has one fewer Title 1 school because low-income families can’t afford to stay in Arlington.
Renters who do stay face the constant fear of rent increases or other displacement. Many families are spending way too much of their income on rent, effectively locking them into poverty. Homelessness and food insecurity are once again on the increase.
The only way to preserve the Arlington that we love is to allow more housing. The update to the Comprehensive Plan is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to set the groundwork for responsible and sustainable growth with the fundamental belief that people are what make Arlington great, and a welcoming, diverse community must allow for and encourage diverse and abundant housing to meet the needs of all Arlingtonians, and those who have yet to come.
Arlington has gone through monumental change in the last 150 years. We understand the truth in the statement that ‘the only constant is change.’ If a county or country rejects change there is no growth, no progress. The inability to change can result in stagnation. Stagnation means not reaching our full potential, giving up on our vision statement, closing the door to new neighbors, more segregation, and falling into polarized groups that unfortunately have become a predominant feature of our county at this moment in time.
We envision an Arlington where people from all walks of life and different backgrounds are welcome; where the people who drive our school buses, care for our babies, make our lattes, cut our hair, repair our cars, attend to our elderly can find a place to live; a county that is actively dismantling the legacy of past racist housing policies; where a wide range of housing types across our 26 square miles results in neighborhoods and schools that are economically and racial integrated.
We envision a county designed to address climate change, reduce sprawl, long commutes, a county that appreciates the energy savings in more dense housing; a county with an innovative public transportation system, walkable, bikeable neighborhoods with plenty of parks, lots of gathering spaces and destination spots that are supported by abundant housing.
We envision a county that refuses to follow the trend in this country of deep divisions.
Rather, we envision an Arlington that values diversity in our housing, in our schools, in our neighborhoods because we believe that diverse groups of people living, studying, working, playing together; in other words, people in relationship with each other are our hope for the future.
We share this vision with you as you consider the momentous opportunity that comes from updating the Comprehensive Plan and the General Land Use Plan. The tools to make this vision a reality are within your power to wield. The Comprehensive Plan rewrite is an opportunity to create a vision that fits our values and meets our needs today and into the future. We need an update that provides a bold, modern plan to establish Arlington as a welcoming, vibrant, livable place.
Key parts of what we want to see in a bold, modern comprehensive plan
- Include a vision of growth and the ability to welcome new residents as a foundational goal.
- Remove language about “Retention of the predominantly residential character of the county, and limitation of intense development to limited and defined areas;”
- Find a place for authentic and equitable public engagement within a system that prioritizes outcomes that enhance our entire community.
- Enable people who have been zoned out/excluded from single-family areas to weigh in on changes throughout the County that can provide more opportunities for them.
- Allow for growth along transit-served arterial roads (i.e. connector roads like Wilson Blvd., Glebe, Washington Blvd, George Mason, Rt. 50, Four Mile Run, Yorktown Blvd., Carlyn Springs).
- Expand the definition of “walkable” to Metro from ¼ mile to ½ or even one mile, and allow more growth within this range.
- Eliminate the “bullseye” concept that requires tapering of height between Metro stations, and increase housing, commercial, retail, and hotel uses along the entire Metro corridor.
- Advance a planning study to bring additional density and height to the neighborhoods surrounding the East Falls Church Metro Station.
We reject the politics of scarcity -- that, when you win, I lose -- practiced by persistent naysayers opposed to any change to their current reality and instead embrace the politics of abundance -- that more housing meeting more residents' needs benefits the whole community. And we believe that, with the updated Comprehensive Plan and General Land Use Plan as guides, the County can add housing responsibly.
Thank you for showing leadership as you draft a Comprehensive Plan for a new century. Our organizations stand ready to support you.
Signed,
YIMBYs of Northern Virginia
Northern Virginia Affordable Housing Alliance
Virginians Organized for Interfaith and Community Engagement
Sustainable Mobility for Arlington County
League of Women Voters - Arlington and Alexandria Branch
Faith Alliance for Climate Solution
Sierra Club-Potomac River Group
Coalition for Smarter Growth