Housing, affordability, community development. @habitatdcnova, @nvaha1 board. Opinions are mine, etc. "The world needs apartment buildings." - Ron Swanson
Arlington, VA
Joined February 2013
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After many long years, I’m excited and thankful that Arlington passed missing middle. Appreciate all of the work of local advocates, the diligence and thorough work of county staff, and the board’s ability to follow the evidence AND make the moral case….
Habitat DC-NOVA supports passage of the missing middle ordinance. We believe this will expand housing choice, including opportunities for homeownership. Our comment letter provides more details and recommendations for action.
The Arlington Planning Commission will meet tonight to discuss an ordinance to amend, reenact, and recodify the Arlington County Zoning Ordinance (ACZO) for Expanded Housing Option Development. Read our full comment (ow.ly/bBeH50N9UsS) & for a link to view the meeting.
Just had someone yell at my wife and I in front of our 3 year old because of our pro MMH sign. Called us both libertarian and neo-Marxist. Compared a duplex to a tannery. Closed with “if you want to be around lots of poor people, move to Calcutta asshole.”
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My first place in Arlington (almost 17 years ago) was also a basement apartment. No clue whether or not it was legal. The elderly owner (who lived upstairs) rented out my 1br apartment and a room upstairs.
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In reality, during the 2020 campaign DJT made it a campaign plank to “save the suburbs,” and publicly campaigned on a maintain single family/no MMH platform
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Some professional news: After 5 great years building @nbhdfundllc & more than 16 years working on housing/community development research and policy, I'm going to be taking on a new challenge. Starting next week, I'm joining the @HabitatDCNOVA real estate development team.
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Just a reminder, the current proposal by county staff includes a provision to require extra tree planting.
Anti-Missing Middle housing speaker leans into flimsy assertion that it would reduce tree cover. Virginia law allows a property owner to raze a lot to the ground as soon as they assume ownership. In reality, Arlington has 35-40% tree coverage according to an ally at @SCNOVAHub.
Is there more that can be done? Yes. I've put forward ideas in the past to improve affordability and better support equity via MMH. Pretty much all of those options are still on the table with this GLUP/zoning proposal.
But all in all, I think staff did a great job, and the proposal is worthy of support. arlingtonva.us/files/shareda…
New Arlington Missing Middle language just dropped. I’ve only had a chance to skim it, but overall, County staff once again developed a thoughtful policy framework that addresses legit concerns (including a provision to expand tree canopy). Initial thoughts:
Back home after participating at @UrbanLandInst Fall Meeting. Had the great opportunity to be a panelist discussing multigenerational neighborhoods w/ Helen Foster, @DrUrbanPolicy & @DanielParolek fall.uli.org/session/multige…
I was also happy to showcase the latest edition of the Terwilliger Center's Home Attainability Index, including the new @policymap hosted mapping platform policymap.com/newmaps#/widge…
We're still waiting for a response on this @SuptDuran @APSVaSchoolBd . Are these employees really going to lose health coverage? We're not going to let this get swept under the rug.
There is no excuse for this @SuptDuran @APSVaSchoolBd . These employees are critical. Are you trying to cause more hiring challenges? I’m livid.
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In the last couple weeks, I submitted public comment letters to the County on the latest issues related to missing middle and Plan Langston Boulevard. These comments can be found at: neighborhoodfundamentals.com…
There is no excuse for this @SuptDuran @APSVaSchoolBd . These employees are critical. Are you trying to cause more hiring challenges? I’m livid.
Shocked that @SuptDuran or @APSVaSchoolBd would cut sick leave & health insurance benefits from @APSVirginia hourly employees who care for our children on Jan 1
It seems both heartless & short sighted to cut benefits for these important caretakers when it's so hard to recruit
. @APSVirginia is not hurting for money. It’s a resource allocation problem. Maybe instead of gold plating everything we should take care of the staff
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The arguments against MMH almost entirely rely on ignoring the impact of the status quo, which can’t be justified on any basis (affordability, environment, etc.).
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More evidence to build on recent Harvard JCHS analysis on segregation and rental deserts: jchs.harvard.edu/blog/rental…
.@salimfurth on his an @MaryJoWebster's new research:
"Multifamily rental housing is the gateway to racial integration in most American neighborhoods.
Regrettably, zoning prevents apartments from being built on most residential land." mercatus.org/publications/ur…
Did the author spend their whole life living among aristocracy? I wonder what they would say if they ever observed a perfectly fine working class community in a slightly less wealthy community. They’d probably faint at the horror!
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