County Launches Housing Arlington Initiative

Click on the image to view the Housing Arlington summary infographic.

Click on the image to view the Housing Arlington summary infographic.

Arlington County’s approval of incentives for Amazon’s new headquarters in National Landing earlier this spring was met with public outcry from residents and advocates concerned about the community’s affordable housing needs.

In response, County staff promised a Housing Arlington initiative to take a broader view of the housing market than it has done previously, recognizing that housing affordability is an issue across the spectrum of household income levels, including both low-income and middle-income households.

The Housing Arlington initiative was presented to the County Board on April 25. While providing funding for creating and preserving more committed affordable units for low-income households is still a primary element and the focus of subsidy resources, the Housing Arlington initiative recognizes that this funding alone is not sufficient to address the housing needs of the whole community.

For example, planning and zoning efforts can help create more naturally affordable homes by allowing more housing types and location options throughout Arlington.

The Alliance for Housing Solutions is referenced in the Housing Arlington initiative program outline as a partner for the County’s work on Institutional Partnerships.

The County will be holding an event to kick off the Housing Arlington initiative on May 29 from 6-9 p.m. at Wakefield High School. While the event is free and seating is not limited, they request RSVPs for planning purposes.