The picture of a proverbial “million and one” accomplishments is contained in the City of Falls Church’s 16-page 2023 Year in Review report issued last month and highlighted in a full page ad in the News-Press last week. It is centered on the current year-long celebration of the City’s 75th anniversary of being incorporated in 1948 as an independent city in Virginia’s nationally-unique jurisdictional system.

There are only 41 of what are known as “independent cities” in the U.S., and 38 of them are in Virginia. Such jurisdictions, as in Falls Church’s case, set their own tax rate and run their own school districts, and basically run their own show.

As Falls Church’s 2023 Year in Review report shows, as an independent city, Falls Church has been doing a bang-up job in its 2.2 square miles for its roughly 15,000 citizens.

Of the many accomplishments included in the report, ones highlighted in the News-Press ad included a 89 percent quality of life rating, meaning that 89 percent of those polled found the overall quality of life in Falls Church to be a major feature of its appeal, while $400,000 was saved in banking fees due to smart planning and investment policies, including AAA bond ratings. One hundred percent of uniformed police officers, sheriff deputies and dispatchers have been trained in crisis intervention, while the speed limit has been lowered to 20 miles per hour on most streets in the city and more than 80 city employees have been trained in live language and interpretation services to provide for a diverse population base.

(A telling supplement to the report was the results of the report released last week by the Smart Assets financial advisory firm showing that Falls Church ranks first among all Virginia jurisdictions in income growth of its citizens in the last 10 years, led by a $360,152 growth in median home value “raw growth,” a number far outstripping all jurisdictions. While the report did not propose the reasons for this, others have pointed to the impact of the City’s top drawer school system, over and above as other general quality of life factors.)

In the economic “sustainability and vitality” category in the City’s 2023 Year in Review report, the following accomplishments were noted: the City “began a tourism website to increase City visitor numbers and patronage to local businesses recovering from the pandemic in partnership with the Virginia Department of Tourism, completed a market study on post-pandemic retail trends to identify preferred commercial uses in new developments, refreshed Mr. Brown’s Park, including the addition of new seating and repairs to the mural, irrigation, lighting, and masonry, to encourage downtown visitation, developed parklet designs for the S. Washington St. corridor to support investment and economic activity in the area, and closed the sale of the Northern Virginia Center to make way for the future headquarters for HITT Contracting and home of Virginia Tech National Center for Smart Construction.

In addition, it noted, the City accomplished more: “Founder’s Row theater site plan amendment and building permits were approved, along with the Broad and Washington with Whole Foods planned opening in fall 2024, Founder’s Row II building permits issued, with stormwater, sanitary sewer, and streetscape infrastructure improvements underway, processed application for the Quinn/Homestretch Senior Living Redevelopment project with reviews by City Boards and Commissions.

In addition to the economic sustainability and vitality category, others composing the City’s report include Safe Streets for All, Social Equity, Inclusion and Affordable Housing, Public Safety, Environmental Sustainability and Effective and Responsive Government Services.

The latter category included sections on public meetings and communications, and investment in the workforce. It was noted that there are 2,788 signed up to receive weekly newsletter emails and 31,921 social media followers.

The City “is rated higher on services than the average regional benchmark,” with high marks for street maintenance and parks and trails.