It may tend to be overlooked, but to us, the greatest achievement of the City of Falls Church government in the last period has been its resolve around affordable housing such that units in new mixed use and residential projects designated as “affordable” in the proffering process not only now approach 10 percent or even higher of all the units in a project, but that, even more importantly, that they are maintained as “affordable” in perpetuity, and not just for 10 or 15 years.
The “in perpetuity” aspect of these proffers is absolutely key in the process of a sustained advancement in the City’s housing affordability effort, critical to maintaining a community that is sustainable and just.
It is already evident that the civic culture of Falls Church is a step ahead of its neighbors on this critical national issue of housing affordability. Even as all of Northern Virginia – from Arlington, to Alexandria to Fairfax County and Falls Church – collectively ranks the highest region in the entire nation as the most ideal place for seniors to reside than anywhere else in the U.S. (according to the latest AARP survey reported in this edition), there remain distinctions among the area’s jurisdictions on the housing equity and affordability matter.
Evidence is the difficulty Arlington is having advancing its main housing affordability issue described as “missing middle” housing in single family home zoned areas of that county. The pushback by residential property owners against this relatively modest initiative to allow for some more moderately priced housing has continued to be furious and far from resolved after years of effort to date.
Falls Church had its version of the same fundamental issue take the form of a transitional zone modification where the City’s version of “Not In My Back Yard” (NIMBY) mentality reared its ugly head, and it took years, due to its government’s generous concern to allow full public debate of the matter, to get the change made. But it did it, and it’s over. The vote on the City Council never changed from the clear 5-2 majority the whole process began with.
Notwithstanding that Falls Church is not a perfect place and its people collectively not perfect, either, still, the nature of the debate here has been civil and governed by a reasonable appreciation of its role in the wider national housing crisis. The City is continuing to move in the right direction.
It was not long ago that the “affordable housing” issue, overall was an afterthought, a nuisance and a bastard stepchild among the City’s priorities. Now, in recent years it has emerged to the forefront of concern, with the transitional zones and accessory dwelling unit changes. More will be coming in the next year. We will be watching with interest as the Virginia Village project matures and other new initiatives arise to add meaningfully to the stock of affordable homes for the community.