Alexandria is embarking this month on the creation of 15-year plan to tackle affordable housing issues. Once approved, the Housing 2040 Master Plan will give City Council and staff goals, strategies and direction on the city’s housing plans.
Housing affordability and zoning issues have been key issues in the upcoming City Council election on Nov. 5. Alexandria contended with a 62% decline in market-affordable rental units in the city between 2000 and 2021.
In a 2020 regional housing initiative set by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, the city pledged to produce or develop 3,000 new affordable units by the end of the decade.
The previous master plan was approved in 2013 and expires in 2025. The new plan will require a 2024 housing needs assessment from the city, and input from residents to “establish new housing affordability goals and examine housing policies, programs, and tools to support all Alexandria residents and workers,” the city said in a release.
The city will launch the project with the following kickoff meetings:
- A virtual meeting on Sept. 18 (Wednesday), from 7 to 9 p.m.
- A meeting at Charles Houston Recreation Center (901 Wythe Street) starting with an open house from 6 to 7 p.m., followed by a formal discussion from 7 to 9 p.m.
The 2023 Housing Needs Assessment revealed that renters live predominantly in the West End and Arlandria neighborhoods.
“In Alexandria, the location of renters correlates with patterns of racial and ethnic segregation,” the city said. “Finding affordable housing is only part of the struggle; keeping up with payments, ensuring decent living conditions and the cost of utilities are serious monthly challenges that residents face.”
Housing Alexandria is currently building two large affordable housing apartment buildings with 474 units in Arlandria.
According to the city:
The areas with the greatest racial diversity and with the highest percentage of children born to foreign-born parents are in Arlandria and the West End of Alexandria. These two areas have limited childcare capacity relative to the total number of children.
The following reasons highlight the need for more childcare options to be available in the Arlandria and West End area of Alexandria, specifically childcare centers with staff who speak Amharic and / or Spanish:
- The West End and Arlandria have the highest percentage of single parent households.
- The West End has the highest number of households with children under 5 at or near poverty.
- The number of children in poverty has declined in the US and the Commonwealth of VA, but in Alexandria it has increased.
- The rate of poverty of Latino children under 6 in Alexandria is greater than the Virginia and national rates.
- The percent of women who have given birth in or near poverty is higher in the West End. Arlandria and the West End have the highest percentage of children without working parents.
- Alexandria has a high single mother birth rate for the non-white population.’
