Author: Scott McCaffrey

A Northern Virginia native, Scott McCaffrey has four decades of reporting, editing and newsroom experience in the local area plus Florida, South Carolina and the eastern panhandle of West Virginia. He spent 26 years as editor of the Sun Gazette newspaper chain. For Local News Now, he covers government and civic issues in Arlington, Fairfax County and Falls Church.

News

Former mayor getting settled into new leadership role with regional parks

By Scott McCaffrey
Former Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson (via Fairfax City)

Former Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson is settling into his new role as executive director of NOVA Parks and says he has inherited an organization in good shape.

A “very diverse set of revenue” — with operations ranging from golf courses to waterparks — allows the regional body to “weather various storms,” said Wilson during a presentation to the Fairfax City Council earlier this month. He was named the organization’s next executive director in August and began serving in October.

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Alexandria’s total unemployment up 33% from 2024 as delayed jobs data is released

By Scott McCaffrey
The Alexandria skyline (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

The number of unemployed Alexandrians is up by a third from a year before, according to September jobs figures that were delayed by the federal government shutdown.

A total of 96,711 city residents were counted as employed in the civilian workforce, with 3,479 reported unemployed, according to figures reported Dec. 18 by the Virginia Department of Workforce Development and Advancement.

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Home sales down citywide as buyers adopt a ‘cautious’ stance across region

By Scott McCaffrey
Homes along the waterfront in Old Town, Alexandria (staff photo by James Cullum)

The total market value of home sales across Alexandria was down 4.8% year-over-year but remained above $100 million last month, according to new data.

A total of 121 residential properties changed hands citywide during the month, according to figures reported yesterday (Wednesday) by MarketStats by ShowingTime. That’s down from 136 transactions in November 2024.

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Key legislator: Getting more transit funding from legislature may prove ‘hard sell’

By Scott McCaffrey
Alexandria Transit Company (photo courtesy DASH)

Northern Virginia’s local and legislative leaders are preparing for a full-court press — and perhaps an uphill battle — in wringing additional transit funding out of the General Assembly.

Aimee Seibert, a lobbyist for the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission, said at the commission’s Dec. 4 monthly meeting that four different bills, two in each house of the legislature, are being prepared for consideration as part of an effort to add nearly a half-billion dollars annually in regional transit funding.

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Despite seasonal decline, city’s apartment rents remain above pre-COVID levels

By Scott McCaffrey
Mason at Van Dorn apartments at 140 S. Van Dorn Street (via Mason at Van Dorn/Facebook)

Alexandria’s apartment rental costs have cooled over the past year, but remain well above pandemic-era lows.

The city’s median apartment-rental rate in November was $1,996 for a one-bedroom unit, $2,452 for two bedrooms and $2,179 for all units, according to the monthly data analysis by Apartment List.

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New data: Alexandria eclipsed D.C. region in home cost by square footage last month

By Scott McCaffrey
Real estate home interior (via Kenny Eliason/Unsplash)

Homes that sold across Alexandria in October garnered the highest per-square-foot price of any jurisdiction in the metro area for the month.

City sellers pocketed, on average, $516 per square foot for their properties, according to new data from Bright MLS, the region’s multiple-listing service.

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Sen. Ebbin scores victory as his transit-funding panel sends its plan to legislature

By Scott McCaffrey
Sen. Adam Ebbin, D-39, chairing last SJ28 Subcommittee meeting (screenshot via SJ28 Subcommittee)

For Sen. Adam Ebbin, the task of securing dedicated revenue streams for Northern Virginia transit is now 50% complete, as the region’s transit subcommittee approved a new spending package proposal this week.

In conversations with the Northern Virginia Growing Needs of Public Transit Joint Subcommittee, Ebbin (D-39) successfully shepherded near-unanimous support for the package, which calls for $400 million annually in new spending.

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Prospective homebuyers active across Alexandria as sellers adjust prices

By Scott McCaffrey
Alexandria house in the fall (staff photo by Kalina Newman)

Homebuyers are out in force across Alexandria, and more sellers in the city are dropping their prices to encourage faster sales, according to new data.

Alexandria saw a total of 625 home showings for the week ending Nov. 2, according to new data from Bright MLS. That’s up 6.1% from the same week a year before and is well above the D.C.-area increase of 3.6% to 23,070 showings during the same period, reflecting “a significant amount of pent-up demand,” according to the report.

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Alexandria apartment rates dip but remain above regional median this month

By Scott McCaffrey
The Mark Apartments (courtesy of Washington Property Company)

Alexandria’s month-over-month and year-over-year apartment-rental costs declined this month but remain above the regional median, according to new data.

The median rental costs of $2,027 for one-bedroom units and $2,490 for two bedrooms represents a 1% decline from September and a 1.1% drop from October 2024, according to data reported yesterday (Thursday) by Apartment List.

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