Vernon Miles | ALXnow

Affordable housing and school funding are top priorities at crowded Alexandria budget meeting

Published March 12, 2024 at 4:05PM

Standing room only at an Alexandria City Council budget hearing (staff photo by Vernon Miles)

It was standing-room-only at a City Council budget hearing yesterday (Monday) and most of the speakers had one of two things on their mind: affordable housing and fully funding Alexandria City Public Schools.

The push for more funding to the city’s affordable housing programs came from a mix of housing nonprofit leaders and residents from neighborhoods like Arlandria/Chirilagua staring down the barrel at gentrification.

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Local nonprofit hosting salon-style discussion with women crafting policy in Alexandria

By Vernon Miles

Published March 12, 2024 at 11:05AM

Alexandria City Council Member Sarah Bagley at the George Washington Birthday Parade in Old Town, Feb. 19, 2024 (staff photo by James Cullum)

Local nonprofit Alexandria Celebrates Women (ACW) is hosting an informal gathering this weekend to give local women a chance to meet some of the women in leadership roles in Alexandria.

The meeting is described as an informal salon conversation with ‘leading women thinkers and changemakers’ in Alexandria. The event is free and open to all women.

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Free Lyft rides return for Saint Patrick’s Day in Alexandria

By Vernon Miles

Published March 12, 2024 at 9:55AM

SoberRide program for St. Patrick's Day (image via WRAP)

The Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP) is bringing back its St. Patrick’s Day SoberRide program this weekend.

From noon on Sunday, March 17 (St. Patrick’s Day) until midnight, residents 21 and older who have been drinking can input a SoberRide code into their Lyft app and receive a no-cost (up to $15) trip home.

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Southern Living ranks Alexandria in Top 25 ‘Best Cities in the South’

By Vernon Miles

Published March 11, 2024 at 1:50PM

The George Washington Masonic Memorial Temple in Old Town Alexandria (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

It’s a little below some of its other Best City rankings, but Southern Living Magazine recently put Alexandria at number 23 on a list of The South’s Best Cities 2024.

Alexandria came in ahead of Memphis, Tennessee and Little Rock, Arkansas, but was only the third highest-ranked city in Virginia on the list, behind Charlottesville and Richmond.

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Alexandria kicks off pre-spring mulch delivery and street sweeping

By Vernon Miles

Published March 11, 2024 at 11:10AM

Samantha Hegre waters her plants at the Holmes Run Community Garden in Alexandria (Staff photo by Jay Westcott)

It’s a bright, sunny day in Alexandria and spring is just around the corner, so some locals might be turning their thoughts toward gardening and lawns.

Last week, Alexandria kicked off mulch season with the opening of orders for a limited supply of leaf mulch.

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Affordable home ownership lottery for new Old Town development opens this week

By Vernon Miles

Published March 11, 2024 at 10:15AM | Updated March 12, 2024 at 10:03AM

Luxury condos at Aidan Old Town (image via Aidan Old Town)

Anyone living or working in Alexandria and making less than a six-figure salary could qualify for an affordable unit in a new Old Town development, provided they’re first-time homebuyers.

New luxury condo development Aidan Old Town is opening at 701 N. Henry Street in Old Town with a limited selection of homes set aside as affordable to first-time, income-eligible homebuyers.

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Notes: Barricade situation near Lincolnia this weekend resolved ‘without incident’

By Vernon Miles

Published March 11, 2024 at 8:55AM

400 block of N. Armistead Street (image via Alexandria Police Department/Google Maps)

Good Monday morning, Alexandria!

☀️ Today’s weather: Sunny, with a high near 55. Breezy, with a northwest wind 18 to 24 mph, with gusts as high as 44 mph. Mostly clear tonight with a low around 41.

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Alexandria Police cite driver for speeding at 112 miles per hour on I-495

By Vernon Miles

Published March 8, 2024 at 1:40PM

Citation for 112 in a 55 mph zone (photo via Alexandria Police Department/Twitter)

The Alexandria Police Department urged drivers to slow down after saying a driver was issued a ticket earlier this week for going 112 miles per hour in a 55 mph speed zone.

Police said an Alexandria Police Department officer was on his way to work on Wednesday when he issued a citation for the driver going over twice the legal limit at Van Dorn Street and I-495.

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Port City files permit to add taco restaurant/trailer to brewery

By Vernon Miles

Published March 8, 2024 at 10:55AM

Outdoor dining at Port City Brewing Company (photo via Port City/Facebook)

Food trucks have been a hit at Port City Brewing Company (3950 Wheeler Avenue) gatherings, and now the company is hoping to expand on that with a new restaurant operating from an onsite trailer.

The brewery regularly hosts tastings, tours and other events with a rotating cast of food trucks supplying accompanying meals. Port City filed a special use permit (Permit #2024-00014) to operate a temporary trailer at the site, operated by a restaurant, that would serve tacos from 11 a.m. to midnight, seven days a week.

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Three Alexandria affordable housing projects win millions in state funding

By Vernon Miles

Published March 8, 2024 at 9:55AM

Concept rendering of Sansé and Naja development in Arlandria (courtesy of Housing Alexandria)

The City of Alexandria has been awarded $14.3 million by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) for three affordable housing projects across the city.

The projects cover a range of incomes based on the area median income (AMI), which is $105,500 for a one person household. The projects range from 40% of AMI — $42,200 for one person — up to 80% of AMI — $84,400 for one person.

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Del Ray accessory dwelling unit proposal raises concerns about short-term rentals

By Vernon Miles

Published March 7, 2024 at 11:15AM

Proposed Del Ray accessory dwelling unit (image via Eustilus Architecture/City of Alexandria)

A two-story, single-unit accessory dwelling unit (ADU) on a Del Ray alley is heading to the City Council with a mixed reception from the community and the Planning Commission.

The project is located on a vacant lot at 404 East Alexandria Avenue, surrounded by single-unit, semi-detached, townhouse and multi-unit residential properties.