A key Alexandria leader wants the planned Route 7 bus rapid transit (BRT) network to serve as a statewide transportation blueprint.
Vice Mayor Sarah Bagley said the Tysons to Alexandria BRT initiative represents a “landmark project” others will be able to learn from.
Alexandria ranked ahead of cities like Santa Fe, N.M.; St. Augustine, Fla. and Savannah, Ga. in the latest national travel magazine city rankings.
For the first time, Alexandria took the second place spot on the Condé Nast Traveler Best Small Cities in the U.S. list. The city ranked third last year and has been in the top five since the small cities category was created in 2018.
As the season for increased flu and other respiratory illnesses arrives, the Alexandria Health Department is providing guidance on vaccines and other recommendations for residents.
Flu season begins in October and continues until May, although activity may peak in the winter months. Other respiratory illnesses such as COVID-19 and RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) also circulate during the season.
On This Day in Alexandria History — “On October 6, 1796, the City Tavern welcomed its new tavern keeper, John Gadsby. The Englishman had excellent credentials having previously run a tavern on Union Street. Gadsby remained as the proprietor of tavern on North Royal Street until 1808.” [Historic Alexandria]
Alexandria Driver Dies After Vehicle Hydroplanes — “Virginia State Police troopers responded at 4:40 a.m. on Saturday (Oct. 3) to westbound I-495 for a single-vehicle crash at the 170-mile marker near the interchange with I-95 and I-395, a tangle of highways often called the Springfield Mixing Bowl. ‘A 2025 Toyota Rav4 was travelling southbound (the correct direction of travel) on Interstate 495 when the vehicle hydroplaned and struck a traffic attenuator,’ the VSP said (Monday) in a press release.” [FFXnow]
Good Monday evening, Alexandria. Let’s take a look back at today’s stories and a look forward to tomorrow’s event calendar.
The following articles were published earlier today — Oct 5, 2026.
Here are today’s most-read articles:
Here is what’s going on Tuesday in Alexandria, from our event calendar.
Expect sunny weather with a high near 65 degrees and a gentle north wind at 6 mph, which will die down to calm in the afternoon. Tuesday night will be clear, with temperatures dropping to around 43 degrees and calm winds. See more from Weather.gov.
“The best way to predict your future is to create it.”
– Peter Drucker
Thanks for reading!
Hundreds of families have found relief after Alexandria City Public Schools reinstated school bus routes to neighborhoods across the city.
The new routes went into effect today (Oct. 5). ACPS approved 183 appeals and denied 138 appeals. In all, the school system found that 456 students are newly eligible for bus service, with routes returned in Arlandria, the West End and Old Town.
A Maryland man facing 15 years to life in prison for an armed carjacking in Alexandria’s West End was identified by fingerprints found on a discarded White Claw can inside the stolen vehicle.
Around 10:30 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 12, 2025, the victim was reportedly sitting in his white 2021 Lexus NX300 in a parking lot in the 100 block of S. Reynolds Street when a man opened his driver’s side door and told him he would be killed unless he got out, according to a recently unsealed search warrant affidavit.
In the latest of Alexandria’s office-to-residential conversions, a project in Old Town North is making progress.
A vacant 1980s building at 1201 E. Abingdon Drive is being developed into a 143-unit multifamily residential building. The conversion of the 95,000-square-foot building will provide seven junior one-bedroom, 100 one-bedroom and 29 two-bedroom apartments. The project, approved by City Council in February 2024, will yield seven affordable housing units and 160 parking spaces.
Five homes, two community and commercial properties and one public art project at an apartment community earned 2026 Beautification Awards from the Alexandria Beautification Commission.
The commission annually recognizes Alexandria properties “for thoughtful design, sustainability, and contributions to the beauty of the community.” Award winners were selected from more than 40 nominations.
Alexandria’s apartment rental market is moving into the cooler stage of the year, and rental rates are down slightly from a year ago.
The city saw a median apartment rental rate of $2,193 — $2,008 for one-bedroom units and $2,467 for two bedrooms — in September, according to data reported Sept. 29 by Apartment List.
On This Day in Alexandria History — “On October 5, 1860, President James Buchanan, accompanied by none other than the Prince of Wales, passed through Alexandria on their way to pay the heir-apparent’s respects at the tomb of our nation’s first president, George Washington, at Mount Vernon. Earlier that year, Her Majesty Queen Victoria had sent her eighteen-year-old son, Albert Edward, also known as ‘Bertie,’ on his first Royal visit, a good will tour of Canada and the United States. Although the young Prince (later he became King Edward VII) had not yet developed his unusual sense of fashion and roguish behavior, he was indeed received as a ‘Royal Spectacle’ in the locations he visited, and Alexandria was no exception.” [Historic Alexandria]
What Streets Are on the Maintenance Schedule This Week — Roads scheduled for repaving and maintenance this week are North Beauregard Street (from Lincolnia Road to Sanger Avenue), North Overlook Drive (from Halcyon Drive to end) and North Chambliss Street (from Fillmore Avenue to end). [Alexandria T&ES]
