A recent ranking by Zillow of fastest-emerging dog-friendly cities — cities where pet-friendly home rentals are on the rise — Alexandria ranked third nationwide.

The ranking looks both at where dog-owners are registered on the dog boarding and walking site Rover and where there are the most page views of pet-friendly single-family home rental listings on real estate marketplace site Zillow.


(Updated 5/4) In case you missed your chance for a tour of Alexandria’s abandoned power plant the first time around, the Urban Design Advisory Committee (UDAC) is hosting a tour around the perimeter of the site next week.

The UDAC is scheduled to meet on Wednesday, May 11 to tour the perimeter of the Potomac River Generating Station (PRGS) at 1300 N. Royal Street around 8:30 a.m. The tour will be followed by a UDAC meeting at City Hall at 10 a.m. Both the tour and the meeting are open to the public.


Two years after plans to convert 116 South Henry Street into an automated parking garage first went to city review, the garage is going to the Board of Architectural Review again on Thursday (May 5) with some changes in mind.

The plan remains to build a 50-foot garage just off King Street, but the entrance is going through something of a redesign after the earlier designs were considered too “monolithic” at earlier hearings.


Catholic diocese sues Alexandria over affordable housing development — “Three months later, that plan is facing a legal challenge by one of its neighbors, which also happens to serve many of the residents who might benefit from the two-building complex: the local Catholic church.” [Washington Post]

It’s Monday — Partly cloudy throughout the day. High of 76 and low of 61. Sunrise at 6:10 am and sunset at 8:03 pm. [Weather.gov]


This was a rough week to be on the roads in Alexandria, with at least two road rage incidents escalating into a pepper spray attack and someone brandishing a firearm.

ACT for Alexandria met its goal by raising $2.5 million for 172 Alexandria charities and nonprofits in its 12th annual Spring2ACTion fundraiser on Wednesday. The fundraiser is the largest single day of giving in Alexandria, and donors can give on the Spring2ACTion website until May 1.


“Extremely problematic,” “inappropriate,” and “disrespectful” was how Superintendent Gregory Hutchings, Jr. said School Board members handled edits of his plan to create a School Law Enforcement Advisory Group.

In a March 9 email, Hutchings scolded a majority of School Board Members — Michelle Rief, Ashley Simpson-Baird, Adbel Elnoubi, Kelly Carmichael Booz and Chris Harris — for editing his SLEP proposal. He said that such “behind the scenes” operations raised transparency issues by violating the Virginia Freedom Of Information Act.


DNA evidence has linked a stolen handgun left in a car to a 32-year-old Alexandria felon, who now faces upward of two years in prison.

The .45 caliber Para Ordnance 1911 pistol was reported stolen from a car in Centreville on August 28, 2021, according to a search warrant affidavit. The same gun was recovered September 2, 2021, by Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police in an abandoned car that was reported stolen from Arlington.


Philomena Fitzgerald grew up frustrated that she had to travel outside of the city to play field hockey, so when her younger sister faced the same problem Fitzgerald took matters into her own hands and launched Alexandria’s first field hockey program.

Fitzgerald launched AVA Magic, Alexandria’s only field hockey club, with her father Alex Purugganan. The program started with training clinics this spring that have tapped into a small but growing local community of field hockey enthusiasts.


Private school approved in Old Town North — “A new private elementary school will be coming to North Washington Street in Old Town after City Council approved a special use permit for the project during Saturday’s public hearing.” [Alexandria Times]

It’s Friday — Clear throughout the day. High of 62 and low of 40. Sunrise at 6:14 am and sunset at 8:00 pm. [Weather.gov]


Update 3:50 p.m. — The PR firm representing Douglas Development said the transaction hasn’t been closed yet. While the original closing date was today, the PR firm said it is being delayed until tomorrow (Friday).

Earlier: The distinctive quasi-brutalist building at 515 King Street is the latest acquisition by Douglas Development, which has been snatching up several buildings along King Street in Old Town.


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