Opinion | ALXnow

Poll: How important is affordable housing investment to you?

Published December 19, 2022 at 9:50AM

ARHA and the City of Alexandria host a ribbon-cutting event for the Lineage, a new 52 unit affordable housing complex on North Patrick Street. (Staff Photo by Jay Westcott)

Over the next year, Alexandria will launch an ambitious affordable housing overhaul that could reshape the city’s zoning code with a renewed emphasis on affordable housing.

The overhaul is following in the footsteps of years of zoning reforms in Alexandria that aim to get developers to help produce more housing. The city is pushing for committed affordable housing units — buildings with residences set aside specifically for those making less than the area median income — to try and keep up with the loss of 14,300 market-rate affordable units over the last two decades.

Poll: Are you watching the World Cup?

By Vernon Miles

Published December 12, 2022 at 9:45AM

Man playing soccer (image via Emilio Garcia/Unsplash)

It’s World Cup season and it’s all anyone seems to be talking about this week.

The major sporting event — built on the backs of brutal working conditions for migrant workers — is heading into the semifinals after some tense games last week.

Poll: Are you planning on going to Alexandria’s Scottish Christmas Walk this weekend?

By Vernon Miles

Published November 30, 2022 at 10:45AM

The Daughters of the British Empire Pimm's and Poppies Chapter marches at the 50th annual Scottish Christmas Walk Parade in Old Town, Saturday, Dec. 4, 2021. (staff photo by James Cullum)

The Alexandria Scottish Christmas Walk, one of the biggest events of the year in Old Town, is marching through the city this weekend.

It will be the 51st year for the event, which features Scottish clans, dancers and bagpipes working along a route through the city. The one-mile-long parade starts at 11 a.m. at the intersection of Wolfe and St. Asaph Streets and ends up outside City Hall (301 King Street).

Poll: Do you like the next Waterfront Park art installation?

By Vernon Miles

Published November 9, 2022 at 1:15PM

"Two Boxes of Oranges and Admonia Jackson" (via City of Alexandria)

The kitschy I Love You sign in Waterfront Park is no more, replaced with a holiday tree, but the big news this week is the announcement of a new art project that will replace the tree early next year.

A new project by New York City-based artist Nina Cooke John called “Two Boxes of Oranges and Admonia Jackson” will be installed in March 2023 and will remain in place until November.

Poll: Should Alexandria revisit the Confederate street names issue?

By Vernon Miles

Published November 4, 2022 at 10:00AM

Last week, Mayor Justin Wilson said he sands the city to take another pass at renaming streets throughout Alexandria named for Confederate leaders.

The announcement comes around two years after the city’s last major push to de-Confederate Alexandria, an effort that saw the Appomattox statue on S. Washington Street removed. The city renamed Jefferson Davis Highway through Alexandria to Richmond Highway a year before that.

Poll: Do you support Alexandria’s guaranteed basic income program?

By Vernon Miles

Published October 28, 2022 at 9:30AM

Money on a table (staff photo via Vernon Miles/ALXnow)

Alexandrians making less than half of the region’s area median income could qualify for a new program that will give them $500 per month with no strings attached.

Those living alone and making less than $49,850 per year are eligible, with the income scaling up based on the size of the household.

Poll: Do you plan on wearing a costume this Halloween?

By Vernon Miles

Published October 21, 2022 at 9:45AM | Updated October 21, 2022 at 3:03PM

Mario at the Del Ray Halloween parade on Sunday, October 24, 2021. (staff photo by James Cullum)

(Updated 3 p.m.) With Halloween just over a week away, do you plan on wearing a costume?

Some locals have been going all-out on Halloween decorations and even some local restaurants have been getting into the holiday spirit.

Poll: Is Alexandria a good city for pizza?

By Vernon Miles

Published October 14, 2022 at 9:30AM

Andy's Pizza (image courtesy Emily Brown)

Is Alexandria’s pizza status supreme or is it still a little crusty?

Earlier this week, two new pizza joints opened in Old Town. While among the few by-the-slice restaurants in town, astute readers noted that Fairlington Pizza also serves by-the-slice.

Poll: How do you feel about Alexandria’s new speed cameras?

By Vernon Miles

Published October 10, 2022 at 10:45AM

Tomorrow, Alexandria’s City Council is set to review a proposal to bring speed cameras to the city for the first time.

Though scattered across nearby D.C., until a few years ago Alexandria was prohibited from utilizing speed cameras by state ordinance. Now, the city is looking at installing five cameras at various school zones across the city.

Poll: Were you surprised by the Potomac Yard Metro station delay?

By Vernon Miles

Published October 4, 2022 at 2:30PM

Construction in Potomac Yard, staff photo by Jay Westcott

Last Friday, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) announced that the Potomac Yard Metro station would not be opening this fall, as they’d been insisting it would for months.

The new opening date is set as sometime in 2023. The announcement also came with an update that the shutdown cutting Alexandria off from the rest of the Metro station would be extended into November.

Poll: Should Alexandria add lights to its athletic fields?

By Vernon Miles

Published September 9, 2022 at 2:30PM

Alexandria City High School Friday Night Lights at Alexandria City High School on September 17, 2021. (Via Elijah Walter Griffin, Sr.)

The final community meeting about a proposal to add lights to multiple athletic fields is coming up later this month.

The City Council has approved funding for lighting of two athletic fields, pending the permit approval process, with other locations open for consideration down the road.