What We Owe to Each Other
One of the themes that has cut across a number of recent issues here in Alexandria is the question of our role in the larger region. Are we a solitary city of 158,309 responsible only for ourselves, or are we simply a contributing organ in the body of a unified metro area whose overall health should be our primary commitment?
It’s a genuinely important question to grapple with! It’s come up in the zoning discussion (are we doing this because we owe a share of housing supply toward regional goals), it’s come up in the arena discussion (does a wounded and limping Washington hurt us more than we gain), and it’s come up in a variety of environmental contexts (what’s our local share of the regional responsibility to clean up the Chesapeake Bay or reduce carbon pollution, for example).
The boring (and obviously correct) answer is that it’s a bit of both. But even within that formulation the precise amount of each bit matters a whole lot. As Alexandria, what do we owe the other regions and jurisdictions around us when we’re making policy decisions here in our community? We want to attract residents and visitors and government headquarters and new restaurants and small businesses and more. Is it reasonable to expect us to do less of that, or do a less good job of that, simply because we might land a corporate headquarters that Arlington was also pursuing, or an arts amenity that had been in conversations with the District as well? How do we strike the balance when it sometimes feels like “we win” means “they lose”?
Part of the challenge in this calculation is that zero-sum thinking is an analytical cul-de-sac. What’s good for us can also be good for our neighbors, which is the thesis of organizations like the Council of Governments and the Greater Washington Partnership that exist to foster that kind of collaborative and cooperative thriving. Their existence is not evidence of us working against our own interests toward the benefit of others, but rather they’re a resource to get us where we want and need to be.
What’s our point here—for once we’re not totally sure [Editor’s note: for once?]. These are just questions that have been on our minds, and we wanted to talk through them with you. Even if we don’t have a lot of neat conclusions, we do know this: Alexandria wouldn’t be the city we love if it weren’t part of the DC region. But the DC region wouldn’t be what it is without us, either. It’s our job to build the best possible version of Alexandria because that’s what all 158,309 people who live here deserve–not to mention the surrounding jurisdictions who are lucky to be our neighbors. At the end of the day, as long as we’re not trying to steal the Air and Space Museum or the Lincoln Memorial, we’re all probably going to be okay.
Housekeeping Interlude
Before we launch into the rest of this week’s stuff, we wanted to take a moment and offer a word of greeting to the rather large number of new subscribers this week. We sincerely hope that no more than 30% of you signed up to hate-read this. We also want to give a special hello to the Washingtonian readers! Acknowledging how much classier that publication is than this one, and assuming that characterization carries over into the readership, we want to assure you we’re working very hard to cut down on how many bad words we use [Editor’s note: well shit, there go half our verbs].
This also seemed like a good moment to share a reminder on how subscriptions work, seeing as it’s been a few months since we covered it. The newsletter is free to read for everyone, and you should sign up so you get it delivered right in your inbox or your app. If you become a paid subscriber you get access to the comment section, which is currently the only subscriber benefit until we get around to coming up with other cool features, which we will totally do soon because neither of us are all that busy.
As for where the paid subscription money goes: about a third of money that comes in goes into a separate fund, and every time that fund hits $500 we make a donation to a local charity in the name of ALXtra’s readers and we feature and write about that organization (read about our first donation here); another third of the money goes toward investments in the newsletter (we have a to-do list, we swear); and the final third of the money goes toward vegetables pickleball paddles investments in our well-being.
Things You May Have Missed Because You Have a Life
The city is out with initial details on our city’s milestone birthday celebration (dubbed ALX275) and somewhat excitingly this looks to be the first birthday party either of us will go to this year not held at Get Air.
Eater DC noted that Lily’s Chocolate & Coffee on King Street was featured in a recent episode of “The Real Housewives of Potomac,” in which two characters? Cast members? What do you even call these people? Anyway, two of them met there to try “squashing their beef,” which we assume refers to an attempted dispute resolution and not the thing where Jesse eats an Al’s cheesesteak too fast.
On Sunday you can go to the Made in ALX store to watch a local artist paint miniature paintings. The canvases are only two inches across, the perfect size for the world’s smallest arena protest sign.
Local Discourse Power Rankings
Not In My Potomac Yard (Last week: 2). Can’t really argue with this sliding back into pole position, as it clearly remains the top thing on everyone’s mind. City council hosted a well-regarded town hall on Satu-[protest truck blaring loud music drives past] and it was refreshing to hear substantive questions about this proje-[protest truck blaring loud music drives past] and we hope to see more collaborative engagements like this moving forw-[protest truck blaring loud music drives past]. Also this week, people got suspicious phone calls asking suspicious questions about this suspicious arena, suspiciously. The Alexandria Times even went so far as to run a picture of the alleged culprit [squints quizzically at our notecard] a cartoon cellphone in a bandit mask. Stay safe out there people!
Listswerves (Last week: NR). Is it just us, or are the local listservs starting to wobble off their axis a bit. And listen, we’re fully aware that we’re the last people who should criticize writing takes for the internet in exchange for sweet, sweet dopamine. But at the same time, some of the recent listserv fever-dreams would by comparison put our commentary on par with the dull sobriety of The McLaughlin Group. In just the last week we’ve been treated to missives suggesting that Ting is trying to blow up our homes and accusing Capitals fans of moral turpitude worthy of imprisonment in the Hague. We know we’re straying dangerously close to Bev’s turf with this item, but we couldn’t not bring it up.
WMATAmatic Teller Machine (Last week: NR). There are certain phrases you simply never want your project or product to be associated with. For instance “manufactured with lead” or “starring Dane Cook” or “don’t worry, the raccoons will take care of it” or “death-spiral.” WMATA has been getting a whole lot of coverage that includes that last one, often in the same sentence as “$750m budget shortfall.” If the arena deal ends up being the cudgel that beats more money out of Richmond for Metro, we’ll be all the better off for it here in Alexandria. Think about it—what the hell is the mayor going to take pictures of if he can’t ride the train? This is not a question any of us should want answered! Let Justin have his train pictures, Glenn!!
Is Our Children Learning (Last week: 3). The ACPS logo saga drags on with people continuing to argue about whether we should have picked the pencil lighthouse logo or the duck-cop logo or just stuck with our current Electric Company But Make It School logo. We’re pretty sure when staff brings the next logo proposal back it’s just going to be the letters “ACPS” inside a red Facebook notifications icon, since that pretty accurately captures the current vibe.
What the Hell Is That Place Called, Anyway (Last week: NR). Everyone’s favorite local parlor game—guessing which of this excellent new cafe-bakery’s two names you were supposed to use—appears to have drawn to a definitive close. Gostov est mort, vive le Gustave.
Alexandria’s Hottest Club Is…
Ah, legislative session: that special time in late winter when our elected representatives descend on the state capitol, attempt to pass 800 laws in 60 days, and fill our inboxes with frenzied “updates” that sound increasingly like cries for help (or at least a nap). It’s fast-paced! It’s exciting! It’s also, frankly, an insane way to run a commonwealth.
Alexandria’s delegation hit the ground running when session started last month and since then have been surviving exclusively on extra-large Panera Charged Lemonades™. A sample sentence from one of their recent newsletters: “Last Tuesday, I had five bills to present, on top of eight bill meetings, a committee meeting, and two subcommittee meetings, including one I chaired.” Are… are our delegates okay? Legislators, if you’re reading, reply to this email with the swirly eyes emoji if you need us to send an extraction team to rescue you from the General Assembly building.
Speaking of which, Sen. Adam Ebbin’s first constituent update of the session included an ode to the new GA building. It’s much nicer than the old one, which seems like a low bar to clear when your predecessor was a pile of asbestos with hallways carved through it. One notable detail in his description is that the new building has “better ventilation,” an important feature when your colleagues are too busy voting on bills they haven’t read to bathe.
The raison d’être for this odorous parliamentarian clusterfuck is, of course, the lawmaking. Our local reps—Sen. Ebbin, Del. Bennett-Parker, Del. Herring, and, newly representing Alexandria after last year’s redistricting, Del. Lopez—have collectively introduced dozens of proposals that cover a range of critical issues (and some not-so-critical ones). Almost all of them are working on gun safety bills—huge shoutout to the Moms who have been Demanding all that Action—as well as measures to keep public school students safe, fed, and well-funded.
Several of the bills our delegation is advancing would strengthen protections for renters, immigrants, and LGBTQ+ Virginians. Del. Lopez is leading the charge on environmental protection with proposals to let localities set stricter-than-statewide energy efficiency standards and to provide new funding for sustainability, resiliency, and environmental justice projects. And then there’s Sen. Ebbin’s multi-year effort to create a retail market for cannabis in what’s clearly a desperate attempt to get the Alexandria electorate to chill the fuck out.
Our delegation’s constitutional amendments on marriage equality and reproductive freedom probably won’t advance this year, but on the plus side, Rep. Herring is pushing new requirements for utilities when they replace a pole that are clearly inspired by the Hammond track fiasco (not really, but also… maybe really?). She’s also introduced a bill to extend and increase the motion picture tax credit, so maybe TV shows and movies set in Virginia will finally be filmed here.
Overall, this set of priorities is evidence of a lot of hard work and proof that our city is well represented in Richmond. It’s especially impressive when you account for the fact that these legislators are being badgered about their votes on the arena deal for 22 of the 23 hours a day when they’re not sleeping. That leaves one entire hour to solve the remainder of the world’s problems, an hour they’re probably spending hiding in a broom closet from the arena badgerers.
So stay strong, delegates and senator. There are only five weeks to go! Although we’re a little concerned they may not be able to hold out till then–Del. Bennett-Parker and Sen. Ebbin both used “Bills, Bills, Bills” as the subject line of recent email updates, indicating they’re fed up with the whole legislating thing and are secretly pursuing backup careers as members of a Destiny’s Child reboot. And honestly… we would absolutely one hundred percent buy tickets to that concert.
The Alexandria Times Quote of the Week
“The American public’s trust in government at all levels continues to erode year after year. This is not Republicans versus Democrats; people on both sides of our political divide have their own reasons for having less faith in our governing institutions than in years past.”
It’s true. Americans on the left distrust the government because institutions like the Senate, Electoral College, and Supreme Court were intentionally designed to perpetuate an anti-democratic structural imbalance that favors rural conservatives, entrenching a system of repressive minority rule that strips vulnerable constituencies of their fundamental rights. Americans on the right distrust the government because a guy on TV told them Taylor Swift is rigging the Super Bowl for Joe Biden under orders from the CIA. These two things are exactly the same.
We Get Letters
Returning to our earlier housekeeping theme, we want to remind old and new readers alike that if you have something you’d like us to consider running in the newsletter, email us at alxtranewsletter@gmail.com. We’re very nice to correspond with, we promise! One favor though—try to pretend like we’re a normal newspaper with column inch restrictions: we can make this thing a ten minute read all on our own thankyouverymuch.
One Awesome Thing in ALX
Have you ever found yourself wondering what Michael Bloomberg is up to these days? The last most of us heard from him, it was 2020 and he was hiring influencers to make fake memes about him on Instagram while spending $400 million to qualify for a presidential primary debate just so Elizabeth Warren could murder him on live television. Apparently over the last four years he’s learned to make better decisions, because his charitable organization Bloomberg Philanthropies has just awarded Alexandria a What Works Cities Certification. This is a recognition bestowed on cities that use “exceptional data capabilities to inform policy decisions, allocate funding, improve services, evaluate program effectiveness, and engage residents.” We certified at the silver level and are the second What Works city in Virginia. Woot!
This is exactly the kind of award that Alexandria, a city with the nation’s highest per capita number of former Mathletes (probably), should be winning. This is a community whose mayor was once described by Washingtonian as a “proud nerd” who’s the living personification of a Vox.com explainer. Honestly, it’s surprising that we didn’t make it onto the What Works Cities list earlier. Mayoral candidates, be advised: whoever succeeds Justin needs to start brushing up on dork shit now so that we can go gold and beat Norfolk next year.
The specific achievement in data wizardry called out in the What Works Cities announcement is Alexandria’s creation of an eviction data dashboard and task force. City staff started this effort during the early part of the pandemic and then expanded it using American Rescue Plan funds. The task force uses local eviction data to identify neighborhoods where people are most likely to need rental assistance, which can then be targeted for outreach, support, and legal aid. If you want to learn more, this work was the subject of an article in every local government wonk’s favorite bathroom reading material, Route Fifty.
We love that this effort was internally recognized. It’s so important—just this week a new study found that housing is unaffordable for half of all renters in the United States. This is a record high percentage, and it makes this focus on renters and eviction a critical complement to the city’s work on increasing housing supply through zoning reform. If we keep doing everything we can to help people live and stay in Alexandria, eventually we’ll achieve our goal: more neighbors, more friends, more dorks.
You can follow Becky @beckyhammer.bsky.social and Jesse @oconnell.bsky.social on Bluesky, or you can e-mail us anytime at alxtranewsletter@gmail.com.
Our legislators are simultaneously not okay and thriving! Yesterday I kicked it in a hearing room in Richmond where, despite the sleep deprivation caused by this bonkers job and a presumably-teething infant, EBP managed the most discrete breast-pumping session possible (front row of the dais, theoretically could be live streaming at any moment) and passed a bill that helps prevent tenants from eviction. She was questioned by her colleagues and opposed by the apartment lobby, so she's clearly doing it right!
Students Demand Action deserve a lot of credit for effective lobbying on gun legislation. They are eloquent & passionate advocates.