How Serious Is The Housing Crisis?

Attendees at Tuesday’s monthly luncheon of the Greater Falls Church Chamber of Commerce at the Italian Cafe may have come away a little queasy this time, but they can rest assured that it had nothing to do with the always tasty and reliable food. A message of self-described “doom and gloom” by the speaker, Dr. Keith Waters of Dr. Stephen Fuller’s Center for Regional Analysis at George Mason University was more likely the culprit.

Indeed, Dr. Waters, young and affable on the outside as a mentee of the legendary Dr. Fuller, dished out a troubling bouillabaisse of sobering data about the economic trends now operational for our area that he intended, he said, to be downright disturbing. It was like that TV ad on Type 2 diabetes, dark, bleak and foreboding with the announcer saying, “Too much? That’s the point!”

While the numbers on jobs, housing, employment, economic growth and the rest show the region trending below the national average, with Northern Virginia faring better than elsewhere in this region and Falls Church, even as a tiny blip in the regional numbers, still better than what’s around it. But while Dr. Waters deliberately had no specific formula for fixing everything, it didn’t take much for him to alight upon affordable housing as a main culprit.

It seems that people around here simply refuse to admit that the issue –affordable housing – is anything serious more than an appeal to generosity, something which for less-generous souls is little more than a nuisance. But as the nation reboots after the Covid-19 pandemic, and a wide array of new technologies are being introduced with the potential to reshape a lot of our habits, the issue of housing is directly linked to regional viability and prospects for success.

Clearly, folks generally just don’t want to admit that the problem is nearly as serious as it actually is, especially in terms of projecting economic winners and losers over the few years immediately ahead of us. If we’re going to have to get used to a little crowding, then so be it. Falls Church has a way to go yet before encountering the kind of crowding experienced in Hong Kong (now, that’s quote to scream over.) It is not worth trying to convince people that density is their friend, unless they can see it not only as a virtue, but in contrast to what they will be subjected to if housing needs are not met.

What’s happening with the homeless crisis in America now is a crisis of the first order. We hold that everyone has a right to a roof over their head and maybe it needs to be a campaign rallying cry somewhere. Serious efforts to step up to this crisis is the least we should expect.

In the meantime, it is a source of deep shame that our nation has allowed this crisis to come as far as it has already.

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L etters to E ditor

It’s about the North Maple and Great Falls intersection.

Editor,

Some drivers routinely don’t even slow down at the 4-way Stop sign, they just dash through it at 40 mph. I live in the 300 block of N Maple and I often cross there, as pedestrian, more than once a day.

In the past couple of years I was almost hit at least 7 or 8 times. Now, as a “veteran survivor” of N Maple/Great Falls, I cross very carefully. Still, earlier today, I was almost ran over, again. What about unsuspecting, casual pedestrians, unaware of the danger?

This is not about parking too close to a fire hydrant or expired registration. It’s about human lives. This is a disaster waiting to happen.

Is it so difficult to enforce speed limits and basic traffic rules in our little city?

Simeon Savov Falls Church

Recycling Confusion

Editor,

A recent article in the NewsPress discussed recycling in Falls Church (“An Earth Day Refresher on Recycling in the Little City,” April 20). While the article included some useful information, it neglected to highlight significant confusion between what the city says about recyclable plastics and information posted on the recycling contractor’s website (American Disposal Services, ADS). On its site, ADS states the following regarding what plastics can be recycled: “Plastic: PET #1 plastic containers and bottles, HDPE #2 natural and colored containers and bottles, and all wide mouth plastics labeled #5.” In one section of the city’s recycling site, the following appears: “All plastic bottles, jars, tubs, trays and containers with #1-7 on the bottom are accepted.” However, in the leaflet distributed by the city, takeout containers (synonymous with “trays”) are said to be not recyclable, despite the fact that almost all are #1 or #2 in recycling terminology, and also in that leaflet tubs are not even mentioned. Takeout food containers (excluding those that are styrofoam) and tubs comprise a significant portion of potentially recyclable plastic items. The city’s recycling contact person has said that the city does not use the numbering system because ADS cannot recycle certain items regardless of their recycling number, but when I questioned an ADS representative I was told that I should go by its website information that does use the numbering system. Perhaps the News-Press could do a second article on recycling that explains more clearly what is acceptable and what is not.

David Mccloud

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