Goal: To give ‘working class’ Alexandrians the dignified housing that they deserve, we need to strengthen tenant protections and stabilize income-poor, culturally rich Alexandria neighborhoods that are facing gentrification.
Project: Tenant Protections
Please Act Now: Please support Grassroots Alexandria and African Communities Together by speaking up for stronger tenant protections. ACT and GrA are working together and with city staff to develop a cost-effective system of data collection and reporting. The idea is to both flag unsafe housing and uplift tenant-friendly landlords. City staff sees the problem, but might not act unless we all speak up.
Action Plan: We in Grassroots Alexandria, working with the activists and housing experts in African Communities Together, are developing a set of draft tenant protections, which are summarized in this document. By playing an active role in developing, encouraging and/or enforcing tenant protections, the City of Alexandria can ensure that tenants are able to access and stay housed in safe, dignified and affordable apartments.
Project lead: Jonathan
Project Status: At present we are reaching out to our allies, including Tenants and Workers United, the Democratic Socialists of America NoVA Branch, and the YIMBYs of Nova, to gain community support for this effort. Our preliminary outreach to the Alexandria Office of Housing has been positive.
Project: Affordable Housing
Please Act Now: Please support Grassroots Alexandria by writing to City Council in favor of expanding the Zoning For Housing/Housing For All initiative. Here is a sample message: ‘I am writing to support the Zoning For Housing/Housing For All initiatives, but feel that we need to go further to support deeply-affordable “working class” housing. Alexandrians deserve dignified housing and we all benefit when we preserve and appreciate our local Latinx, African, and African American cultures. Please reach out to leaders from these communities to guide these decisions. Moving forward, I feel that we will need rent vouchers funded with non-federal dollars (so undocumented folks can access them), and an expansion of ARISE guaranteed income program.’
Action Plan: Our Affordable Housing project team speaks up in public demand that Alexandria support and stabilize our ‘working class’ neighborhoods. We work with our allies to create change and to elevate the voices of affected communities. We particularly seek opportunities to support our friends and allies, including Tenants and Workers United, African Communities Together, the Democratic Socialists of America NoVA Branch, and the YIMBYs of Nova.
While we support an “all of the above” approach to housing supply, including Zoning For Housing, simply changing policies to expand property rights and allow more density raises land values in the short term. This must be accompanied by neighborhood stabilization measures that allow current ‘working class’ residents to remain in their neighborhoods even as things change. Neighborhood stabilization preserves economic and cultural diversity to the benefit of all Alexandrians.
In the short term, we need proactive measures to support families who earn below 60% AMI (area median income). These can include:
- A local version of the Housing Choice Voucher Program available to all Alexandrians; a $5 million/year program was previously considered.
- Expansion of the ARISE guaranteed income pilot program; Expansion of the ARISE guaranteed income pilot program; these programs have produced significant successes nationwide.
- Effective continued support of the Arlandria Rent Ready program that will bring current neighborhood residents into the soon-to-be-built ‘Sansé and Naja’ designated affordable housing development, and expansion of this Rent Ready program to the West End small area plan.
In the long term, we need new funding to address the lack of affordable dignified housing. This can include:
- Dedicated funding for sub-60% AMI designated affordable housing with a measurable goal of 1,000 new units per year in the next 10 years
- Increased local tax revenue, such as the meals tax and the “penny fund” property-tax set aside for new units
- Expanded focus and creativity from city staff in seeking federal, private, state, non-profit funding for affordable housing; expanded innovation from city staff to find affordable housing opportunities, such as was evident in the Casa Chirilagua cooperative housing development.
Project lead: Jonathan
Project Status: As we await the coming 2025-2026 budget season, we will continue to work with our allies in Tenants and Workers United, with whom we originally developed these budget priorities.
Background: everyone deserves dignified housing
According to the Office of Housing, nearly all households with incomes under $50,000/year are housing-cost burdened. Our own work with non-profit developer Housing Alexandria shows that it is currently impossible, even for a non-profit developer, to build housing for working class families without taking a loss. Thus, we have two types of affordable housing for working class Alexandrians: decaying buildings, where a landlord can make a profit by neglecting maintenance (and so we need stronger tenant protections), and designated affordable housing, where the “loss” is covered by public or private subsidies. Working together, we can support tenants and improve housing conditions.
To join a project team, please write to one of the project leaders or to grassrootsalexandria@gmail.com.