Pass Zoning for Housing

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Pass Zoning for Housing
(Graphic/Jessica Kim)
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To the editor: 

I urge City Council to adopt “Zoning for Housing and Housing for All.” My husband and I bought our first house in Alexandria last year. We love it, but the price tag was more than we had ever imagined we would pay for a home, much less a starter house. Now that our first son has been born, our family wants to move closer. But the cost – even for a condo – won’t let them. And I’m afraid that one day our son will be priced out of Alexandria as well. Just in the last year, nearby rental prices have skyrocketed. 

Opponents of Zoning for Housing argue that allowing duplexes, triplexes and quads will detract from our neighborhoods, but Del Ray has plenty of multi-family housing and that neighborhood is one of Alexandria’s finest. Just because a home has more than one front door doesn’t mean it is unattractive. And just because a family can’t afford to pay a million dollars for their home doesn’t mean they would be bad neighbors. Neighbors – just like houses – can run the gamut, and whether you like them has little to do with how much their mortgage is. 

Pass Zoning for Housing and allow more people to live in Alexandria. I plan to live in this city the rest of my life and I want others to be able to do the same. 

-Erica Smith Ewing, Alexandria 

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