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Falls Church Mayor Letty Hardi brought the Little City’s housing experience to Richmond as a policy co-chair on Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s transition team, joining roughly 35 specialists tasked with examining affordable housing across Virginia.
Spanberger, who became Virginia’s first woman governor when she was inaugurated Jan. 17, selected Hardi for her local expertise in housing affordability. Hardi said the intensive transition process lasted about six weeks and stretched across the holidays.
The appointment came as Hardi began another term as mayor following her reelection. In Jan. 5 remarks to the Falls Church City Council, she renewed her commitment to making the city more affordable and livable after years of construction, growth and redevelopment.
Hardi said those investments helped Falls Church expand its housing and infrastructure while lowering tax rates by 17 cents. She also pointed to a five-point improvement in the city’s community survey, in which 93 percent of residents rated their quality of life as good or great.
With the real estate market cooling, she urged the city to think beyond new buildings and focus on supporting small businesses and continuing its evolution into a walkable, bikeable, greener and safer “15-minute city.” She also called for measurable results, including homes built, crosswalks painted, jobs added and trees planted.
A Statewide Affordability Problem
Hardi said housing affordability is no longer primarily a Northern Virginia concern concentrated in communities such as Falls Church and Arlington. Conversations with officials elsewhere have convinced her that the problem now reaches across the commonwealth.
That shift has contributed to increased attention from the General Assembly, with more state-level housing bills emerging during recent legislative sessions.
The transition committee reflected the range of interests involved in that debate. Its members included affordable-housing advocates, nonprofit representatives, land-use attorneys, developers and people with extensive experience in Richmond and state government.
Hardi served alongside co-chair Bill Shelton, a veteran Virginia housing official whose experience spanned multiple gubernatorial administrations. She said the committee included views ranging from strong support for additional housing to more conservative positions on development.
That ideological mix, Hardi said, matched Spanberger’s stated goal of taking a moderate, pragmatic approach and governing for all of Virginia.
Housing Costs Squeeze Families and Businesses
Housing deserves a central place in the affordability debate because it consumes the largest share of many household budgets, Hardi said. Child care and transportation typically follow.
Families cannot sustainably devote 50, 60 or 70 percent of their income to housing, she said, arguing that Virginia’s current approach is not working for the average resident.
The consequences extend well beyond household finances. Hardi said housing policy affects transportation, environmental goals and economic development because workers often cannot afford to live near their jobs.
When employees must commute as long as 90 minutes from distant communities with limited public transportation, businesses have a harder time hiring and retaining staff. Those long drives also increase traffic and greenhouse gas emissions while pushing development farther into undeveloped areas.
The issue is particularly relevant to restaurants and other businesses that need nearby workers. Hardi said Falls Church has pursued housing initiatives partly because employers repeatedly report that staffing becomes difficult when employees must travel from far outside the city.
She hopes Virginia will take a larger role in addressing those pressures.
Hardi could not disclose the transition committee’s specific recommendations because its work was confidential. She said, however, that meetings with agency leaders and the secretary of commerce and trade gave her an unusual look at Richmond’s operations and created relationships that could benefit Falls Church.
Those new connections may prove useful when the city encounters obstacles involving affordable-housing projects, Hardi said, because she now knows senior officials overseeing housing policy at the state level.