Location: Arlington County, Virginia
Program: Affordable Housing Master Plan and Related Policies
Institution: Department of Community Planning, Housing and Development
Website: http://housing.arlingtonva.us

Arlington County, located in the high-cost Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, has implemented a comprehensive set of policies over time to mitigate the impacts on its workforce from sharply rising rents and home prices. The county provides a revolving loan fund as an ongoing source of low-cost financing to developers, a grant program that expands the number of lower-income residents who can access rental assistance, an affordable housing ordinance to leverage new development for gains in affordable housing units or funding, and additional incentives that promote affordability and mixed-income development. A 3-year community engagement process recently resulted in an ambitious Affordable Housing Master Plan that builds on the County’s commitment to affordability and recognizes additional housing needs for those up to 120% of the area’s median income.