November 2019

Housing affordability is one of the biggest drivers of involuntary displacement of Arlington’s lowest-income residents. Currently, about 9,000 households (about 12 percent of the county’s population) are trying to make ends meet on 30 percent of our area’s median income—that’s $36,000 or less per year for a family of four.
In addition to housing, many in our community struggle with child care, finding living wage jobs, and health care.

The Shared Prosperity Initiative, which was launched earlier this year, aims to bring together leaders from Arlington’s government, business, and nonprofit sectors to collaborate on finding solutions to these problems that will create shared prosperity in our community.

Like many communities across the country, Arlington has a history of housing segregation along racial lines. Marty Swaim, Co-Founder of local nonprofit Challenging Racism, says disparities still exist—and are in plain sight.

But what is equity, and how can we achieve it? Housing Arlington's November 12 virtual community conversation tackled the topic. Click below to read our recap.