Scott McCaffrey | FFXnow

In one Fairfax community, typical ‘starter home’ now valued at $1.2 million

Published April 28, 2025 at 9:45AM | Updated April 28, 2025 at 10:15AM

This home on Holly Leaf Court in Great Falls went on the market April 25 with a listing price of $1,150,000. It is listed by Glenn Feagans of Keller Williams Realty (photo via Bright MLS/Zillow)

Great Falls is one of 233 communities nationwide where the value of a typical “starter home” now tops $1 million, according to a new Zillow analysis.

At just over $1.2 million, the typical value of a Great Falls starter home is six times the national average. Great Falls is the lone Virginia community to make the 2025 list.

News

Possible increase to county’s lodging tax receives mixed reviews

By Scott McCaffrey

Published April 25, 2025 at 9:00AM

A standard AC Hotel room with a king bed at Marriott's Reston Town Center location (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Consideration of a meals tax has gained most of the attention this budget cycle, but Fairfax County supervisors also are looking at increasing the transient-occupancy tax paid on hotel stays.

If adopted next month, the increase from 4% to 6% on stays of less than 30 days will raise an additional $13 million in the coming fiscal year, said Phil Hagen, director of the county’s Department of Management and Budget.

News

FCPS given more time to submit plans for Centreville High School expansion

By Scott McCaffrey

Published April 24, 2025 at 11:15AM

Proposed Centreville High School renovation (via FCPS)

Fairfax County supervisors on Tuesday (April 22) gave the county school system an extension totaling nearly a full year to submit planning documents for expansion of Centreville High School.

The action did not sit well with the supervisor in whose district the school is located.

News

Restaurateurs push back against Fairfax meals tax proposal

By Scott McCaffrey

Published April 24, 2025 at 9:45AM

Restaurant dining (via Dan Gold/Unsplash)

Opponents outnumbered supporters as the public weighed in Tuesday (April 22) on the imposition of a countywide meals tax.

Adding a meals tax on top of the sales tax for restaurant meals and prepared foods would “really be a burden” both to the industry and “economically exhausted consumers,” Jim Rafferty of the Glory Days Grill restaurant chain told Fairfax County supervisors during a public hearing.

Countywide

County leaders to consider trash-collection takeover after 5-year waiting period

By Scott McCaffrey

Published April 23, 2025 at 1:15PM

Fairfax County trash collection (photo via Fairfax County)

Fairfax County supervisors on Tuesday (April 22) took the first step in what could result in a local-government takeover of trash-collection services across single-family neighborhoods in the county.

Supervisors voted 9-1 to advertise, for a June 24 public hearing, a plan that would start the clock running on a five-year waiting period before the county government could create a unified, countywide trash-collection district.

News

County board celebrates the lives of its legislative director and Pope Francis

By Scott McCaffrey

Published April 22, 2025 at 1:30PM

Claudia Arko at a January 2025 Board of Supervisors committee meeting (screenshot via Fairfax County)

Fairfax County supervisors commemorated the lives of county’s top legislative staffer and the head of the Roman Catholic Church at their Tuesday (April 22) meeting.

Supervisors also welcomed back a colleague who had been absent for more than a month owing to health issues.

News

Fairfax home sales, prices post increases in first-quarter data

By Scott McCaffrey

Published April 17, 2025 at 2:30PM

Home for sale (photo via Todd Kent/Unsplash)

The Fairfax real-estate market had a solid start to 2025. Where Fairfax and the broader Northern Virginia region goes from there, however, is an open question.

“It is still too soon to tell whether the spring housing market will blossom or stay dormant a little longer,” said Lisa Sturtevant, chief economist for Bright MLS, in parsing March’s housing data.

News

Decline in corporate sponsorship causes challenges for Reston Pride organizers

By Scott McCaffrey

Published April 17, 2025 at 9:00AM | Updated April 17, 2025 at 4:25PM

Vendor tables at the 2023 Reston Pride Festival (courtesy of Jennifer Heffner Photography)

Despite a decline in corporate support, organizers of the 2025 Reston Pride Festival say they are moving forward with what is planned as the largest in the event’s history.

Set to run May 31-June 1 at Lake Anne Plaza, the event’s all-volunteer organizing committee has begun a last-minute effort to attract sponsors, after a number of those that had participated in the past opted against doing so in 2025.

News

D.C. region leaders still not sold on I-495 Southside Express Lanes proposal

By Scott McCaffrey

Published April 16, 2025 at 11:15AM | Updated April 17, 2025 at 1:17PM

I-495 "Southside Express" HOT-lanes proposal (via Virginia Department of Transportation)

A recent briefing from the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) did little to quell questions and concerns from regional leaders about a proposal to extend the I-495 Express Lanes from Springfield into Prince George’s County, Maryland.

The Southside Express Lanes project is a “complex and lengthy” undertaking, VDOT Northern Virginia District Megaprojects Director Michelle Shropshire told the D.C. region’s Transportation Planning Board (TPB) at a meeting yesterday (Tuesday).

Countywide

Farmers market season takes root across Fairfax County, starting this week

By Scott McCaffrey

Published April 15, 2025 at 8:15AM

Lorton Farmers Market on June 30, 2024 (courtesy Fairfax County Park Authority, 2024 Farmers Markets)

The Fairfax County Park Authority’s annual farmers market season kicks off Wednesday (April 16) with the McCutcheon/Mount Vernon Farmers’ Market outside the Sherwood Regional Library (2501 Sherwood Hall Lane) in Fort Hunt.

It will be one of three sites to begin 2025 operations in April, with seven others opening their seasons in May.