Carrie Kisicki, the Maryland housing advocacy manager at the Coalition for Smarter Growth, said she hopes future projects in White Oak will exceed the county’s affordable housing minimum.
Still, she said, even Viva White Oak units that aren’t designated as moderately priced will help people live more affordably by shortening costly commutes.
“The loss of 100,000 jobs in our region has affected everything, including transportation – commute trips in particular and add to that this horrible crackdown on… our hard-working immigrant community,” said Stewart Schwartz, executive director of the pro-transit Coalition for Smarter Growth.
Stewart Schwartz, executive director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, offered a statement to the Fairfax County Times on the tools needed to ensure affordable housing.
Greater Greater Washington: TranspoBINGO is a DC-born game that challenges people to try new ways of moving through and exploring the city.
Streetsblog USA: The feds appear to be mounting an argument that bike lanes cause congestion in the nation’s capitol — and advocates are bracing for a fight.
The Washington Post: The recently released proposal would add affordable and market-rate housing on top of the new library, stoking a debate about the right ways to use public land.
“We’re supportive of these kinds of efforts to ensure that drivers who are being dangerous and careless are accountable. And so we appreciate that out of the STEER act,” Cheryl Cort with the Coalition for Smarter Growth said.
However, Cort and other advocates said enforcement alone isn’t enough. They said that long-term safety improvements must also include better street design.
“Between April 2024 and 2025, average home prices in Alexandria rose by 10.5 percent and in that time, over 93 percent of residents making below $50,000 per year are housing cost burdened,” wrote Becca Dedert of the Coalition for Smarter Growth.
Bill Pugh, speaking on behalf of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, said the package represented “real progress.”
October 20, 2025 | Scott McCaffrey | FFXNow
Among the open house attendees was Sonya Breehey, a Falls Church resident who was viewing proposals both as a prospective rider and as a staff member of the pro-transit group Coalition for Smarter Growth.
“This is really important — BRT is really an opportunity,” she said. “So many people ride the bus.”
Breehey also voiced hope that transit improvements would be complemented by pedestrian safety initiatives. A study conducted by the Coalition for Smarter Growth and the immigrant advocacy nonprofit CASA in 2022 found that much of the Route 7 corridor is decidedly unfriendly to those trying to walk or cross.
Join us for our annual Smart Growth Social on October 21 at Eastern Market, 6:30 to 9:00 p.m. for networking and inspiration!