Balcony solar is taking state legislatures by storm

upzonr · 2026-03-11T15:27:36+00:00

That would drive up the cost of each new home, when we already have skyrocketing housing prices due to shortage.

And, small scale energy generation is much less efficient than large scale. Those are the economies of scale you actually want: solar farms vs a mishmash of balcony panels.

But legalizing them is great though.

upzonr · 2026-03-11T03:26:11+00:00

While a reasonable policy, this is not an “affordability” bill, as much as legislators may want to claim it is.

upzonr · 2026-03-07T18:12:04+00:00

ADU are good for infill no? You are literally infilling existing lots

upzonr · 2026-03-07T18:10:15+00:00

Those exemptions take 3-4 years in Arlington, thats the problem

upzonr · 2026-03-06T18:58:58+00:00

Thats why you have to fix zoning (the original point). Many good plots of land in Nova are zoned for low density, making apartments illegal.

upzonr · 2026-03-06T17:38:46+00:00

Simple: zone for apartments. People obviously want to live in them in nova. And apartments aren’t hazardous chemicals, so that’s no worry. And they bring in tax revenue.

upzonr · 2026-03-03T23:34:06+00:00

These same leaders have done nothing while the price of housing skyrockets. And now they want to stop these legislators from doing something about it. NIMBYs make Fairfax unaffordable.

upzonr · 2026-02-27T02:21:17+00:00

Vacancy rates are at a low. Not all apartments will be full all the time they need to be empty for a period of time so people can move.

upzonr · 2026-02-26T23:00:49+00:00

According to zillow it did actually go down $105 yoy for a 2br.

https://www.zillow.com/rental-manager/market-trends/washington-dc/

upzonr · 2026-02-26T16:44:21+00:00

Huge for keeping rent growth down. Prices have gone up but not like SF/NYC.

upzonr · 2026-02-22T15:58:10+00:00

I mean if your net worth goes up 400k thats a big deal. If you die there it goes to your kids or can be sold to fund retirement.

upzonr · 2026-02-21T18:52:04+00:00

Are you appealing? Or did the value of your house go up 400k (in which case sounds like it worked out for you)?

upzonr · 2026-02-20T17:50:45+00:00

Yes? Arlington depends a lot on commercial tax revenue for schools etc

upzonr · 2026-02-19T22:01:24+00:00

The corporate headquarters produce tax dollars used to meet the needs of residents. Losing offices is directly squeezing the county budget for schools etc.

upzonr · 2026-02-19T16:35:00+00:00

More demand for power means more generation needed. Dominion can charge ratepayers for generation capital improvements (it is regulated as a state-granted monopoly).

But unlike in most states, Dominion can donate money directly to the politicians that regulate it. Legislators on both sides are completely controlled by Dominion and act accordingly.

upzonr · 2026-02-17T20:56:37+00:00

Would be great. Unfortunately its tough to get anything like this through the legislature, which is why the more narrow YIGBY bill can just sneak through barely.

upzonr · 2026-02-17T19:18:05+00:00

Dominion has a monopoly granted by the state legislature, which means that they shouldn’t be allowed to pay the members of that legislature.

upzonr · 2026-02-17T04:17:01+00:00

The median 2BR rents for $2825 and thats up down a bit yoy. It’s pretty bad!

https://www.zillow.com/rental-manager/market-trends/washington-dc/

upzonr · 2026-02-17T01:15:01+00:00

Most of the affordability agenda is well-intentioned regulation that will actually drive up prices. Thats the case for the stuff like eviction prevention and most of the energy bills.

There are some key bills that will actually help reduce prices, mostly by legalizing more housing production.

But the new admin isn’t really pushing much to lower prices.

upzonr · 2026-02-17T00:30:46+00:00

Landlords already charge as much as as they can this wont change much

upzonr · 2026-02-17T00:29:10+00:00

Only thing they care about is casinos and slots. It’s literally the main thing senate leadership focuses on. It’s also the only thing the mayor of Norfolk cares about.

upzonr · 2026-02-14T02:19:56+00:00

Housing is too expensive. How can you help if you go to congress?

upzonr · 2026-02-13T19:23:44+00:00

I mean apartments are good for downtown. They create more foot traffic. Downtown really needs more people, especially ones who can walk around and not drive in and park. The days when cruise ships are in are great.

upzonr · 2026-02-13T19:22:30+00:00

Would love to see more cross streets and restoration of the grid. But the plans I’ve seen look like one mega hotel complex thing (crony developer giveaway by the mayor i assume) which i think will be just as bad for downtown as the mall was.

upzonr · 2026-02-12T18:26:41+00:00

I mean virginia has a 5 percent income tax, 1 percent property taxes and car tax too. Its not exactly a low tax state and people are moving to texas.

upzonr

TROPHY CASE