Dear County Board Chairman Zimmerman:
I am a resident of Howard Manor Apartments. I am in my mid-20s. I and most of the residents who live at Howard Manor Apartments are starting our professional careers. Mine is in education. Yes, I earn $49,000 per year. But I also have to pay back $5,000 per year in student loans. Howard Manor is a great place to live. As we related to you at Tuesday's County Board Meeting, we are a highly diverse rental community.
You and Ms. Hynes and Ms. Favola have children who are about our age. I am sure that if your children were in a situation similar to ours in another jurisdiction you would be very unhappy that your children were "gentrified out" of market-rate affordable housing by an out-of-state developer with assistance from that jurisdiction's government.
Mr. Zimmerman, you and the Arlington County Board owe Howard Manor residents a big apology for the way we have been treated. Most of us are young Democrats and have, until now, supported the Arlington Democratic Party's and County Board's objectives like Smart Growth and Transit-Oriented Development. But, after reading the postings on Arlington Yupette and other local blogs, it appears that all you and the rest of County Government care about is making affordable market rate rental communities like ours "redevelopment opportunities" for out-of-state developers. Unless and until you and the County Board begin to follow the diversity agenda you set for others we cannot continue to support you or the Arlington Democratic Party.
Howard Manor Resident