NVAR Summit at GMU’s Mason Inn
Complex shortage of homes for sale likely to persist; boomers not planning to retire, not planning to move, experts say. Rising mortgage rates should inspire renters to buy soon.
Nationally syndicated columnist and moderator Kenneth R. Harney introduced the expert panel for the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors (NVAR) 17th annual Economic Summit Thursday morning, Sept. 5. Dr. David Crowe, chief economist and senior vice president of the National Association of Home Builders, joined economic experts David E. Versel, a senior research associate at the George Mason University Center for Regional Analysis, and Dr. Lawrence Yun, senior economist for the National Association of Realtors.
Condo Renovations
As sales of condominiums grow, so does demand for luxury renovations.
More people are moving from leafy, sprawling suburbs to more urban areas, neighborhoods both in the city and in Northern Virginia that offer close proximity to restaurants, jobs, cultural activities and Metro.
Big Ideas for Small Spaces
Local designers offer ideas for decorating small rooms.
Whether one is sprucing up a small powder room or decorating a studio apartment, space limitations often pose a design challenge. However, local designers say that no matter how a small space’s square footage or how awkward the layout, there are plenty of decorative cures for small spaces. Whether one is sprucing up a small powder room or decorating a studio apartment, space limitations often pose a design challenge. However, local designers say that no matter how a small space’s square footage or how awkward the layout, there are plenty of decorative cures for small spaces.
Top-to-Bottom Makeover Embraces Longterm Horizons
The Hollis family wanted a house that would work better today — and long into the future.
Sometimes it’s not limited square footage that makes a house feel inadequate — it’s how that square footage is configured.
Like Magic
New plan in built-out 1940s colonial gains vital square footage as young family looks ahead.
In the end, a skillful spatial reconfiguration is like a deft magician's trick — you've seen it with your own eyes, but you still can't figure out how they did it. “Really, I don't know how this plan created so much more usable space,” Alexandria resident Alice Goulet said, discussing a recent reconfiguration to several rooms in the family's 1,800-square-foot center-hall Colonial.
Northern Virginia Designers Awarded Rooms in Showhouse Event
Northern Virginia/metro area interior designers Kelley Proxmire of Kelley Interior Design and Wayne Breeden of E. Wayne Breeden Design are among 17 designers awarded rooms at the benefit Winchester Showhouse & Gardens, open to the public through Sept. 29.
Sun Design Named One of U.S.’s Fastest Growing Private Companies
Sun Design Remodeling Specialists, Inc., of Fairfax, was named by Inc. Magazine as one of America’s fastest-growing private companies. This is the fourth time the magazine has included Sun Design on its annual Inc. 5000 list.
Editorial: Small Steps to Fight Homelessness
Efficiency apartments would serve 20-somethings, service workers, retirees and more.
One way to prevent homelessness is to think small. It doesn’t take much space to house one person. Sure, many houses in our area have 1,000 square feet and sometimes two or three times that much per person, but that’s really not necessary.
Celebrating Diversity Through Music
The Fairfax Symphony Orchestra (FSO) will be presenting bilingual master classes and outreach presentations at various Fairfax County venues.
With grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Arts Council of Fairfax County, the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra (FSO) will be presenting bi-lingual master classes and outreach presentations at various Fairfax County venues in the coming weeks.
Classified Advertising September 11, 2013
Read the latest ads here!
Saluting Soldiers
12th annual Springfield BridgeWalk celebrates and affirms community support of Fort Belvoir’s soldiers.
For just a few minutes every year, the hum of constant traffic halts on Veteran’s Bridge in downtown Springfield as the Ft. Belvoir Fife and Drum Corps leads a contingent of soldiers, civic leaders and community participants across the bridge during the annual Springfield Bridge Walk.
Area Roundups
Now that school is back in session, Fairfax County police urge motorists to be even more vigilant for pedestrians and bicyclists. Commuters should expect increased congestion throughout the week and build extra travel time into their schedules. Residents may also notice police officers posted in school zones and near bus stops to help ensure pedestrian safety, plus safe loading and unloading of students. Drivers are reminded that, when bus lights and stop signs are activated, vehicles must stop in both directions, unless they’re separated from the bus by a median.
Miss Israel Comes to Fairfax
The Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia hosts meet and greet with Yityish Aynaw.
The Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia will host an evening with Miss Israel, Yityish Aynaw, the first Ethiopian-born woman to win the Israeli beauty pageant, on Tuesday, Sept. 24, at 7:30 p.m. at the JCCNV, 8900 Little River Turnpike, Fairfax. The event is free and open to the public. Donations are welcome.
Firefighters Hit the Streets to Fill-the-boot
Connolly praised Fairfax County fire department as “one of the best in the nation.”
Fairfax County Professional Fire Fighters and Paramedics Local 2068 kicked off its annual Fill-the-Boot drive for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) on Wednesday, Aug. 28 at Fire Station 14 in Burke.
Opinion: Dangers of Failure To Act
Our current and future standing in the international community is on the line.
President Obama has sought Congressional approval to carry out limited surgical strikes in Syria against the regime of Bashar al Assad in response to his use of chemical weapons to attack Syrian civilians, which killed 1,429 people, including 426 children.
Editorial: Later Start Times for High School
It’s past time to act; let this year be the year.
Tuesday morning, Sept. 3, the first day of school in Fairfax County, Dr. Karen Garza began her official day at 6:30 a.m. at Chantilly High School. While Garza was making herself available for interviews before the first class started at 7:20 a.m., many students were already on the school bus.
Wellbeing: How To Set Realistic Goals
Local experts say the key to success is setting achievable goals.
Laura Wheeler Poms, of Fairfax, set out to earn a doctorate degree and make a career change. As a wife, mother and working professional, the goal, she said, often felt lofty. “Writing my dissertation at times felt overwhelming, especially if I looked at it as one huge project,” said Poms, who now holds a Ph.D. in industrial/organizational psychology and is an assistant professor of global and community health at George Mason University in Fairfax. “I set goals like writing one page or doing one analysis each day and I was able to get it done. I also gave myself little rewards along the way.”
Column: Indeterminate Sentence
And no, that’s not another made-up phrase by yours truly describing my occasionally cluttered/run-on prose with which many of you extremely patient regular readers are all too familiar. No, it has to do with how I perceive my future now that I’m post-hospital and sleeping in my own bed. Instead of nurses, respiratory therapists, X-ray technicians, doctors and miscellaneous other hospital staff too numerous to list, I have one wife and five cats to do my bidding. And though they’re not nearly as attentive as the hospital staff, I know that they all have my best interests at heart.
Saving Jobs in Hard Times
Virginia lawmakers will push work sharing legislation this session.
“Having been through the recession and recent slight increases in Virginia unemployment rates as federal sequestration takes effect, it is important that we give Virginia businesses all the tools we can to help them and their employees get through challenging times. This bill does that.” —State Sen. George Barker (D-39)
‘Shared Work:’ A Win-Win-Win Solution
Preventing layoffs, maintaining the well-being of employees and their communities and keeping businesses competitive.
How do we mitigate the devastating effects of layoffs on employees, employers and their communities? Is there a "win-win-win" solution?