“People think of affordable housing as a young professional problem, and I think it’s really important to know that this generation of families cannot afford to keep their roots in Northern Virginia,” Cristol said. “A pathway that was very attainable to someone 25 years ago does not exist today … This is not just a problem of our very low-income neighbors. This is a problem of our middleclass, even our upper middle class.”
Franklin said each locality must decide the importance of affordable housing. She said Prince William County is “at a crossroads” and highlighted recent proposals to expand land-use decisions countywide.
“Those discussions have become very controversial because we’re looking at expanding housing all across the county, not just in certain areas,” she said. “In Prince William County, you have a board that is willing to go as far as we need to go to ensure that housing is spread out and not just concentrated in certain parts of the county.”