Young and Wildly Free

It must be an incredibly disorienting time to be young. We’re speculating of course, as you might be shocked to learn that neither of your intrepid newsletter authors could fairly be described as “young” anymore [Editor’s note: speak for yourself, old man] [Note to the editor’s note: I’m only one year older than you!!!] but it stands to reason that to be young at this moment is to confront head-on the irreducible tension between the idealistic pursuit of boundless opportunity and the curdled reality of our grievancetocracy slamming shut door after door that had stood open for countless generations prior. A tension only further heightened by the knowledge that not only is none of this is your fault, but you’re going to be expected to fix it—or at the very least humpty dumpty the pieces back together in some facsimile of a liberal world order.

It would be natural in the face of this for a young person—and we can only surmise this as our hair is rapidly graying and our knees make weird noises when we try to run [Editor’s note: listen, one of my knees is totally fine]—to retreat from a world that has treated their future so callously. Yet here in Alexandria we have seen the complete opposite: we have seen young members of this city lean in, and become even more engaged and committed to our collective welfare. The young people of our city have shown up recently as vocal advocates for causes from press freedom, to substance abuse prevention, to the defense of the fundamental civil rights of their friends and classmates. It’s frankly inspiring, and it’s worth reflecting how we can ensure we have a strong foundation to encourage and reward such efforts. 

One hugely positive development in this regard has been Mayor Gaskin’s effort to establish Mayoral Youth Forums, the first occurring back in March and the next one happening this upcoming weekend (May 24th, 9:30am at Charles Houston Rec Center). It’s really meaningful that the mayor has created an intentional space for young Alexandrians to come and share their ideas and concerns about how our city is governed. Will all of their ideas be practical? Probably not. Will all of their concerns reflect the complete context of our local policy environment? They won’t. But the point is they don’t have to be. A tremendous barrier to participation in local government (any level of government really) is the perception that you’re joining a conversation midstream, that the other participants somehow know more than you and your input will be dismissed out of hand. By establishing forums specifically for youth voices, the city has invited them to the table and made clear that they are welcome without preconditions.

The city has also created other structural opportunities for youth engagement, like dedicated seats on certain boards and commissions for student representatives. These young members of the commissions are frequently positioned to bring a perspective on unintended consequences of a particular policy idea or initiative, or they can tap into a stakeholder group that might have otherwise gone unconsidered. Beyond that, the opportunity to shape the governance of the community in which they live is a tangible way of showing that they can make a difference in the place they’re growing up—and that’s a powerful feeling to experience. 

And beyond local governance, we are a city rich in organizations that are invested in the growth and well being of our young people. Whether it’s training and mentorship organizations like Cornerstone Craftsman, educational nonprofits like Spitfire Club, child development focused groups like Campagna Center and Casa Chirilagua, college success organizations like the Scholarship Fund of Alexandria, and many, many more—we have a veritable constellation of groups committed to the wellbeing of the next generation of doers and leaders in the Port City.

It is incredibly critical to create space for the youth of today to make a difference in both their own lives as well as ours. Not only will it establish the kind of habits necessary for the eventual renewal of democracy, but it will serve as a necessary proof point that caring about something can pay off. That it is possible for someone to make a difference with little more than effort and good intentions. So while we may not all be young any more [Editor’s note: sigh, fine] we can all find the fountain of youth that is supporting and empowering young people in our community.

Things You May Have Missed Because You Have a Life 

• Having so thoroughly dominated the breadth of lists having to do with tourism and small city charm you may have expected Alexandria to weep like our namesake, finding no lists left to conquer. But nope! We just found new categories to rank in. That’s right baby, you’re looking at the #3 city in the commonwealth of Virginia for UFO sightings!!! You’d better watch your ass Roswell, we’re coming for you next.
• The long-in-the-works redevelopment of the Samuel Madden Homes in Old Town has received financing for the first half (the north building) of the project and is slated to move ahead.
• The Trump tariffs have started to hit Alexandria local businesses, and while all of the economic impacts are certain to result in political backlash, it seems like a particularly critical error to piss off the knitting community, a group of people notorious for possessing pointy objects perfectly shaped for stabbing.

Local Discourse Power Rankings

1. Thar She Blows (Last week: NR). City Council notched a signature policy win last weekend as they voted to ban gas-powered leaf blowers in the city, consigning these irritating little pollution machines to the same historical dustbin as CFCs in hairspray and leaded gasoline. The ban will phase in over 18 months and include consumer education about electric models, in addition to a buy-back program. The buy-back program (details of which are still pending) is kind of funny because on one hand it’s an entirely reasonable policy solution, yet on the other hand it evokes an image of someone furtively bringing in a Husqvarna X-TORQ 360BT like it’s an illicit Saturday night special with the serial number filed off. Regardless, this is a win for our ears, a win for our lungs, and a win for the local advocates who tirelessly pushed for this change for years. In fact the only losers here, as near as we can tell, are those of us that will need to find a new reason to narrow our eyes and mutter about that one neighbor.
2. Unnecessarily Aggressive Weather Phenomena (Last week: NR). When the movie Twisters was announced, our initial reaction was that we had hit the absolute nadir of IP mining. Who out there was demanding a dead-eyed sequel to the 1996 Bill Paxton/Helen Hunt vehicle most famous for its cutting edge use of bovine levitation special effects [Editor’s note: it’s important to note here that the taller half of ALXtra went on a marching band trip to Universal Studios Orlando a couple years after this movie came out and the signature ride at the time was a Twister-themed one that, yes, involved a cow being flung at you, jump-scare style]. Where were we? Oh right—who the hell wanted Twisters, right? But it turned out to be a great flick! Glen Powell is ludicrously charming, the weather effects were fantastic, Superman is also in it, there was more than one twister (Leo pointing at the tv screen dot gif!!), and there was allegedly a plot and a story (we think, maybe, that’s not the point). Pretty much all you could want from a movie except for kissing. Anyway, a really bad storm hit Alexandria last Friday and knocked out power to much of the West End for a couple of days. Was it a twister? It was not. But it still would have been nice if Glen Powell had been here to help.
3. I’m Cardin’ It (Last week: NR). In the latest example of Fairfax County besmirching our city’s good name, a McDonald’s restaurant in Fauxlexandria has made national news for making the horniest PlayPlace ball pit in America limiting its dining room to patrons 21 years and older. And listen, we shouldn’t make light of a situation where employee safety was being threatened by persistent irresponsible behavior on the part of local students. But there is something so fundamentally weird about having to ring a doorbell in order to get a Filet o’ Fish that it’s just breaking our brain. McDonald’s is an impulse food. Its entire business model is dependent on a frictionless exchange allowing your id to seek the dopamine hit delivered by sugar and salt before your ego remembers you need to fit into those shorts this weekend. The act of extending your finger toward a doorbell, ringing said doorbell, waiting for an employee to open the door upon hearing said doorbell… well that is far more than enough time for the words “twenty piece McNuggets, large fry, vanilla shake, and a McDouble” to turn to ash on your tongue. So thanks for nothing Fairfax County, for unwillingly dragging us into a discourse that makes us question dietary choices that we previously enjoyed a whole hell of a lot… dammit, are we both vegetarian now??
4. Trader Oh Joe You Didn’ts (Last week: NR). We spend a lot of time in the digital pages of this here newsletter embracing change and making the case for why doing things differently is okay. We have been resolute in our belief that tradition should be a guide and an inspiration but never a barrier to growth and evolution. Our entire brand is built on championing the ethos of just trying things, fearless in our devotion before the altar of progress. Whelp, it turns out we’re full of shit because they changed the layout of the Old Town Trader Joe’s and we absolutely hate it. Why is the new checkout line set behind a column where you can’t see if it’s your turn to be called up? Why are the checkout stands set so close together that you can’t help bag your groceries without giving the person next to you an accidental colonoscopy? Why did they discontinue the Matcha Joe-Joes?? Ok that last one is a different complaint, but seriously—this new store layout is terrible and unacceptable and it’s only a matter of time before we get completely accustomed to it and defend its virtues in the face of the next layout change in a year.
5. Requiem for a Placard (Last week: NR). Marking the end of an era for a beloved local landmark, the Yates Pizza Palace Opening Soon sign has finally met its demise. We knew it was inevitable once the establishment changed hands and plans for all-you-can-eat sushi were announced, but this rare display of defeat for Alexandria pizza has nonetheless left us reeling. It’s also reminded us of the fragility of the status quo, underscoring the ephemerality of features in our shared cultural landscape whose permanence we’ve taken for granted. It makes us wonder: if this sign can be removed, what’s next? The Masonic Memorial? Christ Church? The Port City pineapple?? When Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote “Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind,” this is what he was talking about: the witnessing of a relic’s passage into our collective memory, and the necessary acceptance that any object, no matter how common or absurd, can vanish without ceremony.

Alexandria’s Hottest Club Is… Professional and Trade Associations

Have you ever been walking or biking or driving around town, paused in front of a nondescript office building, and noticed that it’s the home of the Envelope Manufacturers Association? Or the Textile Rental Services Association or, intriguingly, the National Emergency Number Association? Have you ever taken stock of the fact that on a single two-block stretch of Duke Street you can find the headquarters of the National Club Association, the National Rural Letter Carriers Association, the International Association of Movers, the National Sheriffs Association, the National Association of Convenience Stores, and the National Agricultural Aviation Association (whose mascot we can only hope is Russell Casse, the perpetually drunk crop-duster pilot from the 1996 cinematic masterpiece Independence Day)?

If you’re anything like us, you’ve wondered, probably more than once—what the hell are all these groups, and why do we have so many of them? According to Wikipedia information that we definitely already knew, professional associations are organizations that represent people who work in the same industry or field. They establish peer networks, provide career development opportunities, accredit members of certain professions, and most importantly in these here parts, lobby for favorable regulatory treatment. They can be pretty broad in scope (Federal Managers Association, headquartered on Prince Street, with 200,000 members) or amusingly specific (National Association of Waterfront Employers, on Union Street, representing a couple dozen companies as “the voice of the stevedoring industry”). They can even make you aware of industries you didn’t know existed and frankly would rather not think about (looking at you, North American Renderers Association, “promoting the use of animal by-products” over on Montgomery Street).

In trying to get a handle on how many of these organizations our little city contains, we found a Baltimore Sun article on the topic from 1997, which starts with this spectacular lede: “Milwaukee has its beer; Seattle its decaf latte. And Alexandria? Interest groups.” We would consider being offended by this, but nothing said in Maryland can hurt us. Anyway, the whole article is great and well worth the $1 promotional subscription rate we paid to read it. It says that outside of DC proper, Alexandria is home to the greatest concentration of professional and trade associations in the world—over 300 of them at the time of writing. How many of them do we have today, almost thirty years later? Is that stat still accurate? We don’t fucking know, we’re not real journalists. Either way, we still have a lot of them, so you’ll be excused for mixing up your NASMHPD (next door to Trader Joe’s) with your NASDDDS (location listed only as a P.O. Box at the Wythe Street post office).

But why? Why are they here??? For one thing, we’re close enough to Capitol Hill that you can take a Lyft to Rayburn House Office Building for less than 30 bucks including tip—a small price to pay for the privilege of talking to the distracted 22-year-old who works for the committee chairs with jurisdiction over your industry. Also, the rent is cheaper than in DC. Our city government has actively courted these groups by offering various tax incentives and other policy inducements over the years, and of course, once Alexandria achieves a critical mass of something, more of it will follow. Like lemmings. This is why we have so many parades! Finally, we can’t discount the impact of having so many Type A residents who all want to be the executive director of something.

But just because we already have a lot of associations doesn’t mean we couldn’t use some more. Surely this city’s many dog walkers deserve the organizational backing of an Association of Canine Entertainment Providers, or its early morning joggers an Alliance of Dawn-Adjacent Pavement Gallopers. People who put out a lot of signs during election season could form the Association of Lawn-Based Electoral Advocates. Homeowners who decorate aggressively for Halloween? National Guild of Seasonal Overcommitment and Inflatable Terror. And is it just us or is Alexandria Soccer Association overdue for an update? Federation of Casual and Not-So-Casual Ball-Kicking Enthusiasts has a pretty nice ring to it. Please oh please let us rebrand you like John Oliver is doing for a minor league baseball team, we promise to do an absolutely terrible job!!!

In all seriousness though, having all these associations in our city provides a lot of benefits. They’re great for our local economy—they create high-paying jobs, they rent space in our commercial office buildings, they host conferences that people travel from elsewhere to attend, they generate local tax revenue. So it would be unfortunate if we were to lose them. This is a real threat these days, thanks to the current state of the government and the economy and pretty much everything else. Also, the way things are going at the Air Traffic Control Association (Reinekers Lane), who knows how long that one will last! So let’s do what we can to keep these groups here and thriving, especially the Pool and Hot Tub Alliance (how do we get invited to their conference?) and their King Street neighbors the American Peanut Council (damn, we could really go for a handful of peanuts right now).

In conclusion, all of this has given us an idea. If things really start to go south civilization-wise, we’re quitting our jobs and establishing the National Association of National Associations (headquartered on that one block of Duke, obviously), creating a singularity that causes reality to collapse in upon itself, bringing the sweet sweet relief of apocalypse and putting all of us out of our misery. Well, except for the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association (Canal Center Plaza). Those guys will survive anything.

Overheard in ALX

From the Alexandria Times coverage of the proposed lights at Episcopal High School:

“Stefanie Smith, Episcopal’s general counsel, said the school wanted to adhere to FIFA’s training field requirements for lights.”

It feels safe to assume that FIFA’s training field requirement for lights is that they each must have a little button on the side that dispenses a $100 bill whenever a FIFA board member presses it, so this is not necessarily the standard we want to aim for. Just saying is all. Height may be the least of our concerns—we should be more worried that we didn’t sufficiently grease some guy named, like, Fabrizio Moltodante and he takes it out on us by blackballing ASA from the Heritage Cup or something.

More importantly though, can we say how tremendously proud we are of Alexandria for finding a second entirely new way to disagree about stadium lighting? It’s like when you’re seeing your favorite band in concert and they finally stop playing the tracks off the new album that no one likes and launch into the opening bars of a classic hit that the whole venue is ready to sing along to. Stadium lights, what an absolute banger.

We Get Letters

Reader Tim S. writes to share information about two awesome programs many readers may not know about:

Hi Becky and Jesse, I hope I can interest you in a couple related items for the newsletter. Through my daughter’s journey growing up here, my family has a close connection to the ALX disability community. Two organizations jump out to me.

St. Coletta of Greater Washington has one of its two Adult Services locations here in Alexandria, on Peyton St. My daughter is one of the clients here. While the program works to develop a variety of skills with a variety of clients, crafts are at the core of what they do. Some of the clients produce and sell their work through Coletta Collections. These folks produce some amazing stuff, and I expect not too many people realize it is happening just steps from the King St. Metro station.

On Saturdays during spring and fall, the same population can be found by the Lee Center, enjoying baseball through Miracle League of Alexandria. Volunteers join the players to assist and cheer, giving whatever assistance the individual requires. Many, but not all, the players are also in the Rec Department’s adult social club at the Lee Center (a program that is pretty awesome in its own right). It’s a fun way for those in the city with physical or intellectual differences to make their own athletic memories. The final spring Miracle League game is May 31 at 1:30.

Perhaps your readers would enjoy knowing about these programs?

Absolutely, thank you Tim! There are so many initiatives and organizations in our city dedicated to helping make people’s lives better, and we love learning about all of them and spreading the word about the good work they do. 

One Awesome Thing in ALX

We just shared two awesome things in the We Get Letters section, and now we get to write about a third awesome thing?! Hell yes! This newsletter writing job is amazing [Editor’s note: not a real job]. Okay, so as you all know, the two of us are huge nerds, and we also love local government. The fact that our city has a local government nerd school is therefore quite possibly our favorite thing in the world. 

The Alexandria City Academy, which teaches residents about how our municipality works, just celebrated its most recent batch of Spring 2025 graduates. These new grads join over 1,000 Alexandrians who have completed the course over the last twenty years, learning about what our city departments do, how our local history affects our lives today, and whether it’s okay to call the non-emergency police line if your neighbor re-paints their house an ugly color. It’s important to note that this program is not to be confused with the Eco-City Academy, which we’ve written about before, and which is for a very specific kind of nerd; whereas the original recipe City Academy is for your basic garden-variety nerd, or in other words anyone who’s still reading this.

By all accounts, participating in the City Academy is really fun! Sometimes you get to hang out with dogs. Or ride a bus through a car wash. Anybody can do it as long as you’re willing to dedicate two hours every Thursday evening for seven weeks. And when you finish, you get to have a proclamation read in your honor at a city council meeting. We ask this sincerely: what could be better than that?? But be forewarned, taking this course will have the highly contagious side effect of making you want to get more involved in our community. So if you have a little Leslie Knope lurking inside you (metaphorically speaking—if you have a little Leslie Knope lurking inside you literally, please seek medical attention), you should consider submitting an application the next time the program is offered.

You can follow Becky @beckyhammer.bsky.social and Jesse @oconnell.bsky.social on Bluesky, or you can e-mail us anytime at alxtranewsletter@gmail.com.

ALXtra is a free-to-read newsletter about current events in Alexandria, Virginia. Subscribe to get it delivered directly to your inbox. Paid subscriptions give you access to the comments. Revenue from subscriptions gets used in the following ways: 1) a third goes into a charity fund, and every time that fund hits $500 we’ll make a donation to a local charity in the name of ALXtra’s readers and we’ll feature and write about that organization, like we did here, here, here, and here; 2) another third of the money will go toward investments in the newsletter; and 3) the final third of the money goes toward self-care for your two intrepid authors.