Alexandria has become whiter, wealthier and more expensive during the past decade — trends that have local officials worried about the city’s racial and economic makeup.
Roughly 58 percent of Alexandria residents are white, up about 4 percentage points — or roughly 14,000 people — since 2000. Every minority group suffered a decline in terms of proportion of the city’s population during the same period.
“We have a diversity that we cherish, in terms of ethnicity, social and income diversity, and we want to sustain that,” said Mayor Bill Euille.
The city’s median household income shot up roughly 51 percent, from about $56,000 in 2000 to more than $85,000 in 2008. Rental rates increased 64 percent for two- and three-bedroom apartments between 2000 and 2009, according to the city’s housing office.
Category
2000
2008/2009
White residents
68,889
83,165
White percentage of total
53.7
57.8
Black residents
28,463
30,504
Black percentage of total
22.2
21.2
Asian residents
7,299
7,770
Asian percentage of total
5.7
5.4
Hispanic residents
18,882
19,424
Hispanic percentage of total
14.7
13.5
Median household income
$56,054
$85,135
Cost of 2-bedroom rental
$1,034
$1,700
Cost of 3-bedroom rental
$1,126
$1,844
Alexandria Housing Director Mildrilyn Davis said those increases were pricing many low- and moderate-income residents out of the city.
“I think that if we continue to lose affordability, our economic diversity is certainly going to be threatened,” Davis said.
She and members of the Alexandria Housing Office recently submitted to the City Council a strategic plan for addressing the city’s housing and development needs.
Davis explained that her top priority was preserving the city’s existing cache of rental units affordable to low- and moderate-income residents.
The city lost roughly 10,000 low- and moderate-income apartment units from 2000 to 2009, which Euille partially attributed to the conversion of rental units to condominiums. Those conversions also pushed up prices of the city’s remaining apartments.
Euille said the city was committed to addressing the issue of affordable housing, and adopting the housing office’s strategic plan was an important step.
“It’s a plan of action with a focus to ensure that people that are looking for affordable housing here in the city will find it,” Euille said.
Alexandria’s strategic housing plan also includes down payment and closing cost loans for new homebuyers, as well as rent payment assistance programs.
The City Council is scheduled to approve the plan May 11.
