This essay is part of a series in which we’ve asked Alexandrians to envision our region in 2050.
Learn more about the series and read more essays on the Alexandria 2050 project page here.
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Kirk McPike
Alexandria is a wonderful place to live, a community of diverse and open-minded people brought together in a city that features beautiful historic districts, lovely neighborhoods, and wonderful parks, stores and restaurants. Alexandria is also a city that has reached an inflection point in the road to its future. How we respond to the challenges facing us today will determine what sort of city the next generation of Alexandrians will inherit.
I believe that Alexandria’s future can be even brighter than its present, and that by 2050 we can create an Alexandria where the progressive values of our politics have become the hallmarks of our city.
In this future Alexandria, we have found a careful balance between the demands facing our city. We have fulfilled our commitment to ensuring that housing remains affordable to people of different means while preserving the green and open spaces that make Alexandria beautiful. We have worked with business owners and entrepreneurs to revitalize our commercial sector. We have provided our education system the funding and space it needs to ensure that every young person has a path to a successful adulthood. We have fostered a strong middle class by supporting working families, and focusing on the needs of communities that are too often left behind. We have maintained a commitment to our neighborhoods by coming together to mitigate the impact of climate change and solve long term challenges like the flooding that plagues so many homeowners today.
I am running for City Council to help Alexandria along the path to a more inclusive and prosperous future. Over the last ten years, I’ve served on city commissions that have dealt with some of our thorniest policy challenges. In my professional life, I am chief of staff to a progressive leader in Congress. I know what it takes to build diverse coalitions to achieve policy goals. I know from firsthand experience how essential it is for elected officials to be responsive to and advocate for their constituents.
Today’s Alexandria has everything we need to overcome the challenges we face and build a brighter future. We have a city full of dedicated, civically-minded people who chose to make Alexandria our home because its beauty, diversity, and values speak to us. We have exciting opportunities for economic growth and innovation ahead of us tied to the new Virginia Tech Innovation Campus in Potomac Yard and the INOVA-led redevelopment of the Landmark Mall site. We have an appreciation for the complex history that gives our city its unique character, and aspirations for a better and more just future. Yet too often, we struggle to find the balance that is necessary to move us forward.
Finding a balance between important priorities takes communication — but more than that it takes conversation. The path to a better Alexandria is one built on a foundation of renewed trust between the people of our city. Building that trust will take increased accessibility and transparency from our leaders. It will require a willingness to accept that many of the questions facing Alexandria don’t have just one answer, and people of good faith can come to different conclusions on complicated topics. It will require truly listening to and understanding each other.
If elected, I am ready to be a leader who will take the time to hear and understand the views of Alexandrians from all walks of life, and to do the work to reflect those desires in policies we pursue. I will commit myself to building the trust we will need to make Alexandria’s future can be even brighter than its present.
Kirk McPike is running for city council in Alexandria in 2021.
