Kate rakes leaves in the yard of the home she has lived in for more than three decades.
When Kate purchased her home for under $100,000 in 1985, she was working full-time and had no trouble paying her mortgage and annual real estate taxes. She had the resources to travel, keep up with home maintenance (including devoting energy to her beloved tulip poplar and adding a redbud, birch, peach, and Chinese fringe tree), and eventually add guest space for visiting friends and family. Fast forward 3+ decades and Kate’s property is now assessed at more than six times its original price—a warm comfort but a growing tax burden to one on a fixed income.
Kate’s career with the Federal Government as a communications specialist in the Departments of Energy, Army, Education, and Labor kept her learning and challenged her to communicate an array of complex topics. In retirement, she thrives on being active—raking leaves, volunteering, and enjoying the outdoors as well as area theater, museums, and locally owned restaurants with friends. She uses the County’s trails and is a little fanatical about water aerobics (55+ classes!) and Jazzercise. After classes at Arlington Independent Media, she is volunteering on others’ productions and using video herself to get the word out about issues important to her, including missing middle housing in Arlington (housing affordable to moderate-income earners) and effective family communication on elder issues.
Kate is heavily invested in Arlington and grateful for its resources—the walkability and access to transit; the pools, community centers, and senior programs; the libraries (especially the garden tool lending library and makers’ spaces and tools at Central); and the real-estate tax relief—that make it possible for her to thrive and continue to participate actively in the Arlington way of life. Kate loves Arlington and Arlington loves her right back.