As a journalist and filmmaker in Falls Church, VA, I explore housing, urbanism, and the systems that shape our lives.
Justine Underhill is an elected City Council member in Falls Church, Virginia, and an award-winning video journalist and independent filmmaker.
Cities set the stage for our relationships— they can be built to isolate us or connect us as we cross paths, share spaces, and grow together.
Curious stories for curious minds.
I create videos and tell stories that make sense of how our cities work — and why they often don’t. My videos mix reporting, data, and a deep curiosity about how we build the world around us.
Serving the city, one vote at a time.
In 2023, I was elected to the Falls Church, VA City Council — and it’s been one of the most meaningful ways I’ve been able to serve my community. I focus on housing, infrastructure, and sustainability— always aiming to bring curiosity, data, and heart to local policymaking.
Behind the Screens: The Price of Tech
I created a docuseries called Discoveries, where we traveled across the country to investigate the hidden consequences of the tech we use. We examined the growing world of “Internet of Things” devices (and visited the Akamai cybersecurity control center), our tech dependence on rare earth metals (and visited the only mine in the U.S.), and the future of 5G and fiber Internet access.
Everybody Gets Pie
Everybody Gets Pie a new podcast project about building a future where progress isn’t a zero-sum fight over shrinking slices, but a bigger table where everyone gets more. We dig into big ideas with thinkers, builders, and doers—from housing and infrastructure, to technology and culture—all with a focus on how to make prosperity something we can actually see in our everyday lives.
I’m an elected City Council member in Falls Church, Virginia, and an award-winning video journalist and independent filmmaker. On my YouTube channel, I explore urbanism and housing, using storytelling to help people understand complex issues and spark real conversations. Before going independent, I worked with both international and domestic news organizations — including several years at Yahoo Finance as an on-air host, reporter, and producer. I also created a docuseries that was recognized by outlets like the Telly Awards for its reporting and visual storytelling.
The best way to stay in the loop is to subscribe to my YouTube channel for the latest videos and insights. You can also sign up for my newsletter to get updates right to your email inbox.
Absolutely! I’m always open to new ideas. You can send suggestions through my contact form or drop them in the comments on any of my videos.
Yes! I’m open to collaborating with other creators, storytellers, or curious minds (depending on how many other things I have in the pipeline, of course!). If you have a project in mind, feel free to reach out through my contact page.
There are a few great ways to support what I’m doing — subscribing to my YouTube channel, sharing my videos with friends and colleagues, or signing up for my newsletter. You can also support me directly on Patreon for behind-the-scenes updates and bonus content.
I’d love for you to share my videos! If you want to feature them on your site, just be sure to credit me and link back to my channel. Feel free to reach out if you need specific permissions or want to talk about a possible collaboration.
Thanks for your curiosity.
Don’t miss out on big ideas and exciting content!
The 9 buildings net the city +$4,458,743 in 2022!
As Falls Church grows, it’s vital that we plan our city with best practices to ease our tax burden on residents and support city services and our schools. There are ways to grow sustainably, while maintaining the charm of Falls Church — and I plan to support city design that promotes our schools, community life, aesthetics and environment.
The $4.5 million we receive in net revenues every year from these new buildings have allowed us to increase city services, repave our roads, maintain competitive salaries for city staff and more, while lowering our overall tax rate. The new buildings have also provided 99 affordable dwelling units, workforce units as well as various other contributions to the library and parks.
Surprisingly, traffic decreased by 9% overall between 2007-2019.
On Falls Church City roads tracked by VDOT, traffic volumes declined overall. How can we prevent traffic issues? And where did all of the cars go?
Here’s an explanation from Rob Puentes, President of the Eno Center for Transportation:
“The city is no longer as attractive as a “cut through” as it was in the past…Now with all the mixed-use development bringing impediments to speeding traffic, drivers are looking elsewhere.
It is also evident that public and private investments in bicycle, pedestrian, and transit infrastructure are paying off. When other travel options are made available, people use them. When activities are clustered together, people can “chain” their trips together more efficiently, resulting in less traffic.”
