Results of Reston Land Use College: Session One (Arlington, Leesburg: middle-class, apartments)

[SteelCityRising]

Well I'm just back from the first in a series of what should be very spirited and productive sessions that will educate the townspeople of Reston, Fairfax County's largest urbanized area, on issues pertaining to how they can have the most effective impact upon the drafting of our new Reston "Master Plan." I strolled into Lake Anne Elementary School at around 6:47 PM and was initially depressed to see that I was pretty much the only one in the school's cafeteria. "How can a rapidly growing community of 65,000 have so few that truly care about its future?" was my first impression, but I filled out my happy little name tag and sat with my legs crossed alone at a round table near the center of the cafeteria, excited about getting to have some urban planning input in the subsequent hours.

As if I was a "trendsetter" or something as soon as I sat down the room became more and more cramped with each passing minute to the point where my own table became filled with others who were eager to introduce themselves to me and learn more about my life and my motives (apparently I was "suspicious" to be a college-aged professional interested in a new master plan implementation, but considering I was one of only about a half-dozen in the room under the age of 30 that was understandable). I quickly engaged in various conversations and soon learned I was at the pro-recreational center table (the Restonians on this board will know what monumental and prolific "controversy" I speak of). I believe the individual who maintains the brilliant Restonian blog site was seated at the table in front of me, as he took pictures at unusual moments of the speakers and of the crowd and wasn't dressed like a formal reporter.

A representative from the Fairfax County Department of Planning & Zoning along with Karen J. Harwood, Deputy Fairfax County Attorney, were both present to field inquiries, along with many other staff members from the county along with our local county board representative (who seemed very friendly but unfortunately I forgot her name soon after being introduced to her---she was a vivacious African-American woman with glasses though for my fellow Restonians who may know of whom I speak).

I must honestly say that I was blown away by just how educated and intellectually-enriched Reston truly is. Everyone from the audience who spoke up tonight, mostly those in the over-50/gray hair crowd, was very articulate, respectful, and most of all insightful. I ended up sitting right next to a man who also hailed originally from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (after all our largest regional export is college graduates seeking more socially-progressive environments such as Reston), and, much to my amazement, everyone else whom I spoke with knew of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre when they inquired as to my former residence. For such a transient town with a "revolving door" phenomenon I was actually aghast and somewhat flattered that so many people approached me after the conclusion of tonight's session to introduce themselves, provide me with their business cards, ask for my e-mail address, etc. (unfortunately I forgot my own business cards! )

Barring another Bob Barker "save the deer" sighting in Great Falls, another portion of Lake Anne Plaza collapsing in on itself, or another predictable jab at the Macaroni Grill I would presume this lively meeting tonight will be the talk of the town in tomorrow's installment of the Restonian (which is the most HILLARIOUS sarcastic read I've enjoyed in quite some time in this happily-neutral-colored and intentionally unoffensive suburb!)

So what "progress" occurred tonight? Very little. The entire purpose of tonight's session was just to educate people about the relationship that Reston (which is not independently governed despite its massive size) has with Fairfax County in terms of how the new master plan that we are adopting will be recognized (or disavowed) by the county as it makes development-oriented considerations in regards to our town-ish thing/suburb/pseudo-municipality/census designated place/homeowners' association (or whatever the heck we're supposed to be!) I came out of the school this evening with a mind bulging at the seams with valuable information, and I plan to do further research tomorrow evening to help better educate myself on how I can most effectively contribute to our town's master plan.

The meeting wasn't all honky-dory though. One blue-collar gentleman got up and went towards the door of the cafeteria, talking lowly (but I was still eavesdropping) to one of the planning members about how awful the session was before giving a loud thumbs-down to others nearby and saying it was a "failure." Some of the more crotchety old-timers with their ten Ph.D's, JDs, CPAs, MBAs, King of the World titles, etc. sighed loudly and rolled their eyes immaturely at inopportune moments when someone said something they disagreed with, indicating that you can only enrich a mind to a certain extent before pushing common courtesy out of it!

Overall though I left quite a long-standing impression with a lot of people there when I stood up and interjected with my own statements in regards to how "authoritative" our efforts to create a new master plan would be if Fairfax County had (and has) disavowed the existing one from the 1960s to suit their own personal financial interests from developers. I introduced myself as a new resident to the community who was committed to helping to retain its luster as a premiere place to live and wanted to genuinely steer it onto the path that founder Bob Simon (who must be about 95 by now) would have wanted to have seen it become. Now with 65,000 residents and growing daily, traffic congestion, a lack of sidewalks, and increasing crime issues in the south end of town (or so I've heard), this idea of an "idyllic" community is becoming more and more threatened. The fact that the Metrorail will be jutting through town...errr..."census designated place" with several busy stations has caused many residents to panic, fearing Reston will inevitably become "Arlingtonized" (in reference to the Orange Line corridor's reputation as a very dense yuppie haven). Reston is very challenged in the coming years, and I wanted to ensure that the efforts we undertook NOW would NOT be for naught in 2020 or 2030 when the plan we devised would be chucked into the dumpster as Fairfax County went back to its usual mantra of getting on its knees for the developer who offered the most "incentive."

I look forward to further community participation in these sessions, volunteering to serve on committees, and perhaps even running for elected office someday on the board of the Reston Association. Initially I thought I would hate living in a "suburban wasteland" and wanted to get the hell out of NoVA as soon as I possibly could, but now after living here and experiencing a taste of something different I think I'll plant my roots here.

[jbird82]

Very nice write-up Scranbarre! I can tell you are very passionate about urban planning and your community in general. I'm also glad to see you're finding Northern Virginia to be a more outgoing and friendly place than it sometimes gets a reputation for.

[michgc]

Yes, nice write-up and kudos to you for getting involved. The one statement that you wrote that rings true with me is that I am always amazed at how educated this area is. As much as I think I may know about something, there are five people standing next to me who know more. :-) While I hail from a big city (Philadelphia), the education level there does not compare to here.

[normie]

Glad you had a good experience, and very glad to hear you're doing things and meeting people in Reston. I have a feeling you're going to find a lot of like-minded friends in Reston, and joining an organization is a good way to find them. (Although I still think that when it comes to civic groups, sharing your ideas for changes is best done slowly-- slo-o-o-owly! Get to know people first before you try to tell everyone how to run things, and in the end you'll have much more success.)

Anyway, I'm happy for you, and the best part is you're getting active right in your own neighborhood. Driving to South Riding or Leesburg on a regular basis is not good for your sanity (plus you're contributing to air pollution and traffic).

[lchoro]

Unlike Arlington, they intend to greatly increase density near the Metro AND around the village centers. If you live in the Lake Anne section of Reston, you may be in for a big shock as there'll be little relief from traffic and excessive density. They've managed to retain the suburban character in much of Arlington by having the density taper off away from the subway line, the exception being the area around Pentagon City and Crystal City because of the shortage of land.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by jbird82

Very nice write-up Scranbarre! I can tell you are very passionate about urban planning and your community in general. I'm also glad to see you're finding Northern Virginia to be a more outgoing and friendly place than it sometimes gets a reputation for.

I really don't understand all of the negativity about the area. I am indeed very passionate about urban planning. I suppose as an auditor I chose the wrong profession to study, but I valued job security more than anything else after growing up in an I/T household where layoffs/forced transfers were a bi-annual occurrence. Stability was more important to me, hence why I sought out my current occupation. I may still wish to go back to obtain my Master's in Urban Planning someday though (on my own dime of course).

I was actually shocked and floored by how easily I was able to network last night. I would extend my hand to introduce myself and get a very positive response. As I said I have a feeling several different Reston political factions and groups (i.e. the pro-/anti-indoor "Taj Mahal" recreational center) were licking their lips at the sight of vocal young "fresh meat" and wanted to curry favor with me, but political squabbling aside it was a very positive experience for me. I later learned through research that a man I saw at the next table hosts a popular television show on Reston's hometown television station (Channel 28 on Fios), a woman whom I conversed with at another adjacent table was president of the Reston Citizens Assocation, and the woman whom I was introduced to last night (Hudgins is her name now that I can recall it) is an elected supervisor representing our community to Fairfax County.

Most of all I was impressed by how involved and passionate so many people in Reston are about their community. A critic might claim that a crowd of under 100 out of a community of 65,000 is "abysmal," but when that 100 is mostly very well connected and have a lot of avenues to "get the word out" to the other 64,900, then good things are bound to happen. I was just very sad to see that I was pretty much one of only a select handful of individuals there under 35 (let alone 30), and my youth is probably another reason why I generated so much attention.

Originally Posted by michgc

Yes, nice write-up and kudos to you for getting involved. The one statement that you wrote that rings true with me is that I am always amazed at how educated this area is. As much as I think I may know about something, there are five people standing next to me who know more. :-) While I hail from a big city (Philadelphia), the education level there does not compare to here.

That's what I truly love about NoVA. Yes, sometimes the uber-educated elites in Reston can become borderline offensive with their snootiness and "knowledge-spreading," but when you hail from an area that revolves around beer, NASCAR, beer, high school football, hunting, beer, DUIs, beer, FOX News pundits, gay-bashing, male chiuvanism, etc., etc. it is REFRESHING to come to an area where people are willing to engage me in civilized debate about foreign affairs, politics, the economy, and especially urban planning (my experience was literally near-orgasmic last night as I wagged my invisible tail at all of the zoning maps!) I treasure all of the blue-collar friends I left behind back in NEPA, but I'll admit that after a while it DID become draining to intentionally have to "dumb myself down" to talk about "getting wasted" or "high school football jocks should be worshiped" when all I really wanted was to have a spirited conversation/debate like the ones that arose last night at the land use college session.

I'm not an elitist by any means, but every once in a while I like to have my brain stimulated (I actually LIKE bickering with FromVAtoNC, Denton56, and on occasion Normie on here because it's good mental exercise and keeps us all sharp!)

Originally Posted by normie

Glad you had a good experience, and very glad to hear you're doing things and meeting people in Reston. I have a feeling you're going to find a lot of like-minded friends in Reston, and joining an organization is a good way to find them. (Although I still think that when it comes to civic groups, sharing your ideas for changes is best done slowly-- slo-o-o-owly! Get to know people first before you try to tell everyone how to run things, and in the end you'll have much more success.)

Anyway, I'm happy for you, and the best part is you're getting active right in your own neighborhood. Driving to South Riding or Leesburg on a regular basis is not good for your sanity (plus you're contributing to air pollution and traffic).

I'm considering doing my next photo tour this Saturday (weather permitting) of Reston. I'm considering splitting this large area into three tours---North Reston (Northpoint, Baron Cameron Park, Lake Fairfax), Central Reston (Lake Anne, Reston Town Center, Area Between 606 and Toll Road), and South Reston (South of Dulles Toll Road). I was actually very timid and reserved last night when I rose to speak. I was very intimidated by all of the 65-year-old Ph.D.-holders in the audience who I envisioned to be "judging" a 22-year-old with only a B.S. (and an MBA on the way), but thankfully my words garnered me a lot of nodding heads, "uh-huhs", and thumbs ups when I asked what guarantees we would have that all of the hard work that we are investing NOW into helping to preserve the above-average (I won't be the typical Reston elitist who says "superior") quality-of-life we have here in Reston via the master plan would be fruitful and not merely disavowed if the county decided to chuck it into the dumpster to cater to "palm greasing developers."

I will inevitably be driving to South Riding because I think "love is in the air" there, if you catch my drift, but I'll be in Leesburg much less frequently. I may go on Sunday because the Harry & David store is having some sort of VIP sampling/tasting event, and I have to restock on a box of Moose Munch! I'd also be inclined to do a photo tour of the historic town proper while I'm out that way as well to combine my trip (weather permitting, again, of course).

One town I will NOT be featuring will be Sterling. I've been to the DMV the past two days straight (I keep on being denied the opportunity to transfer over to a VA license due to some minor "technicality" that I'd rather not get into), and perhaps I just caught the town at a bad time but I did NOT like the atmosphere of the Sterling Boulevard corridor, especially next to the DMV, very much at all. I hate to sound like a racist, but if I see a group of minority males walking down the sidewalk with bandanas on and staring at passing vehicles I immediately worry about the possibility of them being a "gang." Couple that with the unkempt median grass, the distressed-looking townhomes/apartments, and the single-family homes that seemed just a bit spooky and I really could stand to avoid photographing that neighborhood (is all of Sterling like that?)

Originally Posted by lchoro

Unlike Arlington, they intend to greatly increase density near the Metro AND around the village centers. If you live in the Lake Anne section of Reston, you may be in for a big shock as there'll be little relief from traffic and excessive density. They've managed to retain the suburban character in much of Arlington by having the density taper off away from the subway line, the exception being the area around Pentagon City and Crystal City because of the shortage of land.

Unlike most of my fellow Restonians who do NOT want to see Reston become "Ballstonized" or "Arlingtonized" I actually think that's ultimately the best solution for our community to consider. Lake Anne Plaza is especially in DIRE need of upgrading. I'd like to see the massive parking lot in front of Washington Plaza replaced by a parking garage with the convenience store and other outdated small building within the lot being razed to make way for a combination of green space and a new multi-story mixed-use building with ground-level retail (perhaps featuring that displaced convenience store) and upper-story AFFORDABLY-PRICED condos. I'd like to see Washington Plaza itself be raised one or two stories with the entire complex being upgraded with special care being taken to NOT disrupt its "historic" status. Much of the rest of the immediate lake area is fine, in my opinion. The proposal for the VERY dense mixed-use project that will take over the site of Fairway Apartments concerns me, as I don't foresee how well traffic will flow on narrow North Shore Drive and Temporary Road (who named that road, anyways?!)

Not only Reston but ALL of Northern Virginia needs to start building UP instead of primarily "out." Everyone seems to want their own 1/2-acre chunk of suburbia with the over-priced tract house and front-facing three-car garage, but when HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of people all want that you'll eventually run out of developable land and end up destroying much precious open space. There are MANY of us who would LOVE to live in a denser neighborhood but can't afford to. The more dense mixed-use neighborhoods (a la Ballston/Reston Town Center) that become available, the cheaper the prices will eventually become as supply FINALLY meets demand). As of right now I know units in Reston sell like hot cakes (hence why there are no fewer than TWENTY very dense projects in the works here alone). In a few years when I'm earning $75,000 I hope to afford to rent a unit in the town center myself.

[leighland]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

There are MANY of us who would LOVE to live in a denser neighborhood but can't afford to. .

I wish you would be more charitable in your posts about that. Our family would love to live in DC proper as he works there and I am more of an urban girl. But it is impossible for his business to pay him 4 times his current salary for the job he does (I guess you'll learn that in MBA school). Top that off with the limited places to live in DC that are safe and have good schools, you can see why we have spread out to Merrifield. Many times I feel your posts have been missing that element of reality.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by leighland

I wish you would be more charitable in your posts about that. Our family would love to live in DC proper as he works there and I am more of an urban girl. But it is impossible for his business to pay him 4 times his current salary for the job he does (I guess you'll learn that in MBA school). Top that off with the limited places to live in DC that are safe and have good schools, you can see why we have spread out to Merrifield. Many times I feel your posts have been missing that element of reality.

I just don't understand it. As gas prices approach yet another "spike," as air quality becomes more and more "questionable" in parts of Fairfax County each year, as traffic becomes more and more congested (the largest culprit behind aforementioned air quality questions), as more people try to practice "green living", etc., etc. shouldn't we be ENCOURAGED to live in dense environments where we can reduce our carbon footprints? Why make such areas affordable only to the wealthy elite who think nothing of dropping $2,000/month on a 1-BR flat or to the very poor whose homes are subsidized by our tax dollars? Why can't the middle-class afford to live in dense, walkable, mixed-use areas in Northern Virginia?

At some point tonight or tomorrow I plan to fire off a corporate e-mail to Wegman's asking for them to consider building a ground-level retail store in an upcoming building at Reston Town Center (perhaps to replace the Harris Teeter that is going to be torn down in Spectrum Center to make way for more high-rises?) I plan to do the same for Ikea and Dave & Buster's. The more "neighborhood-like" I can help to make Reston Town Center, the more likely I'll be able to AFFORD IT as more developers are attracted by that improving atmosphere and commit to build more and more apartment buildings!

[themommy]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

Why can't the middle-class afford to live in dense, walkable, mixed-use areas in Northern Virginia?

Speaking as just one middle-class mom, my husband and I don't particularly want to live in a dense, walkable, mixed-use area. I mean, it would be fun, but it's one of those things that was practical for us when we were just a couple; i.e., when we were younger. As we've grown older and our family as grown, our needs have changed. Now that we have children, we want our little piece of property so the kids can have a yard to play in. We don't want to live in a condo, even if it's a really nice one with bookstores and coffee shops and playscapes at street level.

I hear your green sermon -- I have a degree in environmental science, myself, and in my former life as a scientist, I actually helped draft some of the environmental legislation that's in place today. I might even know more than you do about the environmental issues that so concern you. But I still want a little space to call my own, where I can garden, my husband can grill, and our children can run freely while we do those things.

It's great that you feel so passionate about urban planning, and it's super-great that you're getting involved and attempting to help find solutions to the problems you see in your new community. Remember, though, that it's a big world out there, and that not everybody shares your needs and priorities. Empathy toward others' needs and a sincere effort to understand why they have those needs will make you an even better urban planner, should you ever decide to pursue that dream.

[gnu]

Originally Posted by themommy

Speaking as just one middle-class mom, my husband and I don't particularly want to live in a dense, walkable, mixed-use area.

I'm a young middle-class yuppie, and I also share in this sentiment. I do not want to live in a dense, urban environment (and I have). I certainly understand that some may want this, and see the appeal of such a community, but it's not for everyone; and it should not be assumed that such a situation is *the* ideal to which we should all aspire.