Redistricting 2: Electric Boogaloo

If you liked the awesome, fair and balanced redistricting hearing earlier this month, you're gonna love the second meeting on Monday evening at Westfield High School!

There, folks will discuss the four options on the table. Here's a brief synopsis posted online by someone whose CAPS LOCK key is apparently broken:

option 1: mcnair and part of floris split between herndon and south lakes; oak hill to westfield

option 2: mcnair split between herndon and south lakes madison island to south lakes; fox mill to south lakes; oak hill to oakton

option 3: same as option 2 except navy to oakton instead of oak hill

option 4: aldrin & armstong to south lakes; part of mcnair and floris to herndon; madison island to south lakes; oak hill to westfield

Funny, again, how Langley's ridiculous, brazenly income-based boundaries aren't on the table at all.

But this isn't about diversity at all! Which is why Herndon High School, which arguably has the least political and economic clout of any of the potentially affected high schools -- and the most to lose, by any legitimate reasoning -- is organizing busing to the meeting. Let's just ignore the irony of busing to protest what opponents at schools with far less of a legitimate ax to grind see as busing and move on, shall we?

In preparation for Monday's meeting, here's a preview of the ongoing high-minded discussions people have been having about redistricting when they don't have to stand up in front of a public forum to do so:

>>You want us to give you a few of our Whites and Asians. Correct? And, yes, the Asians are often forgotten. Why is that, do you think?

>>The thought of my child being forced to attend South Lakes makes me physically ill!

>>Option 4 makes the most sense. That way all the grass fairies at RFC can stay together through high school.

>>Getting angry that there aren't enough minorities at certain schools would be like faulting sub-saharan Africa for not having enough white kids in their schools. THERE JUST AREN'T ENOUGH MINORITIES TO GO AROUND, AS WONDERFUL AS IT WOULD BE. So lets just put down the race issue before people start realizing South Lakes' lack of asian, pacific-islander, and American Indian students.

>>and who says i amz at south lakez?

>>The Mayor of Vienna should force everyone in that town who wants to move to sell their house to a Black family. There is way too little diversity in that town. After that, McLean and Great Falls must sell only to the 'right' minorities too.

>>You'd hate to have me as your mother, because:
1. There would be no internet in your bedroom. Your access to the kitchen computer would be strictly monitored and limited. Also, I would be able to check every key stroke you made.
2. There would be no T.V. during the school week; neither would you be playing on iPods, Xbox 360, Wii, PS3, etc.
3. You wouldn't get your license when your turned 16, because that is too young. You'd be lucky to be diving anything before at least 17. No cell phones until you are driving, and even then, no text messaging, camera, or internet access on that phone.
4. You wouldn't be hanging at anyone's house unless I checked out the place first. No mother there, no Erjon there. You would have chores at home and you would also volunteer your services to older neighbors who needed help, an animal shelter, etc.
5. And, I would be on you like white on rice.
6. Because, you are entitled to nothing, except that I take good care of you and that, I would do.

>>And yes, you did waste four years of your life at South Lakes. My children should have gone there, but unlike your parents, I was concerned about my children's education and sent them to private school. And no, you aren't pimps, you are the hos. Your parents are the pimps.

Just remember: It's all about the band programs.

Well, it's closed. Now what do we write about?

Yesterday was the final day for the Tall Oaks Giant, which we've written about once or twice. So we did a bit of that "citizen journalism" all the cool kids are talking about and visited the store one last time. Also, we needed some frozen waffles and maple syrup.

The store was a beehive of activity at midmorning, but much of it came from the folks dismantling shelves and running inventory on the remaining dented canned goods and $5.99 videos (anyone want to see Santa Clause 3: Down the Chimney and Direct to Video?) A security guard wandered around the front of the store, making sure no one left with an unauthorized souvenir or a bottle of Super G peppercorns. A few desultory customers were wandered the store in a daze, and the one cash register open was decorated with kids' cards saying things like "We'll miss you."

It's the end of an era, and quite possibly, the end of Tall Oaks as a viable commercial center, at least until it's demolished and replaced with something even more awesome and less stucco-y. And yet, we're left with one overwhelming question: Does Safeway Select cola taste as good as Super G cola?

Watch your step!

Coming soon to Reston: More hilarious outdoor statuary.

An already-vibrant arts community that counts the Greater Reston Arts Center and the League of Reston Artists as its leaders will welcome the Initiative for Public Art in Reston, a nonprofit that has been formed thanks to a large gift from an anonymous donor and the pledged support of several community organizations.

A collaborative effort among RCC, Reston Association, Reston Town Center Association, Arts Council of Fairfax County, GRACE and LRA will work on creating a master plan for the initiative, which may serve as a national model for other communities, according arts council President Ann Rodriguez. The effort has even attracted the attention of the national organization, Americans for the Arts.

“They have indicated they're going to be watching the process in Reston with wide eyes,” Rodriguez said.

That's good, because if they don't, they might trip over pieces like the one near Lake Anne Plaza pictured above. Assuming, that is, that they don't think it's a heat exchanger for some vast subterranean complex populated by poured-concrete golems.

But we digress. The consortium expects to wrangle funds from developers to include such art in their projects, plus incorporate existing statuary into an awesome master plan. Their first big project?

One of IPAR's first projects to oversee and guide will be the two Metro stations in Reston. Rodriguez said both stops will feature public art.

The group will seek public input for such projects, so here's our suggestion for appropriate art for the Metro stations: A terra cotta mural depicting the heroic moment the Tysons developers slapped a lawsuit on the project, lots of statues of people clapping loudly, plus, in a tribute to this historic photo, a large picture depicting the moment that the last track is laid near a Boxter-filled kiss-n-ride lot in Loudoun County.

The Macaroni Grill's going to have some competition

A whole slew of new restaurants are coming to Reston Town Center. Most are in the South of Market development currently under construction.

Boston Properties' South of Market has signed three leases for restaurants and is finalizing a fourth. Confirmed leases include Mon Ami Gabi, Passion Food LLC and Great American Restaurants.

Mon Ami Gabi is a French steakhouse concept that has other locations in Bethesda, Chicago and Las Vegas.

Awesome! What happens in RTC stays in RTC.

Passion Food LLC, a company that owns D.C. restaurants Ceiba, D.C. Coast, Acadiana and TenPenh, will open its fifth restaurant. The eatery is yet to be named but will be a seafood restaurant, according to Boston Properties Senior Project Manager Pete Otteni.

Great American Restaurants, the chain that owns Sweetwater Taverns, The Carlyle, Artie's, Mike's and Coastal Flats, will call its new restaurant "Jackson's." It will feature a menu similar to those of the company's other restaurants.

John Asadoorian, who handles the South of Market retail leasing, said a fourth lease is about to be finalized for a restaurant called The Counter, a chain that serves customized hamburgers.

"Customized" hamburgers? They'd better be careful they don't violate DRB regulations.

But not all the news is good. Apparently, we were so distraught by the prospect of the Chili's being razed that we somehow missed the fact that Ruby Tuesday's left town.

Two recent closings, Ruby Tuesday's and WrapWorks, have left open spaces with leases that are in the works but not yet finalized.

Jen Rueling of Cassidy Pinkard said the contracts were delayed after Equity Office properties, including the town center, were bought by The Blackstone Group.

Because the leases are not yet signed, Rueling declined to comment on which restaurants may be filling the two spaces.

Rumors have included speculation of a Marvelous Market in the old Wrapworks space and a White Chocolate Grille in the Ruby Tuesday's space.

We can't wait. Just don't bring your camera.

Clap even louder!

Looks like we spoke too soon yesterday. As construction was slated to begin on Metro's awesome combustible Silver Line, the Under-not-Over crowd is suing the feds to stop the project, arguing that they didn't give enough consideration to the tunnel option.

The hugely grassroots Tysons Tunnel movement -- that coincidentally was bankrolled by Tysons developers -- was coincidentally joined in the suit by the Ratner Cos., a --you guessed it! -- Tysons developer.

The 30-page complaint asks the court to "enjoin the defendants from taking final actions, granting any final approvals, or acting on any application for the project to enter Final Design or for Full Funding Grant Agreement or awarding or allocating any federal funds." Such an injunction would further delay the rail project, further jeopardizing its chances for federal dollars.

"They've had an entire year, we've asked our political leaders to intervene, and so far the political process has failed us," said Monett, who added that he believes there is enough public support for Dulles rail that it can survive further delay.

Sure it will! For the record, the idea of building elevated rails through a quasi-urban area strikes us as a bit batty and we'd love to see the Silver Line underground. But we'd also like to see the Silver Line built before we're confined to battery-powered Rascals that couldn't negotiate Metro's escalators, on the off day that they're actually running. With the inevitable delays the lawsuit will bring, we're officially moving the over/under on the Silver Line's completion to 2037. If anyone wants to wager on that, our grandkids would be happy to collect.

The grassroots groupdeveloper is arguing the above-ground tracks will harm it financially. Because, you know, they'd be an eyesore, spoiling the pristine view of the current soul-sucking blight of architecturally questionable midrise buildings, Bed Baths 'N Beyonds, and never-ending gridlock.

Come to think of it, could we just put Tysons in a tunnel and keep the tracks above ground?

Metro's Silver Line: You like it! You really like it!

People really, really love the idea of Metro's awesome planned Silver Line, according to a survey commissioned by project backers. But here's the funny part:

Respondents claiming familiarity with the project were also, on average, familiar with some of the more controversial issues regarding the project — competitive bidding process and tunnel or elevated track through Tysons Corner — but not to the point they could explain it to others.

This huge, divisive issue was reportedly one of the reasons the Feds were leery to green-light the project. Guess the "Under, not Over" crowd, funded by big developers in the Tysons area, didn't actually represent a huge public groundswell of support -- they just represented the narrow interests of the aforementioned developers. Who'd have thunk it?

Meanwhile, construction on the Silver Line may well start soon, even in the absence of minor logistical details, like funding.

Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project has announced they will begin initial construction in a few weeks, despite the fact that $900 million in crucial federal still hasn’t come through.

Keep clapping!

One of the important steps is utility relocation in Tysons Corner. Gas lines, electricity, water and more must be removed from underneath Route 7. Most of the work will occur in the service roads, which will eventually be shut down and have a sidewalk put in their place. The work starts at the intersection of 7 and 123, and will head west, and then turn around.

That'll teach those developers to kvetch about a few minor concrete pylons and train stations! Personally, we can't wait until we can go for a leisurely evening stroll down those awesome new sidewalks, taking in the crisp, refreshing aroma of greenhouse gases from the perpetually gridlocked Rt. 7 and the smoke from track fires on the elevated Silver Line as we make our way from the Olive Garden to the Bed Bath & Beyond.

Allegedly, we'll know whether that $900 million will be earmarked for the Silver Line by year's end, or if it'll go to some other equally worthy project.

Clap louder, kids! Clap louder!

Reston's Vibrant Economy Part 6: No Boxters for you!

Rolls-Royce, the British company whose North American headquarters once called Reston home, is coming back as part of a plant expansion elsewhere in the state. Unfortunately, the plant manufactures jet engines, not cars, so the Porsche Boxter will remain the Dulles Corridor car of choice for the upwardly mobile.

This is not the first time Rolls-Royce has done business in Virginia. Its North American headquarters moved from Reston to Chantilly in 2000, Guyette said, and is returning to Reston in 2008. The HQ employs about 100 people.

Guess they missed the Macaroni Grill.

Meanwhile, ComScore, the Reston-based Web metrics company that issues projections about how awesome the Christmas retail season will be, has canceled an add-on stock offering following its IPO earlier this year, presumably because its stock has fallen from a high of $42 to somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 bucks or so. No Boxters for them, either!

Have we mentioned that the Tall Oaks Giant is still closing?

Meet Your Neighbors: Totally Pwnd Turkey

If you were watching football on Thanksgiving, you missed a far more exciting competition:

A Minnesota man basted a 72-pound turkey to trounce his sister in their annual sibling rivalry over who can prepare the biggest Thanksgiving bird. Last year, Andra Portnoy cooked a 47-pounder to take the lead after her brother could only find a 37-pounder, even though he lives in the nation's top turkey-producing state. Rich Portnoy roasted his tubby turkey in his 36-inch-wide, chef-caliber oven on Thursday to top the biggest bird his sister had ever cooked by 25 pounds.

Pwned!

Andra Portnoy conceded defeat from her Reston, Va., home, but noted that her brother's large oven gave him an edge.

Sure, he might have a larger oven. But do cluster covenants ensure that the color of the soffit trim on his neighbor's house is exactly identical to his?

We thought not.

Let a thousand flowers Bloom! (Just not at Tall Oaks)

Bad news for folks upset about the awesome Tall Oaks Giant closing later this month, leaving behind a stucco wasteland of broken dreams and busted franchises: A persistent rumor that the space would be filled by Bloom, an upscale Food Lion variant targeted at non-NASCAR-intensive suburban communities who might actually read the paper often enough to remember the whole bleached-meat scandal, is just that--a rumor.

So says ABC Management, which runs Tall Oaks, at a community meeting convened by Hunter Mill Supervisor Cathy Hudgins, which the Reston Times saw fit to cover but not post online. And folks are hopping mad!

Judy St. Andre, a Reston resident for 33 years, started a petition that protests Giant's closing. [snip] Prescriptions will be transferred to the South Lakes Village Center Safeway, a move that has puzzled many residents. Hudgins said the action makes it hard to believe Giant is concerned about the communities it serves.

"I don't think they care about it. The fact that they were comfortable to transfer us to Safeway says something about it," she said.

Others see an ulterior motive on the part of Tall Oaks' owners.

Some residents raised concerns of a hidden agenda on the property owner’s — Boston based Colony Realty Partners — part. Vacant space does not serve anyone — owners, residents or merchants — but some of the space has been vacant for years. It does not make sense "unless the owner is deliberately shutting this down," said Mike Corrigan. He added that with the planned arrival of Metro to Wiehle Avenue, the center, located off of Wiehle, is a prime piece of land for redevelopment. Colony, which owns close to 3 million square feet of space in the Washington metropolitan area, took ownership of the Tall Oaks Village Center at the very end of December of 2006 from Regency Centers.

Back and to the left! We're through the looking glass here, folks.

ABC Management says it's working to fill the space, but twos upon twos of its remaining tenants are getting worried.

Merchants at Tall Oaks, including Keith Morris from Paradise Nails and Skin Care, have also grown increasingly worried about their businesses. Morris said though the salon serves loyal clientele, it hasn't had steady growth. Morris said he is thinking of relocating to Centerville or Manaassas.

Manassas? Wow, things must really be bad at Tall Oaks.

Ka-ching!

With little fanfare or discussion, the Reston Association approved its budget for the upcoming year, including an increase in assessment fees from $437 to $475 in 2008 and $483 in 2009.

At-Large Director Joe Leighton was the sole vote against approving the budget, based on what he said was an unacceptable increase of the assessment rates.

An unusual number of people turned up to the meeting. You'd think they were there because of the 9 percent increase in assessments, right? Think again.

The board heard a greater number of members speak than usual, with a large majority of them, 11, appearing before the board to champion an indoor tennis facility.

The board has included two referendums in the budget, one of which will address an indoor recreational facility, though it is not specified to include tennis. The board will decide what type of facility will be presented on the referendum in the winter of 2008.

Jerry Katz, a resident of Reston for 27 years, urged the board to begin work on a referendum as soon as possible.

“It's even a joke now amongst tennis players. You mention indoor tennis and they roll their eyes,” he said.

Oh, goody! Another possible referendum! If we're really lucky, we might start giving California a run for its money!

Maybe they should have just done a term paper instead

If South Lakes High School students wanted to learn about the democratic process, they're getting their chance in the current redistricting brouhaha, as they've been on the front lines of defending their much-maligned school.

The Reston campus is diverse, they say, not "ghetto." Students don't flash gang signs in the hallways, and they don't have to walk through metal detectors to get to class.

"I think of this school as a family. When someone talks about South Lakes, I think, 'You can't talk about my family like that,' " senior Sierra Little said. She represented the school last week in a town hall meeting at Chantilly High packed with about 2,500 anxious residents.

Ah, yes, last week's meeting. A definite example of democracy in action.

Courtnee Elliott, a senior, said she attended Monday's meeting at Chantilly High because she wanted to stick up for her school and because, as someone interested in political science, she wanted a glimpse of the democratic process.

"It didn't go as well as I thought it would," she said. "It was kind of one-sided."

She and her friends said they found themselves explaining that their school is academically challenging and socially close-knit. They tried not to take it personally when parents suggested that it should be shut down and turned into a magnet school or that their children would be "traumatized" if they had to attend there.

Others found it more difficult not to be offended.

"It is just ridiculous. They think South Lakes is a bad school. They are scared of diversity," said Carrie Herring, a 17 year-old South Lakes junior, red-faced and teary-eyed after the first round of questions from the crowd.

What would make anyone think that? Maybe comments like this:

"The last thing Herndon wants to be is the next South Lakes," said Michael Sagan, a Herndon senior and Reston resident who attended the meeting.

It's a good thing they haven't been reading this online message board. Below, a few choice bits of reasoned, nuanced discussion of this complex issue, as uttered by people who didn't have to show their faces at a public meeting:

>I can't wait to see the look on my white lobbyist father's face when I bring my first black South Lakes boyfriend home. Chocolate Rain, indeed.

>See, Tyrone, it's working already. Good luck with your SATs.

>Tell them in plain direct terms, that you want to live in a neighborhood with whites and asians and a school district that reflects the same. Some of them will tell you that it goes against their policies.. thats when you walk across the street to the next broker. believe me, one of them will quickly step up and deliver.. worked for me.

>South Lakes is the most Mexican High School in Fairfax aside from the Juvenile Detention Center and Mountain View correction school, but Westfield is a bunch of out of control rich kids who are asses and all buy drugs cause they can afford them.

>>>TO ALL YOU SOUTH LAKES BLABBER MOUTHS Move on. Get out of my neighborhood. Go find another place to steal children. SCAT.. that's right, I mean all of you. Shake a leg. And, I mean, NOW!! You're a bunch of vultures. Get going. Go stalk some other kids.<<<

>i think weekly public executions of the 50 worst students with below average grades would help motivate everyone. everyone with a 90% or higher average grades would be granted immunity. additionally, all dropouts and runaways will be executed on sight. i havent settled on a form of execution, beheading and hanging are both great so i say a hybrid would be best... have a blade decapitate them as they are hanging.

See? It really is all about the band programs.

Why does Reston Town Center hate America? (an in-depth investigation)

A few weeks back, we learned that the Reston Town Center Association has thus far declined to support the push for a referendum on turning Reston into a nifty town, encircled by moats filled with fire-breathing dragons and mauve-colored city walls. But that's just the half of it.

An exclusive Restonian investigation (OK, so maybe we just Googled "Reston Town Center" and "hates America") has revealed that the Reston Town Center isn't just against a plebiscite election that may or may not contravene state law, it's against America itself! Read this chilling first-person account:

This is what a photo of Reston Town Center looks like when you don't fill out a form to get a camera permit. For those who don't know, Reston Town Center (in Reston, Fairfax County, Virginia) is one of those shopping centers that use the illusion of a lively cultural district to lure you in to spend your money. I can't show you, but try to picture a neighborhood of streets, parking garages, offices, apartments and--most importantly--restaurants, movie theaters and other retail stores. Reston Town Center is just like the downtown of any vibrant city... with one important difference.

What sets Reston Town Center (and similar developments) apart is that it's all pretend. One hundred percent make-believe. Sure, it feels like you're on a public city street, dining at a family-owned outdoor cafe as locals and tourists walk by. But in reality, the entire complex is controlled by a single, giant property management corporation. In the case of Reston Town Center, that corporation is named Equity Office. And Equity Office doesn't allow anyone to take a picture on their private property without prior approval... and the documentation to prove it.

... Pull out a tripod and look for the best spot to photograph the scene, and those polite, friendly Reston Town Center guards will be quick to stand in your way. Quick to radio the security office. Quick to tell you sorry, but picture-taking is not allowed without advance written permission. Would you like to fill out a form and come back tomorrow?

A form? The horror, the horror....

Needless to say, the author of this was a bit shaken, particularly since this jack-booted atrocity happened right in the middle of Freedom Square. Oh, the irony!

Reston Town Center is nothing more than an outdoor shopping mall. The big business idea of what Main Street USA could be. What main street *should* be. Their slogan, "What downtown was meant to be," pretty much says it all. Reston Town Center is a place where people with money can gather to spend it, pretending they live somewhere much more exciting, much more vibrant than than the suburb they actually call home.

Sounds like America to us!

In Russia, sites blog you!

It's not often that our brilliant musings get discussed in Russia, but our recent excursion to Ashburn has apparently raised some eyebrows (scroll to the bottom of the page, assuming you can a) read Cyrillic and b) have absolutely nothing better to peruse online).

Unfortunately, those six years of Swahili immersion do us no good here. Thanks to babelfish, though, here's a translation of their observations:

These are remarkable place somewhere during the scaffolding, three days on the deer to the nearest place of the accumulation of work and exactly on the way of those taking off and sitting down themselves dzhambo of jet?

What a country!

The first victims of redistricting? Fire hydrants

So, how did the first awesome hearing involving redistricting kids from a whole slew of Fairfax County high schools into South Lakes High School go? Let's go to the videotape!

Parents parked on medians and in fire lanes in Chantilly High School's overflowing parking lot Monday night for the first of three town hall meetings to gather public input on a west county boundary study by Fairfax County Public Schools.

By county staff's estimates, more than 2,000 people showed up to hear an explanation of the boundary study process and the problems the county hopes to solve with redistricting. Six high schools are in the study: Herndon, Oakton, Chantilly, Westfield, South Lakes and Madison.

Call us cynics, but we're guessing that law-abiding Fairfax County soccer moms didn't block in fire hydrants with their minivans and Lexus SUVs because they really, really want their kids in South Lakes' IB program. Right?

Groups from nearly every high school in the study, except South Lakes, have formed groups to protest redistricting.

Oh... okay. So, the folks opposing redistricting had their own realistic suggestions on what to do, right?

“The majority of the community advocates a moratorium on redistricting. Would you consider a moratorium?”

The man then walked down the stands and handed the microphone to Hunter Mill District School Board representative Stu Gibson, who declined to answer.

Of course, there's always the electoral process to address such impasses in a constructive way:

At the Colvin precinct, an Election Day push by parents in the Madison island led to a write-in campaign of 22 percent for “James Madison.”

Oh, snap!

All joking aside, we really feel for the South Lakes parents. Their kids go to a school that's improving by leaps and bounds and took a big risk by adopting a rigorous academic program, and they're stuck doing and saying things like this:

A smaller faction of nearly 30 parents and students of South Lakes wore the school's colors in the bleachers Monday. PTSA president Elizabeth Vandenberg brought and distributed 500 copies of the PTSA newsletter and South Lakes “At a Glance” handouts that highlighted academic and extracurricular achievements.

Vandenberg said she feels no ill-will toward parents at other schools who are opposed to sending their children to South Lakes.

“We understand change is hard, but we're 100 percent confident in our program, in our academics and in [Principal Bruce] Butler,” she said.

To counter the 2,800-plus signatures the folks in Oakton have collected opposing redistricting, the South Lakes crowd has started their own petition drive. To date, it has a whopping 98 signatures. Maybe that has just a soupcon to do with this one point:

2. WE SUPPORT diversity in our schools:

A. Our children will be better prepared for real-world and global issues if they have been given the opportunity to become acquainted with many different cultures, learning abilities, and socio-economic scenarios during their formative years in school.

If it's not about that, what is all this really about, random Vienna parent?

“We eat, breathe and live Vienna. Reston's not really part of our connections,” he said.

Eat Vienna? Reston may not have a Tara Thai, but we do have a Busara now. Their pad thai rocks!

Again, call us cynics, but how much of this brouhaha centers on this very point? As one of this site's astute commenters put it, we doubt this much angst would be stirred up if these kids were in danger of being moved to Langley High School.

Then, folks would just park in the spaces reserved for the employee of the month and the school secretary.

Reston's vibrant economy, pt. 6: We're #1! (In "For Lease" signs)

Move over, Tysons, with your awesome traffic and carpet stores and Morton's steakhouse: The Reston/Herndon area has surpassed you in office space.

Few places have epitomized the recent boom in commercial real estate better than the busy arteries that connect Dulles International Airport with the rest of the Washington region.

In Reston and Herndon alone, 15 new buildings totaling nearly 2.8 million square feet of office space have risen since 2005. As an office market, the Dulles Corridor surpasses Tysons Corner in raw square footage.

In your face, Tysons! And just in time for the economy to chug into overdrive... right?

But now this fast-growing suburban business hub is headed for a pause.

With federal contracting slowing from its recent boom, and as the national and regional economies soften, the current wave of construction projects is likely to leave empty buildings. Few new office projects are expected to get started in the near future, as developers focus on finding tenants. The process is likely to take at least two years, given historical trends, according to developers and brokers.

"There is going to be a lot of competition for tenants out there, and I am not going to paint a pretty picture," George F. McKenzie, chief executive of the Rockville-based Washington Real Estate Investment Trust, told analysts during a conference call last month. "Activity has not been as good as one would have expected over the last 12 months."

Fortunately, there is a silver lining: The awesome Reston Heights project has already signed a signature tenant:

The law firm Whitney, Bradley & Brown has agreed to take almost 90 percent of JBG Companies' Reston Heights building.

In other awesome business news, Sprint has called off its plans to set up something called WiMax, which we don't know much about but appeared to be an attempt to distract customers from its static-filled cell phones. And in case you haven't heard, the Tall Oaks Giant is still closing.

The writers strike appears to be affecting the "Reston Heights" soap opera, too

Fairfax County planners postpone a decision on the Reston Heights mixed-use project on Sunrise Valley Road until after Thanksgiving. Won't the fall sweeps be over by then?

Restonian actually leaves the house: The scene at the Tall Oaks Giant

The writing's on the wall at the Tall Oaks Giant -- literally. When we visited yesterday to do a little something those crazy, old-media newspaper dinosaurs like to call "reporting," a faxed press release explaining the closure had been hastily taped to the front door. Turns out the store is closing because of declining sales over the past few years.

The press release hasn't been posted on Giant's corporate site, which is a pity, because it's a masterful example of tone-deaf PR, full of phrases like "refocusing" and "modernization." In fact, it even invites Tall Oaks customers to see what the exciting new remodeled Giant stores they won't be getting in Reston will look like by visiting one... in Clifton. Or Silver Spring, maybe. Which our grandchildren will be able to do in a jiffy once the Silver Line's built.

It's almost as if they're deliberately trying to shatter what little brand loyalty their customers might have. As a commenter pointed out earlier in the week, they're not even transferring prescriptions to another nearby Giant, but to their archrival Safeway's store in South Lakes.

What's next? Will they replace Super G cola with Dr. Thunder? The mind boggles.

The first time the words 'Lake Anne Plaza' and 'on fire' have been used in the same sentence for a long time

One of the long-time sellers at the Reston Farmers Market lost her barn and equipment to fire last month (second-to-last item). Follow the link for details on how to help J & W Valley View Farm by reserving springtime orders in advance.

This concludes our public service announcement for the week. We now return you to our regularly scheduled snark.

If you ever wanted to start that little antique shop/coffeehouse combination, here's your chance

Once the Tall Oaks Giant closes its doors later this month, more than half the space in the shopping center will be vacant:

By the end of this month, the total empty square feet will reach 49,366, double the amount of occupied space, which will be 24,634 square feet.

Ouch. Of course, Reston's brilliant design aesthetic of literally pointing shopping centers away from major roadways might have a teensy bit to do with this. But for you budding entrepreneurs out there, there's a variety of floor space options available:

The former Burger King space is available for either the complete package with 3,300 square feet or two separate spaces of 1,525 and 1,828. The price for that space is $36 per square foot.

The space that used to house a Video Warehouse is available as a whole space of 4,320 square feet or separately as 2,745 and 1,573 square feet respectively. Those are available for $35 per square foot.

Two additional properties are available for lease on the lower level, one with 1,980 square feet and the other with 1,003. The lower-level properties are less expensive than the upper level ones, with leasing prices of $23 per square foot.

You heard it here first: To help breach the "digital divide," Restonian is thinking of leasing the Burger King space, so we can use the drive-thru window to hand out printouts of this wonderful site to folks who have cars but don't have computers. Thank you, come again!

Redistricting: Let the people speak! Or not.

The first of three public meetings to discuss redistricting options involving South Lakes High School and Oakton, Herndon, Westfield, Madison and Chantilly will be held next week, Nov. 12 at Chantilly High School, to be followed by a Dec. 3 meeting at Westfield and another on Dec. 19 in Oakton. But no worries -- nothing's set in stone. Right, FCPS official Dean Tistadt?

“We have no preconceived, already-developed plans on how to accomplish [redistricting],” he said.

Maybe, but South Lakes' ongoing renovations, in progress for longer than most students have actually attended the school, will be finished next fall, putting the school more than 500 students under capacity, and there's no way the system will let that extra space stand empty.

So folks at Herndon High School are worried that redistricting would pull kids from Reston's "astronaut schools" -- you know, the so-called "good" schools in North Reston -- out of Herndon and put them at South Lakes. Given that Herndon isn't particularly overcrowded at the moment, that's a valid concern, since pulling kids there would most likely gut AP programs and other electives.

But it's the folks in uniformly affluent, tree-lined Oakton who are making the most noise about redistricting. They've launched two websites -- keepoakton.org and stoprd.org, the latter of which is run by attorney Richard Bolger of Oakton Woods, where property values range from around $758,000 to more than $1.2 million. With such awesome socioeconomic diversity, it's like they're going to South Lakes already! And with such a well-organized campaign, they should welcome a public forum to air their concerns and work toward a consensus, right?

“If I had my way we wouldn't have the meetings,” [Bolger] said. “Fix the problem, but don't do it by redistricting.”

One valid concern, aside from the minor detail of uprooting kids from their schools and their friends, is that none of the potentially affected neighborhoods are anywhere near South Lakes. Even Herndon High School, which currently pulls tons of kids from Reston, is a good 25-minute drive away. And with the exception of the tens and tens of kids in Great Falls who go to Langley, no parent in his or her right mind is going to be happy about that kind of distance from any school -- particularly high schools which start at an ungodly hour in Fairfax County. (Those blurry figures you see milling around your neighborhood at 6:30 in the morning aren't paperboys -- they're high school freshmen on their way to the bus stop.)

This being DC, Bolger's group has gathered more than 2,000 signatures on an online petition and formed a PAC, which endorsed several independent school board candidates, including Christine "If I thought Reston was bad, I wouldn't live here" Arakelian, who made hay from this very subject during her unsuccessful campaign.

Meanwhile at South Lakes, folks are touting their rigorous IB program and gains in SAT scores.

South Lakes Principal Bruce Butler has been working evenings trying to educate parents about South Lakes and dispel what he said were “urban legends” about the school.

“These are not folks whose kids go to our school. It's folks who have never been in our building,” he said.

Tisdadt offered up the only prediction on this process we'd be willing to bank on:

“I fully expect almost every single person that will be moved will be unhappy about it,” Tistadt said.

This week, on a very special Reston Heights...

The development-cum-soap opera was approved 9-2 by the Reston Planning and Zoning Committee. While the development company, JBG Retail, was tight-lipped about the project when talking to community members last week, some more details emerged during the hearing:

The existing buildings on the site, which include a 7-Eleven, Wachovia Bank, and Chili's and a retail building with 14,000 square feet, will be demolished for the development, which will include retail, commercial and high-density residential space. The Reston International Center, which lies on the property, will remain.

Well, this had better be good if they're razing the Chili's, that's all we can say. So what about the awesome plan to mitigate traffic problems?

The proposal would put a maximum of 498 apartments, about 428,000 square feet of office space (including the existing International Center) and 145,000 square feet of retail space on the site. The development would also have more than 2,800 parking spaces.

Problem solved! At least so long as those 2,800 cars don't try to drive anywhere. Or maybe they can build a ramp right next to Reston Parkway so people can drive to the Metro station, General Lee-style.

Stay the course

Hunter Mill incumbents held their seats on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and Fairfax County School Board.

For the supervisors seat, Catherine Hudgins took 57 percent of the vote, followed by Marie Huhtala, who took 23 percent, and Spike Williams, who took 16 percent. Interestingly, nearly 1,000 people, or 4 percent, wrote in another candidate's name on the ballot.

On the school board, incumbent Stuart Gibson beat Christine Arakelian, 61 to 39 percent.

You'll have to follow the link above to see the results of the real nail-biter of this election -- the Soil and Water District results. We can only hope the U.S. Supreme Court won't have to be called in to resolve any mauve-colored hanging chads.

Reston's Vibrant Economy Part 5: At Least You'll Still Be Able to Get Your Turkey There

The Giant in Tall Oaks Shopping Center is closing on Nov. 28. The grocery store, which has been providing dented canned goods and the like for something like 33 years, joins a variety of other businesses which have shuttered their doors at Tall Oaks, including Hollywood Video and Burger King. (And when was the last time you heard of a fast-food place going out of business?)

Frankly, Tall Oaks is starting to look a lot like the old Hunters Woods Shopping Center, only with a bit more stucco and a bit less Logans Run-style architecture. Pretty soon, it'll be like Hunters Woods' final days, with just a couple of open businesses surrounded by vacant storefronts. Only the grocery store was one of the final, canary-in-the-coalmine holdouts at the old Hunters Woods.

Maybe they should do what they did at Hunters Woods -- raze the place and rebuild it as something completely different. Of course, in Tall Oaks' case, that would mean creating a village-like, pedestrian-friendly shopping plaza which requires long strolls to the far-away parking and -- oh, wait. Never mind.

Yeah, but think of the band programs

In the midst of all the recent drama about redistricting at South Lakes High School, a Washington Post story about the IB program's Middle Years Program at Langston Hughes Middle School pointed out an unexpected surprise -- at least to those folks who keep carping about SLHS' "reputation":

Past and present Langston Hughes parents are greeting an unexpected jump in SAT scores at South Lakes -- the biggest this year in Fairfax County -- as proof that they were right to go with the MYP, perhaps the most challenging middle school program in America for non-magnet schools.

Of course, that progress didn't come easily. The moderators that oversee IB programs have provided plenty of criticism of specific programs at both schools. And then there's this:

The letter published in the Reston Connection four years ago said the program at Langston Hughes Middle School promoted "socialism, disarmament, radical environmentalism, and moral relativism, while attempting to undermine Christian religious values and national sovereignty."

Of course, the same could be said for just about everything in Reston.
Well, all that... and this, too.

Is it a housing development or a soap opera? Maybe a little bit of both.

This week on a very special "Reston Heights": Annoyed neighbors.
A mixed-use high rise project slated for the intersection of Reston Parkway and Sunrise Valley Drive has already drawn fire for the trivial detail that it's on the wrong side of the highway from the planned Metro station there. Fortunately, the developers, the JBG Companies, are taking a transparent approach to dealing with community members:

"To comment on specifics is impossible in a lot of different ways," Kelley said, explaining that approval of the PRC plan is a very preliminary step in the process.

Oookaaaay. Well, then. Of course, a large mixed-use development like Reston Heights is the ideal use for a spot close to a future Metro station. So what about the idea of building an awesome pedestrian bridge to that future station, so residents don't have to drive the 0.2 miles (estimated travel time: 20 minutes) across the highway to get to it?

They would like to build an elevated walkway from the development to the planned Metro stop at Reston Parkway, but Schlichting said that project would need to be a community effort with the Virginia Department of Transportation, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority and Fairfax County, among others.

And we'd like to have a corral full of sparkly ponies, but that would require a community effort involving the National Council of Churches, the Design Review Board, the Green Party, and the Tooth Fairy... among others.

Folks who live in the nearby Hunters Green cluster are worried about what the development would do to traffic in an already congested area.

One resident even doubted whether JBG could fix or improve the traffic problem in general. "It all seems to be backwards to me," said resident Fred Rothwarf. "You know, some problems don't have solutions."

Schlichting said they would not progress with the development "unless we have truly mitigated the traffic."

Sounds like a job for the Tooth Fairy.

Bored of Supervisors, already...

Three of the four candidates for the Hunter Mill district seat on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors -- incumbent Cathy Hudgins and two independent challengers, Mike “Spike” Williams and Marie Huhtala -- have actually debated twice in recent weeks. Who knew?

The most recent debate was held in this faraway place called "Vienna," where they also have a preponderance of mauve along the main drag -- yet people there could care less about Reston. Can't they see what unites us is greater than what divides us?

Anyway. The candidates clashed over the proposed Metro Silver Line, which may or may not happen, depending on how loud we clap. Hudgins basically argues that if the project doesn't move forward, the federal gubmint will take the bags of money it's got piled up for the project and take them elsewhere.

Huhtala said she doesn't believe delaying the project would mean losing the federal funds.

“I don't believe that. Are they really going to make Fairfax County wait behind Podunk, Iowa, for our turn?” she said.

They might! We're sure Podunk, Iowa's got at least one farmer willing to extend his hayride service to the local cropdustin' airstrip. But they'll probably lose the money, too, after an extensive debate over whether the wagon should go around or under the grain silo in the middle of town.

In an earlier debate, the challengers both pointed to an earlier development brouhaha involving a proposed development at the corner of Lawyers Road and Reston Parkway. Huhtala wants to bring development to a virtual halt, but Hudgins says that there's still plenty o' room for more awesomely ugly mid-rises along the Toll Road. Much as national politicians will often invoke Lincoln when they're about to take an unpopular stance, she invoked Reston's own Dear Leader:

Hudgins took issue with Huhtala's stance, and pointed to Reston's master plan, as originally envisioned by Robert Simon, which allows for additional development in Reston before a cap is reached.

The Planned Residential Community codes for Reston was recently adjusted when the Board of Supervisors voted to change the factors by which the population is calculated. The change gave Reston additional units that can be built before the density cap is reached.

That vote was opposed by the Reston Association, the Reston Citizens Association and the Alliance of Reston Clusters and Homeowners, a point that the challengers have used as an example of what they said is Hudgins' unwillingness to listen to constituents.

Yeah, but other than that, did anyone object? No wonder Hudgins gets grief even when she's being endorsed. All we can say is that we'll be glad when this election season's over, so we can start paying attention to what's really important: Flag lapels.

Reston Town Center to Reston: Drop Dead

Buried in the news of an awesome planned event at which backers of making Reston a town handed over their 3,600-signature petition to elected officials was a bit of bad news: The Reston Town Center Association doesn't want to come out and play.

In response to the letter, the Town Center Association said it would not be interested in transferring assets to a town. [Reston Citizens Association President Mike] Corrigan called the answer a “knee-jerk” reaction and disputed the necessity of having the community organizations on board.

“Do they get to veto as to whether we get to vote on being a town? No,” he said.

RCA also basically called the other groups chicken, saying they didn't want to support such a proposal until it looked like it might actually succeed. Maybe, but elected officials have said all along that the proposal, which would put the town status question to a referendum, assuming it's not totally illegal in the first place, needs input and support from other groups.

“We have some very high hurdles to overcome for this to go forward,” State Senator Janet Howell (D-Reston) said. “The only possibility of success is having a unified Reston.”

I think another great leader, paraphrased only slightly, said it best: A mauve-colored planned real estate development divided against itself cannot stand.

The cost of mauve-colored beauty

The Reston Association's homeowner assessments are going up again, to a proposed level of $475 next year and $483 in 2009 from the current $437 assessment.

Why the increase? Apparently, for the R&R fund, which sounds like fun -- but, this being Reston, doesn't actually involve kegs and luau parties. Instead, it's all about bailing wire and chewing gum:

The increased assessments are being considered to build up RA's Repair and Replacement Fund, which had a balance of $4.2 million as of Aug. 31. The proposed assessments would add $200,000 to the fund over the next two years.

As it stands now, the R and R fund balance is not enough to handle projects that the RA will have to undertake in the coming years. “Looking forward, our facilities are getting older, and we know we're going to be drawing from that fund. Right now we don't have sufficient dollars,” Matthews said.

Among the projects on the table: Dredging Lake Audobon (dibs on whatever they find at the bottom!) and renovations to the Shadowood pool, which, it turns out, is Reston's least-visited pool.

You won't be able to take the Silver line there

Metro is holding the first of a series of public hearings on proposed rate hikes for its overcrowded, catching-on-fire subway service on Nov. 13 in... Reston.

We hope there's ample parking at the Bechtel Conference Center.