Reston: The Magazine Shocker: There's Gold in Them Thar Clusters!

We usually flip straight to the DRB-inspired word find in Reston: The Magazine, but the most recent issue delivered to our home by uniformed federal agents had some real News You Can Use. Apparently sitting right below our beloved earth-toned community is a bunch of gold, just there for the taking!

We know there is a lot of quartz in Reston, and where there is quartz, there (sometimes) is gold…. Reston is even in the Gold-Pyrite Belt, which is a 140-mile-long gold belt from Maryland, extending southwest through Reston and into Virginia's Buckingham County.

Sweet! Time to quit our jobs and buy a really bitchin' shovel.

Oh, wait:

It is important to note that all the easily reached gold in Virginia has been collected over the last 250 years, so the probability of you finding anything, even over a lifetime of looking, is virtually improbable.

Bummer. Still might be worth poking around Level G-17 of the Wiehle Avenue Metro garage once it opens, maybe.

Now for the bad news. Not to worry, but apparently Reston Parkway sits right atop the dividing line between the "Peters Creek Schist," which is, in geological terms, "a big honking rock," and the "Triassic lowland," which sounds kind of gooey and muddy. But don't take our word for it, check out this fancy geological map:

Now, we're no geologists (and who would know where to find one of those around here?), but if you live between Reston Parkway and Wiehle Avenue, you might want to make sure you've got a good pair of rain boots before the next torrential flood or earthquake, the end.

Flashback Monday: The Most Soviet Photo of Our Brutalist Gem, Ever, The End

We've often compared the brutalist architecture of Lake Anne Plaza with some of Europe's finest monuments to socialism, but little did we know the extent to which our beloved earth-toned community borrowed the iconography of our communal brethren in its propaganda official history. Please to be enjoying this photo of a Noble Working-Man helping glorify the Motherland build the ASBO building, his heroic pose making a mockery of the poorly constructed, bourgeois capitalist Oldsmobiles in the parking lot before him. Build faster, Comrade! The Five-Year Plan Reston Master Plan demands office space for the revolution commercial sales!

Uncanny, isn't it? (Except, of course, the Soviet DRB permitted its propagandists to use a brighter pallete of colors.)

Perhaps iconography like this was an important factor in Reston nearly singlehandedly winning the Cold War. (SRSLY.) It's also good to know similar photography is being used to win the hearts and minds of skeptics of current-day public projects, the end.

Uno Down, One to Go: Closing of Midscale Chain Eatery Presages Demise of Another Midscale Chain Eatery

There are no words, BFFs at Patch. No words at all:

Uno Chicago Grill will close later this spring to make way for Ted's Bulletin at Reston Town Center, several commercial real estate sources say.

A deal has been in the works for several months as Ted's Bulletin sought the right location for its first Northern Virginia location. Uno, at 11948 Market St., has been a longtime tenant of the Town Center.

So a national midscale chain eatery is being replaced by a regional, slightly more midscale chain eatery? That's life in the big city verisimilitude of a gritty urban core. We are looking forward to Ted's "homemade Pop-Tarts" though.

But the demise of Unos means that another carb-intensive eatery not far away is the Last Midscale Chain Standing. And as we all know, it won't be (all that) long until the fat lady sings over at Spectrum as well. (See what we did there?)

We've moved from shock to anger, and now just Sadness. And so, it is with a heavy heart (and even heavier use of the Transform tool in Photoshop) that we set the minute hand of the Macaroni Grill Doomsday Clock to 11:58.

TICK.

Wiehle Metro Infrastructure Improvements: Three Out of 19 Ain't Bad

In case you're not "down," as the kids no longer say, with all the exciting infrastructure improvements planned for the area surrounding the Wiehle Avenue Metro station, please to be enjoying this exciting map showing all the new pedestrian and cyclist-friendly hawtness in store for us. Even if most of the improvements just involve adding crosswalks at "legs" of different intersections, this carefully concerted effort is totally going to ensure that our shining gem of a Metro station remains as easy to slip in and out of as, say, a parking space at Tall Oaks.

The only problem? As our BFFs at Reston2020 point out, few of them are close to being finished:

Virginia has completed the two projects for which it was responsible--bike lanes on either side of Soapstone Drive. Out of the remaining 19 improvements Fairfax County is planning to improve access to the Wiehle Metrorail station:
None are complete.

Only three will be completed before Metrorail opens--two sidewalks (#15 & #16) and a walkway (#30).

Six have completion dates in July 2017.

Ten do not yet have an identified completion date. They are "To be determined."

We simply do not understand how our elected leaders can fail to plan, budget, and implement in a timely fashion essential auto, bicycle, and pedestrian improvements in the Wiehle station area when given a five-year lead time to do so. In particular, the County did not budget any money for these essential transportation improvements until last year and RA has still not budgeted funding for improving pathways near Wiehle station.

Metrorail users will have trouble driving to the WIehle station area, especially during peak periods, and pedestrians and bicyclists will face delays, greater hardships, and greater risk of injury as a result of the delayed action on road, transit, pedestrian, and bicycling improvements in this station area.

None of this even includes the long-discussed Soapstone bridge across the Toll Road -- though it is nice to know that a "grade separation" (i.e. bridge or tunnel or maybe a massive, bike-sized slingshot) is planned for the W&OD Trail's intersection with Wiehle, which would have been a good idea around 1976. But all you naysayers, calm down! In a RESTONIAN WORLD EXCLUSIVE, we're happy to offer photographic evidence of the massive infrastructure improvements already in place along the Wiehle corridor:

As an added bonus, this bit of infrastructure investment will come in extra handy the next time there's an alien invasion or a pet dragon escapes, the end.

Reston: The Survey: The PowerPoint: We're #4! (or #33)

Man oh man, we love us a good Powerpoint presentation, and since "web loggers" don't get paid by the hour, we sure enjoyed clicking through this summary of the community survey conducted for the Reston Association earlier this year. Clearly the designer had an appreciation of Reston's vibrant color pallette, given the choice of creamy taupe background, mustard arrow, and muted green accents.

We Restonites are a competitive lot, so we skipped right to the benchmarking results to see how our beloved earth-toned community stacked up against others nationwide. Turns out that based on survey responses, we're ranked 33rd as a place to live and 7th as a place to work (which makes us wonder just how many aspiring opera singers are hidden among us). When you look at comparably sized communities, we're ranked fourth as a place to live and second as a place to work. Ha! In your FACE, Coon Rapids, Minnesota, Goodyear, Arizona, and Grand Island, Nebraska! Apparently you're not quite as good or rapid or grand as you think, flatlanders!

Of course, there were some surprises. Apparently, we're a community of sad, isolated loners, living quiet lives of desperation:

Won't anyone think of the emo white silhouettes, deprived of the ability to meet puppies while out with their jogging strollers?

Also, respondents were more likely to have read Reston: The Magazine than have ridden a local bus. O RLLY?

Here's a no-brainer:

Guess we'll have to take our plans for the Restonian World Industries Pork Byproduct Rendering Plant and Web Logging Server Log Printouts Warehouse off the drawing board.

The full survey results is where you found the "meat" of the results, as those of us in the urban planning/pork byproduct rendering business like to say. According to the results, two-thirds of respondents were on board with at least "some" additional housing development over the next 20 years. However, "preservation of natural areas such as open space" and "managing and planning for growth" were identified as critical priorities for the RA, not that anyone has ever said that before. For some strange reason, "respondents living in Hunters Woods and South Lakes were more likely to say that preserving natural areas was 'essential' or 'very important' for Reston's future." Gee, wonder why? Lake Anne residents, hippies that they are, were more interested in "mixed housing types in the community," while North Restonites "placed less importance on reducing dependence on automobiles," because, let's face it, if you're not driving a quality German import, you might as well be riding the bus, the end.

Flashback Monday: Meet the New Chains, (Almost) Same as the Old Chains

From Reston's earliest days au primitif, even before the McTacoHut arrived to satiate the early pioneers' needs for brand-name comfort food, we loved us our bland, fast food chain eateries. Behold this oddly familiar monument to stucco and grease off Sunrise Valley Drive!

Of course, Burger Chef would beget Roy Rogers, which would (eventually) beget Popeye's. And so the circle goes unbroken, by and by.

Here, the fine folks at Jack in the Box managed to get around pesky DRB regulations by replacing their signature orange signery with something more in keeping with the local color pallette at its Hunters Woods location (Sandblasted Battleship was the official paint name, we believe). Of course, Jack begat McDonalds, which, in time, begat a perfectly lovely sushi place that's been given the unfortunate nickname of McSushi despite the Zen garden out front.

Even years later, as Reston's list of eating options began to grow, it still leaned heavily towards chains. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth today, the end.

Lake Anne Redevelopment Negotiations Starting Soon, Says Well-Placed Source, 99

The long-stalled redevelopment of Lake Anne appears to be moving forward, according a well-placed nonagenarian source Bob Simon. As part of the coverage of his recent birthday, he told Bisnow:

Having looked at the proposals submitted, he likes one based on its architecture and inclusion of the village concept. Negotiations are set to begin in the next few weeks.

Wonder if it's the 1,330-unit proposal that CityCenter DC developer Hines floated for the county-owned Crescent Apartments property nearly a year ago, or if county officials have pushed harder on a consolidated proposal that includes other parcels around the existing village center.

It's also been rumored that one proposal includes an amphitheater, but according to the well-placed nonagenarian source Simon, another 500-seat theater proposal may be in the works. Give us some good map action and blockquote, Bisnow:

Bob points to an empty space next to Reston Town Center where he'd like to see the theater, a long-time dream that's finally looking real; architectural studies are under way.

If things are moving forward, these developments are good news, both for the long-struggling Lake Anne area and for Reston as a whole. As for Mr. Simon, a Confidential Restonian Operative forwarded us this photo of Metal Bob, as decorated by adorable area children after last weekend's Founders Day festivities:

At least let's hope that card was written by adorable area children, or else we have a totally different problem with our schools, the end.

News You Can Use: Lucrative Career Opportunity at Reston's Signature Employer

What, with sequestration leading to fewer bomb-to-dolphin-strapping-feasability-analyst type positions in the federal contracting industry, there's been a lot of hand-wringing about the changing Northern Virginia job market and a bleak, dystopian future in which quality Teutonic imports become rarities. But fear not! Thanks to Confidential Restonian Operative "The Paper Army," we've been alerted to the Job of the Future, a job that speaks to the long-term sustainability of Reston's vibrant employment mix -- and as befits the nexus of the Dulles Technology Corridor, it was posted on Craigslist!

Macaroni Grill is now auditioning Opera Singers (Reston, VA)

OPERA SINGERS
- Join the Family -

As the leader in upscale Italian cuisine, Romano's Macaroni Grill offers you outstanding career growth opportunities and a dynamic environment to showcase your vocal skills while working as a host, server, busser or bartender.

Carbs and Carmen: recession-proof and sequester-proof!

Plus, we have it on good authority that if you were in this production, or even just saw it, you're a shoo-in. You're welcome!

Flashback Monday: Dam It!

Set the controls of the Earth Toned Wayback Machine to 1964, where this exciting photo shows Wiehle Avenue snaking southward past Lake Anne, the earthen dam that was a muddy engineering marvel visible at the center left of the picture. You can see space has been carved from the primeval forest for the fields at Fairway and Hook, but otherwise, this is Reston pretty much as the whiskey-makers and the homicidal nudists had found it decades before.

After Metro opens, this photo will have an added layer of nostalgia, what with it showing a Wiehle Avenue that isn't clogged by endless, bumper-to-bumper traffic from Loudoun cut-through commuters, the end.

The Bratz are Back: School Crowding Totally Unanticipated Consequence of Massive Development

It's apparently dawned on some people that adding tons of new awesome bollardy housing, along with making it slightly more necessary to have a new indoor swimming pool and maybe some tennis courts, might also have a teensy tiny impact on Reston schools, which has gone over really really well in the past.

If the Reston Master Plan Task Force uses Scenario G to project future population growth in Reston, South Lakes High School will have close to 3,000 students in it by 2018, a Reston 20/20 blog post says.

The Reston Citizens Association advocacy group cites a December Fairfax County Public Schools' memo that uses the assumptions of 82 new single-family homes, 649 townhouses, 3,748 low-rise units and 20,000 high-rise units built in Reston in the next several years.

The development is expected to occur in relation to the late 2013 opening of Metro's Silver Line, which is expected to add high-density housing in many spots close to stations at Wiehle-Reston East and Reston Parkway.

B-b-but the idea was all these hip, vowel-free residences would attract young, upwardly mobile hipster types, with their cool hats, fixed-gear bikes -- and, most importantly, no kids! Kids are for Ashburn, not transit-oriented hawtness, right? After all, kids don't really fit into that whole carefree, ride-the-Metro-for-an-hour-to-get-to-the-bomb-strapping-gig-in-Clarendon-then-Metro-back-in-time-for-dinner-at-the-Macaroni-Grill lifestyle we're promoting. Do you think that couple on the right is staying up nights, worrying about the SOL scores at their neighborhood school, or about IB vs. AP? We think not.

Still, if we do get some more "shorties," as the kids today no longer say, this could lead to overcrowding at already-crowded SLHS in just the next few years -- as many as 800 students over capacity by 2017. But our BFFs at Reston 2020 point out that there are no plans to expand at the school on the horizon, asking:

When will the Board look at either investing in the capacity and capabilities of South Lakes or changing its boundaries--a contentious process the school went through just 5 years ago?

If we actually get the mondo, worst maximum-case population growth suggested in the task force analysis, Fairfax County Schools believes it will need to build two new elementary schools, a new middle school, and a new high school somewhere between Reston and Rt. 28. Fortunately, we're here to help with a few ideas of where they can put these new schools:

• Stack them on top of each other.
• Build them in level G23 of the Wiehle Avenue Metro parking garage. It worked for Terraset!
• Lease the 14th floor of the new mauvescraper.
• Two words: Tall Oaks. Plenty of space, and enough stucco and concrete to keep the little ones from getting homesick.

You're welcome, planners. You're welcome.

Of course, given the general decline in federal contracting anticipated going forward means that our Ford Focus-driving population isn't likely to grow as much as anticipated. So maybe we can just get by with a couple more trailers in the parking lots of all our current schools:

Come to think of it, we've already tried that.

99 Candles: Bob Simon Celebrates Near-Century, Remains Awesome

Reston founder Robert E. Simon turned 99 today, which is pretty amazing. In many ways, he looks as good as, if not better than the community he founded (which turns 49 today). He celebrated the eve of his birthday by attending the RA annual members meeting last night, which is more than most of us who are (at least, sort of) a half-century younger could bring ourselves to do.

What's interesting in looking back at this fancy interview he conducted on the occasion of his 95th birthday, along with his recipe for long life (one martini and one walk a day), is how prescient he's been about the challenges of making Reston not become a clone of Ballston on one extreme or Ashburn on the other work:

It’s difficult to overcome the culture that we live in. It’s a culture where a state-of-the-art bathroom and kitchen are what one needs, plus enough square footage to show everyone that one could afford it. We’ve gone a couple centuries without understanding community. It’s too bad that it’s so hard to communicate what pleasure one gets from living with one’s fellow human being.

Happy birthday, Mr. Simon.

Caddyshackpocalypse Later: Reston National Developers Receive Fourth Delay on Zoning Appeal

The owners of Reston National Golf Course have requested--and received--a fourth delay from the Fairfax County Board of Zoning Appeals, delaying a hearing until September on its challenge to the county's ruling that the golf course cannot be redeveloped into the usual midrise vowel-free bollardy goodness.

Reston National Golf Course's appeal with the Fairfax County Board of Zoning Appeals has been delayed once again - this time until September.

RN Golf Management, the course owners, asked for the delay of the May 22 hearing. The new hearing date is now Sept. 25. This is the fourth extension. The hearing was originally supposed to take place in September 2012, then October, January and finally May.

Our BFFs at Rescue Reston are painting this as a victory--at least for now. Rescue Reston Executive Director David Stroh said in a statement:

We can only presume that they have not been able to find the evidence they need to support their opposition to the County Zoning Administrator’s assertion that the Reston National Golf Course is clearly zoned as permanent open space. What they hope to accomplish by a fourth delay is unclear, but we are investigating options with Rescue Reston attorneys Greehan, Taves, Pandak & Stoners, PLLC.

Our BFFs at Reston2020 even went so far as to lay down a little of that old-timey Twitter Smack:

Of course, as others pointed out after RN and its majority owner, Northwestern Mutual Life, requested the previous postponements, this may just be an attempt to outwait (and outspend) opponents of redevelopment. Give us some good blockquote on that, Rescue Reston's Stroh:

If the goal is to wear us down, then they do not understand who Reston is and what we Restonians are made of.

As speeches, go, that's almost as good as this one:

So we got that going for us. Which is nice.

Flashback Monday: At Tall Oaks, It's Back to the Future

Please to be enjoying this still from a fancy home video taken at a Tall Oaks festival way back in 1974, decades before our favorite stucco shopping center was transformed into the wasteland (albeit a wasteland with excellent restaurants) it is today. Aside from the matching do-rags, it's looking like a pretty rad "jam session," as the kids back then might have said except for the word "rad", right? Let's check out the massive, retail center-sustaining crowd:

The more things change…

...the more they stay the same. Except for the grocery store shopping cart being put into service as a makeshift ottoman. You wouldn't find one of those there today.

You might hate the cultural wasteland that was the 70s. But you've gotta admit that you love the hat and that… mink stole thing Bearded Man #2 has jauntily draped over his shoulder. Bet he draped that over the driver's seat of his bitchin' Camaro on his way home from the gig, the end.

(Shout out to the Reston, Remember When Facebook page.)

Suburbanites of the World, Unite (or at Least Vote)!

Good morning, Comrades! Did you enjoy your morning coffee whilst staring outside at the yard "common area" through your appropriately toned window treatments? Then do your civic duty and vote in the unopposed Reston Association Board elections before today's 5pm deadline! If we don't get 99.9 percent participation the required 10 percent quorum, the capitalist oppressors Sterling wins!

Seriously, let's do this. We'd hate to see our annual assessment go up yet again because they wind up having to redo this whole election thing and shovel more money to the "counting agents," whoever they are.

Information on how to vote "on-line" here. If you feel the need to be informed, like an actual voter, here are the official candidate statements, also in handy video form.

Caddyshackpocalypse Now: County Board Chair, Zoning Officials Support Rescue Reston, Says Rescue Reston

As the weather gets warmer, our thoughts wander to hitting the links a parcel of indeterminate zoning status. Although things have been quiet ahead of the scheduled May 22 Board of Zoning Appeals hearing on whether the owners of Reston National Golf Course can redevelop the property for other uses, our BFFs at Rescue Reston have reaffirmed the support of county officials, according to our BFFs at Rescue Reston. Here's their account of a recent meeting:

"I fully support your position.” Those were the words of Board of Supervisors Chairman Sharon Bulova as three Directors of Rescue Reston concluded a meeting with her on Wednesday, March 27.

[Cathy Belgin, Sr. Assistant to the Zoning Administrator] explained how thoroughly the Zoning Administrator’s office had researched its position that the 166 acre golf course is designated as permanent open space. She reported that this had been in planning documents dating back to the period when Reston was founded, and was reaffirmed in subsequent rezonings. [Leslie Johnson, Fairfax County Zoning Administrator] confirmed that the Zoning Administrator’s position is very firm. Chairman Bulova asserted her belief that the County Attorney’s office would surely support the Zoning Administrator should there be a further appeal after the BZA hearing.

In summary, the Zoning Administrator is concerned primarily with issues of process. They do not take a position as to whether development would be good or bad, but simply rule on the zoning as it currently stands, and their position is that no portion of RNGC can be developed for any use other than open space. Chairman Bulova appreciates the jewel in the County that Reston is, and heard us when we said there is no compelling reason to allow a change in the zoning that would threaten this open space.

That's pretty unambiguous, and definitely not at all in keeping with the earlier rumblings about behind-the-scenes dealmaking that may (or may not) be happening. Of course, there's a reason why Rescue Reston, the Reston Association, and others have gotten all lawyered up to fight Northwestern Mutual Life's efforts to challenge the zoning (namely, Virginia's overwhelmingly property owner-friendly laws), so this doesn't mean that attempts to transform the golf course into yet another vowel-free paradise of bollardy goodness will necessarily end on May 22.

Rescue Reston is continuing to ask for signatures on its petition, which is nearing 3,000 signatures, as well as holding a fundraising event at, ironically enough, Reston's other golf course, which we assume will go something like this:

Here is a Crane, Doing Crane Things, at Reston Station

Pull your kids out of school and gather them around the YouTubes machine to watch this exciting time-lapse video of the doins' at Reston Station. If you imagine they have little plastic faces and annoying British accents, it's almost like watching an episode of Thomas the Tank Engine, if all the Very Useful Engines were stuck single-tracking in a tunnel under the Potomac because of a "track fire."

But that's not all! Reston Station has one-upped its cross-town competitor in crafting exciting marketing prose to draw in the upwardly mobile, possibly hipster, apartment dweller to its BLVD apartments:

For residents, Reston Station's exceptional convenience is matched only by the premier comfort and style offered in the community's luxury homes. With up to 850 upscale apartments and condominiums, including dedicated workforce housing units, these appealing residences represent metropolitan living at its best-with abundant amenities and trend-setting design.
BLVD | Reston Station, a 450-unit building, features studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom apartments.
• Tenants will enjoy:
• Club rooms, rooftop pool, fitness center, activity center, and business center
• Garage parking
• Premium units on the 20th floor with gas cooking, fireplaces, and tall ceilings
• Stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, tile bathrooms, 9 ½-foot ceilings
• LEED®-certified, energy-efficient design

That all sounds good, but you say you want a vowel in your building's name? Vowels are for owners, not renters, silly wage slave! You'll want to spring for a condo -- the Momentum condos, which are coming in 2015. We like motion, and vowels, so sign us up, the end.

Flashback Monday: Reston's Undying Love For Nixon Set in Stone

Pull on your bell bottoms and set the Earth-Toned Wayback Machine to 1972, a time of great unrest in much of the nation… except Reston. Yes, our ostensibly hippy-dippy town real estate development apparently loved itself some Richard Nixon, not wanting to see him impeached and probably muttering under its breath about those long-haired kids and their loud music.

But! It turns out Reston has its own shrine to our 37th President, in the lobby of the USGS building. Look upon these works, ye mighty, and despair!

The Washington Post goes to great efforts to say that there's nothing inside the inscribed stone, which is a "3.5 billion year old" hunk of granite. Of course, if we wanted to boost Reston's tourist trade, we could always claim it includes a tibia or femur or other relic of the former president, but -- as someone whose name escapes us for the moment once said -- "That Would Be Wrong."

The Post article instead talks about the USGS move to Reston back in 1973. though they sadly overlook its groundbreaking "seating units":

The move “was very important for us,” said Jim Devine, a USGS seismologist who was at the building’s dedication. “It was important for Reston, too.” (The keynote speaker that day was not Nixon, but Interior Secretary Rogers C.B. Morton.)

Reston was a lot less developed then, Jim said. There weren’t too many restaurants, but employees could get to them quickly.

“When we first moved out here, you could get to a restaurant in 15 minutes, have lunch and get back without using too much time,” Jim said. “Over the years, it became much too difficult. Now virtually no one leaves for lunch.”

Reston's favorite president puts it best: