Comments on Restonian: News blog from Reston, Virginia, the mauve-colored New Town (tm): This Week in Crime: Body Found in Winterthur

Well said, South Lake Mom. From my general impres...

2009-10-28T23:09:13.083-04:00

Well said, South Lake Mom. From my general impression of all your previous posts on Restonian, I didn't believe you would be the type to make light of a human tragedy. As the back and forth comments on this particular post show, sometimes we all forget the power of words.

I should probably be smarter than to re-post, but ...

2009-10-28T21:37:38.357-04:00

I should probably be smarter than to re-post, but I wanted to apologize to those who thought I was mocking the death of this poor woman. For the record, I was (tastelessly) remarking about the LEVEL of crime in Reston. There were TWO crime news stories in that spot, and one reference to earlier crime at Winterthur. THAT was what I was reacting to. But I should know better than to send without giving things a second thought. For that, I apologize.

And also for the record, I live within spitting distance of that area, so yes, it IS my property values which are affected by the non-stop stream of criminal activities around Winterthur, including Hunters Woods plaza. That's everything from gang tagging to assault to murder. For all that is said about the North Reston/South Reston split, the truth is that the area around HW Plaza is notorious for crime.

I'm still aghast at the language choices of some of the anonymous commentators and the vitriol that spews from them. I tell my kids that poor language choices are simply a failure of imagination and vocabulary. I fail to see how'douche bag' and 's***heels' increase people's ability to reach one another, in comfort, understanding or disagreement!

The woman who died was a neighbor of my in-laws and from all accounts was a wonderful woman. If she had been otherwise, would it be any less tragic? The truth is that many of the situations in the Winterthur developments and many areas around the Hunters Woods plaza are tragedies just waiting to happen. There are too many people living on too little income with too little hope. And crime soars during recessions, especially in areas like Reston where people generally are trusting and kind...except on blogs where anonymity lends people courage.

BiCO- probably shouldn't post now, as I'm about to...

2009-10-28T10:15:37.296-04:00

BiCO- probably shouldn't post now, as I'm about to go out the door.

First, the area around Lake Ann (C.O. included) is not what most people would consider to be north Reston. North reston is the area above Baron Cameron on the way to route 7, which was pretty much devoid of houses until... the 90s? I think? It's the "new" part of town, which is, in general, much richer and much "whiter" than the rest of Reston, which is very diverse. The reason North Reston is considered more "sought after" these days is, in fact, because it's a "whiter" area, and, even though few would admit it, there are still lots of people around who wouldn't want their kids going to terraset or hunter's woods or forest edge not because of poor school quality (though some may hide behind that), but because there are too many brown kids.

Is the stereotype of people from north reston as elistist white folks fair? Probably not, but it does come from somewhere.

I also don't think the other poster was specifically singling out people from northpoint- I think his point was that if the lady in question had been from the "rich" part of town, people wouldn't be joking about it. And I expect that's true. Why is her murder suddenly joke-worthy because it occured at winterthur? The fact that that's become a crime-ridden area is not funny in the least.

Anonymous 12:29 AM: As someone who attends church ...

2009-10-28T10:00:21.860-04:00

Anonymous 12:29 AM: As someone who attends church just outside of Northpoint, does his grocery shopping there, and has several friends in that area I really take offense to your classist "douche bag" reference. Sure, the vehicle of choice in Northpoint might be a Lexus SUV, but these people are still an integral part of OUR community, whether you would like to admit that or not, and how do you know all of those in this thread who made light of this homicide are from Northpoint? Northpoint is relatively sparsely populated, and I'd take an educated guess (or an IP address search) that of the posters here, many would reflect fellow South Reston addresses.

I'm still relatively new to Reston so pardon my ignorance, but why, exactly, do so many south of the toll road have such hostility and jealousy towards people in the North? I guarantee you my income is probably less than every South Reston individual who posts here, and I clip coupons and remain vigilant about energy consumption just like everyone else. From all my journeys into South Reston it seems like a BEAUTIFUL part of town with some great lakes, ample foliage, trails, and good-natured people. You even have Chili's! :-P Why this classist nonsense towards those of us in the North? Heck, when I moved here I had a co-worker from South Reston say "Oh. You're from the RICH part of Reston." What perpetuates these nonsensical stereotypes? South Reston isn't an Anacostia wannabe and Northpoint isn't a Great Falls wannabe (nor is my native North Shore Drive the "rich" part of town for that matter). Let's stop labeling people by what part of the community they live in and work cohesively towards a better Reston, shall we? It seems like the Toll Road has really "fractured" Reston.

Anon 11:20, it is indeed wrong, reprehensible and ...

2009-10-28T00:29:10.937-04:00

Anon 11:20, it is indeed wrong, reprehensible and perverse.

These douche bags who posted up about property values and 'another person getting murdered in winterthur' are crass shitheels who should be ashamed of themselves.

It is a poor marginalized woman who was killed so they feel they can make fun of it.

If this was some white upper middle class douche bag in Northpoint they would not be singing the same tune, maybe the douche who was worried about her property values going down would be saying the same thing though...

You can defend making fun of this situation if you...

2009-10-27T23:20:43.681-04:00

You can defend making fun of this situation if you like, but this woman was our neighbor, and finding humor in her murder is just wrong.

I'm calling out all the douche-bags who are making...

2009-10-27T21:49:55.079-04:00

I'm calling out all the douche-bags who are making fun of some unfortunate woman getting killed in our midst. It is not snarky or ironic or sardonic to make fun of her or where she lived and died. it is just shitty.

So you are welcome, I'm glad to share.

What an incredibly mature comment. Glad you're he...

2009-10-27T21:10:55.517-04:00

What an incredibly mature comment. Glad you're here to share.

Anon 7:52 Call it what you want, you'll still be a...

2009-10-27T20:49:36.860-04:00

Anon 7:52 Call it what you want, you'll still be a douche-bag.

A real person in our community is murdered more of...

2009-10-27T19:52:45.639-04:00

A real person in our community is murdered more often than we want to admit -- and often at Winterthur or nearby. That's what most of the humor is about. It's called sardonic or black humor and even Shakespeare used it.

According to a resident, the man in the apartment ...

2009-10-27T16:33:33.084-04:00

According to a resident, the man in the apartment claimed the gun went off by accident.

http://www.fairfaxunderground.com/forum/read/2/262846.html

Anon 12:15 You are spot on, these other Anons and ...

2009-10-27T14:59:14.719-04:00

Anon 12:15 You are spot on, these other Anons and some non-anons are douche bags.

A real person in our community was murdered. Not a laughing matter!

No details other than that the police believe that...

2009-10-27T14:31:42.965-04:00

No details other than that the police believe that the man at the apartment was in a relationship with the deceased.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/26/AR2009102602579.html?wprss=rss_metro

Ah, don't take it so personally. We're equal oppo...

2009-10-26T13:14:59.576-04:00

Ah, don't take it so personally. We're equal opportunity cretins.

Wow, this woman was murdered, and you guys are mak...

2009-10-26T12:05:32.284-04:00

Wow, this woman was murdered, and you guys are making jokes about it? This was a real person. She had friends and family and maybe even kids.

Hmm, how different are the perp's descriptions fro...

2009-10-26T10:37:22.317-04:00

Hmm, how different are the perp's descriptions from the Apple store thieves?

Reston, a post-modern, hip-cat swinging new city, with Oxford Brown fences, and "This Week in Crime" is the second largest category in a filthy web-blog.

Nine out of ten abused women really did burn the d...

2009-10-26T09:52:35.563-04:00

Nine out of ten abused women really did burn the damn steak.