A Room With An (Expensive) View: Fancypants New Hotel Has 24-Hour Room Service, Creepy Robert E. Simon Mask

While we were focusing on the An Art and palpable lack of woonerf right outside, the fancypants JW Marriott at Reston Station opened its doors to guests last week.  We Restonians -- us lumpen proletariats, toiling away at our rapidly endangered government contracting jobs strapping bombs to dolphins -- are now the hosts of Virginia's ONLY JW Marriott, among the fanciest of the fancy Marriott hotel "brands."

"Every moment made exquisite," the hotel's website gushes, and we agree! For a high-end chain, the folks at Marriott really leaned into the Reston mystique. Its signature restaurant is called "The Simon," and it offers "a multi-sensory journey" (we assume one of the senses is taste, but then again, we're simple folk who usually stay at lesser hotel brands, ones where you can park right outside your front door and walk down a "breezeway" to get ice from a machine that sounds like a broken rock tumbler). Another amenity is the "Schar Bar," named after the folks who funded Inova's cancer center and offering the bourbons which were once made right down Sunset Hills from this august hotel.  Plus, as an added bonus, you can be creeped out inspired by this terrifying death mask breathtaking rendering of Robert E. Simon:

Yikes. Hopefully that glass frame will keep it from escaping and invading our nightmares. If not, those of us of a certain age can remember the first time we saw something similar:

But enough of the public spaces. What are the rooms like? Well, they have beds and whatnot, plus windows that offer this breathtaking view of our cutting-edge, Metro-adjacent developments:

Stunning. Let's see how affordable that million-dollar view might be. 

COMPUTER, ENHANCE:

Oof. People are going to have to clicky clicky on a lot of the fun WHO'S YOUR BABY'S DADDY ads on this filthy "web log" for us to be able to afford a night away, if by "away," you mean "right down the street with $45 hamburgers for room service," the end.

A Strand of Simon's Legacy

Much has been written about Robert E. Simon since his passing earlier this week. One common strand -- perhaps one we too often take for granted -- keeps resurfacing.

Snippets of tributes from the excellent Reston Remember When Facebook page:

My parents moved to a flat roof townhouse off of North Shore Drive in 1970. Looking back, it was a lovely place to grow up. I didn't understand it then, but there absolutely was a sense of tolerance and equality. Everyone was treated the same, or so it seemed.

--- 

I will forever cherish the oasis that was Reston, VA, a place where I grew up and shaped me into the woman I am today. A place where all colors and creeds came together blind to color. A place where I never experienced any intolerance or racism. Never saw a confederate flag and had my mind opened beyond belief to other cultures and people from all over the world. A place that I hope never loses any of these rare qualities.

--- 

Where else in the WORLD can a single mother with 5 kids living in Section 8 housing provide them access to nationally ranked schools, brand new swimming pools, beautifully landscaped bike paths with ponds, parks, tennis and bball courts. We didn't have a yard but it seemed all of Reston was our playground. I could even go to the "other side of Reston" and see my friends for a dime on the RIBS bus. We were exposed to theatre, arts, youth sports and a wonderful community of parents who took care not only of their own but looked out for ALL of us. I am so very grateful for Mr. Simon's vision. In any other "low income" environment, our lives could have turned out so differently. Even after we moved from Cedar Ridge to Lake Anne, it wasn't easy for my Mom to raise and take care of all of us but no matter where we were in Reston and how tight things may have been financially, our childhood was fun, full and rich. 

--- 

I grew up in the Germantown section of Philadelphia. Germantown was a mix of row houses and mansions, thus patch-work integrated even in the 1950's. I even belonged to the first integrated Boy Scout troop in Philly. Members of my patrol ranged from national merit scholars to (ahem) future clients of the state criminal justice system. The diversity worked. Brains when we needed brains, and muscle when called for. Although a relatively small troop, we won every contest. So when when my wife called me at work to say she found a house, and described the Reston concept to me I said, "Buy it now!" "Don't you want to see...." "No, just buy it!" Never regretted the decision. 

--- 

In 1978, my single mom moved her remaining 3 children from New York to a place called Reston. It was the best decision she ever made. We were pioneers in an amazing experiment that allowed all types of people to live and laugh and experience the best of everything life had to offer. It didn't matter if you were from a lower income family or one the fortunate people who had those beautiful homes on the lake, we were all treated with the same respect; we became friends; we got to experience the wonders of nature, culture and architecture and we were able to get a great education in a safe and nurturing environment. Everyone seemed to be responsible to everyone else's well being and we were so proud and cared deeply about the place we called home.

--- 

To grow up in a place of integration and tolerance, when interracial marriage was illegal, and religious 'blue laws' enforced. Reston was a bastion of equality of race, religion, et al. I truly feel lucky my parents moved there and I grew up with the experience of a true free and integrated (of all sorts) community. It definitely shaped the person I have become....

--- 

I grew up going to school with kids from a myriad of cultural, racial, economic and religious backgrounds. We were taught to acknowledge and appreciate all of our differences, but more importantly we were taught to see each other as humans and to treat one another with the same kindness and compassion regardless of our differences. Interracial couples were commonplace in my high school in the mid-80's. Religious holidays were shared with friends regardless of our own religious affiliations (or lack thereof) through a spirit of respectfully sharing our personal beliefs without the intention of conversion. And growing up with a wealth of nature around us we came to understand and appreciate just how precious our environment is and that it deserves not only our respect, but our protection. Being a community filled with people from all parts of the government from diplomats to congresspeople, federal clerks to federal lawyers, we came to know and understand the importance of political activism. Our community had soccer fields and theaters, nature paths and lakes, we grew up knowing there is more to a person than their profession, and that life is made all the more rich and fulfilling through a diversity of expression. So much of who I am and how I was formed was because I had the privilege of growing up in "A Place Called Reston". And I know so many of my peers share this deep appreciation for what a unique and truly magical place Reston was to live in. None of that would have happened had it not been for the vision of Robert E. Simon. I can only hope that one day all communities in America can share the same ideals that were, and still are, so integral to my hometown. Thank you, Bob. Rest in Peace.

A candlelight vigil in Simon's honor is scheduled for Friday at 6:45pm at Lake Anne Plaza.

Robert E. Simon Jr.: An Appreciation

"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." Coverage: Reston Association | Reston Now | Washington Post | Washingtonian | Patch | New York Times

It seemed like he would always be here. A cliche, but one made believable by his remarkable longevity — and his constant presence in Reston. We had a conversation with Mr. Simon just weeks ago, walking the paths not far from the Heron House and the nucleus of the community he created, returned to, continued to advocate for, and loved for more than a half-century.

And what a half-century it's been. Simon lived long enough to see the fulfillment of several dreams -- the creation of a true downtown, the arrival of Metro -- and the seeds of others, including the grand plans for a revitalization of his beloved Lake Anne Plaza that, if done properly, will be worthy of his legacy. As we've said many times before, he was a model for aging in place -- and aging gracefully in a community that remains vibrant, multigenerational, and even more diverse than when it stood out among the segregated suburban neighborhoods of mid-1960s Northern Virginia. All in all, not a bad deal for Carnegie Hall in trade.

When we last saw Simon, he said what he's always said in recent years: "I'm healthy." He leaves behind a community that, while facing growing pains, is unmistakably that. Thank you, Mr. Simon, for creating a place worth caring about, now and for the next century to come.

Reston Gets Historical Marker, Transformation Into Theme Park Continues Apace

If you're one of those people who instinctively slam on the brakes and back up when they see a tiny roadside marker commemorating the site where Col. Jeb "Goober" Josephat stopped to recharge his cellphone on the way to the Battle of Spittle Hill, you're in luck! Turns out our plastic fantastic planned community is getting its own historical marker, which will be planted near the entrance to Lake Anne Village Center. Here's the text, which in our minds we envision scrolling down a dark movie screen, Star Wars style:

In 1961, Robert E. Simon Jr. began developing 6,750 acres of Sunset Hills Farm as a community open to all races, ages, and incomes. Simon engaged the architectural firm of Whittlesey & Conklin, who designed a "New Town." Construction of Lake Anne Village, its lake, central plaza, stores, and townhouses began in 1963. With innovative zoning, Reston became one of the first master-planned communities in the United States, with residential clusters, mixed-use development, landscape conservation, ample recreational space, walking and biking trails, and public art. Reston received the American Institute of Certified Planners' National Landmark Award in 2002.

Very cool. It's another sign that our little Reston is All Grown Up. We can't wait for scads of tour buses to begin disgorging tourists in the center of Lake Anne Plaza, cameras in hand. We already have a two-part walking tour (part 1/part 2) set up and ready to wow 'em!

But we'll need to help create the verisimilitude today's discerning tourist demands from their historical destinations. (That, plus outlet malls.) Whereas Colonial Williamsburg is full of people wearing Old Timey colonial garb doing things like churning butter, we all need to dig into the back of our parents' closets and put on the most plastic polyester clothing we can find. Imagine the squeals of joy as tourists walk by carefully trained reenactors reading scripted conversations about watching the latest episode of Dragnet on their new 14-inch television:


The new sign will be dedicated at 5:30pm May 29. If you're into planned communities and sign dedications, mark your calendars.

Bob Simon Calls Proposed Tall Oaks Redevelopment A "Missed Opportunity"

In the second of two community meetings held by the new owners of the Tall Oaks Stucco Wasteland Village Center, Bob Simon called the proposal, which would replace said stucco wasteland with more than 150 homes and a much smaller retail footprint, a "missed opportunity."

Give us some good blockquote, Confidential Restonian Operative "Joel":

He suggested that they look to European towns for inspiration and hire a world class architect. He did not like the townhouse spread out across most of the property. He suggested that all the homes could fit into a single building. He emphasized the importance of public gathering places. He said of the proposed plan, "This is not a village center."

Bob's got a point there. Consider the layout of the proposed Tall Oaks plan:


Beyond the undevelopable space that's already behind the village center, there's not much in the way of green space, that's for sure. Not much parking for those emergency runs to pick up sexist bread for dinner, either, assuming the significantly scaled back retail space ever gets a grocery, or at least a grossery.

Also, consider the layout for the other announced redevelopment proposal currently under consideration, across town in St. John's Wood. Aside from the ratio of townhouses to larger buildings, it looks awfully off-the-shelf similar:


In fact, there may actually be more green space in St. John's, which was never a village center, than in what's proposed for Tall Oaks, which is still a village center, at least in name.

In both meetings, Tall Oaks' neighbors were less than thrilled with the proposal. Most wanted something that would attract a grocery store back to the center, but after the closing of Giant, the rapid-fire failures of two international groceries (sorry, Susie de los Santos), and the palpable lack of interest by Bloom's (a rumored possibility) and Wegman's (a pipe dream for those of us unworthy to enter the gates of the particleboard Valhalla known as Loudoun County), we're fairly sure that ship has sailed. During the first meeting, land use attorney Mark Looney made this pretty clear, according to our BFFs at Reston Now:

Looney predicts Tall Oaks, which had a nearly 90-percent occupancy rate in 2007 and currently has a 13-percent occupancy rate, will be 6 percent occupied by early 2016.

“The reality is, every anchor store knows this center and has passed it by,” said Looney, adding that there was no recent retail developer interest to purchase Tall Oaks.

“We tested the market. Crickets. No one in retail wanted to buy it in its current condition. JAG stepped forward, They are keeping the retail component. They are taking a drab retail center and turning it into Reston’s next great cluster.”

Note that he did not say Reston's next great village center. With even Simon saying Reston may no longer need as many village centers, we're afraid that ship may have sailed as well.

Our favorite comment?

Said one resident: “Brand new townhouses are going to make my townhouse look like garbage.”

We'd argue that a deteriorating, vacant shopping center littered with tumbleweeds is what will make nearby townhouses look like garbage. At this point, pretty much anything would be an improvement. Something with more open space and some community-scaled retail would be a big improvement.

Happy 101st, Bob Simon!

Our Facebook BFFs at Lake Anne Plaza shared this throwback photo from way back when Reston founder Bob Simon was a mere 100 years old -- just a baby, really. He's a great example of how a passion for life and a commitment to age in place (plus a daily martini and walk around the lake) can take you far. Here's to many more, Mr. Simon!

Update: Photos of Saturday's Founders Day festivities.

Video of the festivities:

Jelly Jars and Puzzles: The Tributes to Reston's Favorite Centenarian Keep Coming

The hits from the Multiples of 50  celebrations just keep coming! First up, we have this exciting jelly jar-themed teevee birthday shout out to Bob Simon on the (alleged) news program, the Today Show.



The best thing? Simon was credited by Cyborg Willard Scott for founding a town, not "loving to bowl" or collecting pig figurines, or something along those lines. Good on him.

But television is ephemeral, fleeting. If you want a more lasting tribute, you can always pick up one of the snazzy new Reston: The Jigsaw Puzzles, on offer through April 25 by your favorite homeowners association. Who wouldn't want to gather in front of a roaring fire and piece together this image?


At $45 per 500-piece puzzle, that works out to a mere nine cents per piece of jigsaw fun!

Happy 100th, Mr. Simon!

Today is Bob Simon's 100th birthday. From Carnegie Hall to a high-rise he built at around the time of his 50th birthday on the shores of a lake that he also built, it's been quite a century for Reston's founder. Let's celebrate by taking a walk around Lake Anne and raising a martini, as Simon still does every day -- at least when he's not busy playing the congas, dog sledding in Canada or visiting India, to name a few of the things things he's done in just the last few years.

As impressive as his accomplishments have been in urban planning and remaining a civic leader for nearly an unbroken half-century, he's also become a legitimate role model for aging in place -- and aging well. We can only hope we're in as good shape when we're half his age, even if we can't quite celebrate our 50th trip around the sun by building a planned community of our own.

So raise a glass to Mr. Simon. And let's also thank him again for not building his New Town on Staten Island or calling it Simon City.

Multiples of 50 Founders Day: Continuing Team Coverage

Confidential Restonian Operative "Joel" shared this exciting photo of Bob Simon arriving at Saturday's Multiples of 50 Founders Day festivities by pedicab. By all accounts, it was a star-studded event:

Master of Ceremonies Chuck Veatch — one of the original salesmen for the “New Town” back in the 1960s — read Simon’s words from Reston’s dedication at the Founder’s Day celebration at Lake Anne Plaza on Saturday.

“The deed of Reston celebrates not the completion of this new town, but symbolizes its beginning,” Simon said in 1964. “It is a place where people will come to live, work, play and call their own. We have just begun to build — there is very much more to come. But from this day forward, Reston is its people.”

Several hundred people — some of them original Restonians or children of original Restonians — were in attendance Saturday for the celebration of Reston’s 50th birthday and Simon’s 100th birthday. Also paying tribute — Gov. Terry McAuliffe; Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam; Sen. Tim Kaine; Rep. Gerry Connolly; County Supervisors Sharon Bulova and Cathy Hudgins; and Virginia General Assembly members Del. Ken Plum and Sen. Janet Howell.

President Obama sent a congratulatory letter!


Other politicians also praised Simon and Reston's place in history. Give us some good blockquote, BFFs at Reston Now:

Reston’s place in history was was a top topic during the tributes. In Virginia in 1964, segregation was alive and well. Simon envisioned an open, inclusive community where people of all races, ages and incomes could live.

“We moved here in 1969,” said Hudgins, who is black. “Things were different in this country and in the world. We are lucky we found a place here. Reston has been able to give us and so many other people the feeling that they belong. … Reston is and has been a model.”

Sen. Tim Kaine, who also served as governor of Virginia from 2006 to 2010, put Simon’s vision in perspective.

“In 1964, when Reston opened, discrimination was rampant and legal,” he said. “It wasn’t until 1968 that the federal Fair Housing Act was passed. It wasn’t until 1971 that the Virginia General Assembly passed the South’s first fair housing law.
“Bob [Simon] was a real visionary,” Kaine said. “All human beings ought to be able to live together and be neighbors. When we look at Virginia history since World War II, Bob should be one of the 5 or 6 individuals. Bob took a state that was facing backward and turned it facing forward.”

The Action McNews folks were there in droves!



Or if you don't like the "filter" the liberal media places on everything, here's the raw footage:



As for Simon, along with touting his long-standing habit of having one martini each night, he offered some advice for the whippersnappers youth:

"Get out of your rooms where you keep your high-techery. Get outside. Get on a bicycle. Get on the tennis court. Row a boat, paddle a boat, sail a boat. All the things that make life for a fuller life than just exercising your thumbs," says Simon.

Love the term "high-techery." Does that mean we can't use our iPhone at the cupcakery?

All in all, a worthy event for two most worthy milestones. That'll do, Reston, that'll do.

Flashback Monday: Washington Post Looks Back at Bob Simon's Past, Reston's Future

For once, Reston makes the front page of a major newspaper that isn't a tawdry tabloid. The Washington Post published a front-page article looking back at Reston's past 50 years, starting with this awesome, nearly biblical opening sentence:

In the beginning, there were 6,750 acres of trees, fields, and cows — and a self-described “Jewish guy from Manhattan” with a yellow legal pad, trying to figure out what to do with this large chunk of land that he was about to buy in the suburbs of Washington.

That guy, of course, is Bob Simon, who turns 100 next week. The article touches on the national reaction his earth-toned community engendered:

The critics were thrilled. On the front page of the New York Times, architecture critic Ada Louise Huxtable called Reston “one of the most striking communities in the country” and said, “Reston has had to shatter precedents to make its plan work.”

One of those precedents was segregation. At the time, Virginia had no fair housing laws and had only recently integrated its schools. Chuck Veatch, one of Simon’s original salesmen and still a Reston resident, said, “Bob came in and announced from the start, ‘We’re open to anyone with green money.’ It was a big deal when that was announced. And it was a very quiet revolution.”

But not all was well at first in Reston, leading to a shocking ouster that has since been immortalized in song:

Home sales started slowly, and in 1967 one of the project’s largest financial backers, the Gulf oil company, forced Simon out because of the town’s financial problems. That same year, another planned community, Columbia, Md., saw its first residents move in.

Of course, they were Satanists who chose to build their planned community around a Christmas-hating shopping mall instead of a lake, but otherwise, yeah, pretty much the same thing. Meanwhile, Reston plugged along without its Dear Leader:

While families continued to move into Reston, not everything worked out as planned. Of the seven village centers that Simon envisioned as creating a sense of community, only Lake Anne resembled that vision of shops, businesses and housing in one place. His hopes for multiple high-rises never materialized, so Lake Anne’s retail shops gradually fell into decline or closed. Elsewhere in the town, more conventional strip malls were built instead of the mixed-use plazas surrounded by neighborhoods that are a key to a walkable community.

Still, Reston steadily grew over the next three decades, reaching 30,000 residents by 1980 and more than 50,000 by 1990.

A more diverse population than had previously been seen in western Fairfax began to emerge, with federally subsidized housing attracting new minority residents. Today, census figures show that 37 percent of Reston’s residents are nonwhite.

Then there was the glorious return:

After Simon was fired from Reston’s development board in 1967, he moved away for a quarter-century, returning for “various ribbon-cuttings and ceremonies,” he said. But in 1993 he moved back, taking an apartment in a high-rise overlooking Lake Anne. He served two terms on the board of the Reston Association of homeowners, then continued to serve on committees and task forces, keeping his hand in the town’s planning process.

“My role is to be a burr in the saddles of decision-makers,” Simon said.

And to his credit, he's done an excellent job of that, particularly pushing for the revitalization of Lake Anne for many years before it finally came to (near) fruition.

The article looks ahead to Metro and all the bollardy changes it's expected to bring, but we've all but exhausted our blockquote ration. We'll end with one more quote from Simon which we find appropriate:

“If you go out in the countryside someplace and build a thousand residential units and have them cheap enough, you’ll probably fill the place up. But that’ s not going to make a community,” he said. “I think having facilities readily available for people of all kinds, from little kids to the elderly — that’s the most important thing of all.”

Here's a video of Simon, plus some sweet B-roll footage of people enjoying midscale chain dining in our beloved ersatz gritty downtown -- which Simon once considered "grandiose" but says he has come to find nearly perfect:


Our BFFs at Reston Now have a list of festivities surrounding Simon's 100th birthday and Reston's 50th anniversary.

State Lawmakers to Honor Simon, Continue to Give His Community's Transportation Needs Short Shrift

Way down in Richmond way, state lawmakers are preparing a joint resolution to honor Reston founder Robert E. Simon on the occasion of his 100th birthday and the 50th anniversary of his groovy earth-toned community:

Simon will turn 100 on April 10, and a legislative joint resolution patroned by state Sen. Janet Howell (D-32nd) – a Reston resident – lauds his service.

“Today, over 60,000 Reston residents enjoy Robert Simon’s vision for a new type of town that offers a high quality of life in a thriving metropolitan center and incorporates beautiful, natural open spaces,” notes the joint resolution.
The resolution salutes Simon’s “visionary leadership and many contributions to the commonwealth.”

That's awesome, but while you're at it, folks, could we maybe also get a few ducats to cover the cost of, you know, stuff?

Flashback Monday: Children of the Cinderblocks

In this v. v. exciting photo from a 1960s magazine article about our favorite earth-toned community, we see Bob Simon (at right) discussing Lake Anne's brutalist statuary with sculptor Gonzalo Fonseca, the creator of many of the concrete monuments to mid-modern art that still adorn the oldest parts of Reston, as unattended, possibly feral children scale said art to heights that today would require four signed waivers, a harness-and-belay system, and helmets for everyone involved, including Simon and Fonseca. Sadly, this piece of statuary, which after extensive photographic analysis we believe was called "The Building," no longer exists. It's no serpent table, but it sure looked like a decent way to while away the time until the invention of cable TV and the Atari 2600, 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.

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.

On the YouTubes: The Action McNews Team Wishes Bob Simon a Happy 98th

Please to be enjoying this exciting video from one of the Action McNews Teams, who shouted at Bob Simon all the way from their fancy studios downtown as part of the coverage of his 98th birthday and Founder's Day. We especially enjoyed Simon's dis of the "huge, mausoleum-type houses" that have been built elsewhere cough cough Loudoun County, though we think the ActionMcNews anchor should be summarily flogged for the use of the hokey phrase "98 years young," eccch, the end.

Happy 98th Birthday, Mr. Simon, and Thank You For Not Building Your New Town in Staten Island

Not too shabby for a 98-year-old, right?

To celebrate his birthday, we learn a few Fun Facts about Mr. Simon and his plastic fantastic New Town, courtesy of The Washington Post "news paper." Chief among them:

Reston could have unfolded on Staten Island, N.Y., instead of some hills way outside Washington, D.C. Simon said he bought an abandoned airport and surrounding land in the heart of Staten Island and began drawing up plans for ”Downtown Staten Island” there, but eventually dropped those and focused on his Virginia project.

Good call.

Simon also had a few choice words about the sale of Carnegie Hall, which as we all know in Reston's ur-creation mythology, helped finance the purchase of land outside a drunken village in the Virginia countryside:

Simon’s family owned Carnegie Hall for 35 years, and Simon himself ran it for 25 years until it fell on hard times in the late 1950s. When no one stepped up to buy it, the threat of the wrecking ball emerged until violinist Isaac Stern led an effort that resulted in New York City’s buying the famed venue in 1960.

I had read somewhere that perhaps he had gotten some bad press around that time, and asked Simon if the papers had misrepresented him. ”No,” he said unhesitatingly, “but Stern did. That son of a bitch.”

Oh, snap! Simon's equally open about the mistakes Reston has made:

He said Reston made “two major mistakes” in the evolution of its Reston Association, which manages the parks and facilities for the unincorporated town. Though his New York consultants had studied homeowners associations, they assessed flat fees per home, rather than based on the value of each home, and they did not require non-residential buildings to pay fees. In addition, he said the Reston Town Center was allowed to divorce itself from the Reston Association when it was being developed, so its residents do not pay the fees. “Good-bye millions of dollars,” Simon said.

He's also pessimistic about the arrival of Metro, and along with more high density housing around the original village centers, he thinks Reston still needs a university, an arts auditorium, and indoor tennis.

Mr. Simon also spoke with the folks at the Post about his unwavering vision for "smart growth":

My idea was that we should have plazas because they build communities. And my successors decided that they would rather have strip centers. And they thought that it was necessary, for it to be successful from a retail perspective, for cars to park in front of stores.

On the impact of Metro:

If there’s not a major bus improvement to get people to the stations, I wonder how much it will do. I don’t think it’s going to revolutionize Reston at all … I hope that what it will lead to is that they will tear down the [strip] village centers and replace them with real village centers with high-rise residential.

On the future of Reston:

We had originally planned for 75,000 residential people. We don’t have quite 60 [thousand] yet. The other thing is when we were planning back in the ’60s, there was no “Silicon Valley East.” We’re now in the center of “Silicon Valley East.” So what I see for the future is a lot more employment and a lot more residential and I see the population going over 100,000. And it should go in the town center and in the village centers.

Happy birthday, Mr. Simon -- and thanks again for giving Staten Island a pass.

Update: Here's a link to Reston Patch's own conversation with Simon.

WIth Backhanded Compliment, Lake Anne Named 'Most Valuable Place'

Northern Virginia Magazine has named Lake Anne Plaza one of its "most valuable places." But there's a bit of a backhanded compliment in their writeup. Can you spot it?

Somehow, it still escapes attention.

Lake Anne Plaza was the first community in Reston, founded in 1964. But despite its decades-long existence, I only heard of the place a few months ago.

That pretty much says it all.

Fortunately, these two never seem to have a problem finding the Plaza. And the one with the decidedly non-DRB-approved regalia will be there tomorrow at noon sharp.

Flashback Monday: A Man With a Plan

Please to be enjoying this picture of a younger, and inexplicably green, Bob Simon working on the master plan of the then even-younger Reston from the nerve center of his one-time manse. It's not clear if he's trying to figure out where to stick the sinews, but the accompanying brochure shares these two convictions about the "Reston Plan":

People should be able to do the things they enjoy, near where they live.

Many Americans want the stability of belonging to one community for a lifetime. They are tired of rootlessness.

Among many other things, we think this -- apparently now open, according to several Confidential Restonian Operatives! -- is a perfect example of point #1. And the validity of point #2 has been confirmed by no less an authority than a fancy newsmagazine. So some five decades later, we're 2-0, thanks to a community that has stuck to those convictions, the end.

Our Top 10 Reston Places, and Some Familiar Faces

Dear Leader recently told one of the fancy printed out "web logs" newspapers serving our community about the ten places in Reston he'd show an out-of-town guest. They include various brutalist pieces of art like Lake Anne's concrete boat and pyramid, examples of mixed-use and cluster development, and appropriately, the Embry Rucker homeless shelter, the Nature House, and RCC's Center Stage -- all unique things about our beloved earth-toned community. He even calls Fountain Square in the Fake Downtown gritty urban core "a perfect example of a plaza." Just don't tell these folks!

We sincerely like Mr. Simon's list. Of course, our own Restonian Top 10 might be just a little different. For the second time in as many weeks, roust Kasey Kasem from his money pile of Scooby Doo residuals, because we're counting them down, and the earth-toned hits don't stop until we get to the top!

10. The Metal Bob statue. Modesty surely kept Mssr. Simon from mentioning what is seriously a nice, human-scaled tribute to the man that built this city.

9. The Great Hole of Reston, better known as the Reston Station construction site. Soon fanciful concrete bollards will watch over the site like the statues of Easter Island, confounding tourists and commuters alike.

8. Maria's Passion Paradise*
(*German and Japanese tour groups only)

7. Terraset Elementary, to see a rational, energy-efficent future that never was. And also to pay homage to the Mole People.

6. McTacoHut, for an immersive fast-food experience that even the Mall of America food court can't beat.

5. RA Headquarters, better known as the Aegean Stables of Filing Cabinetry.

4. The Green Forest Nudist Colony, Reston's original Lost Colony, Colonial Williamsburg, and Moulin Rouge all rolled into one.

3. The Apple Store, Gap, Unos, and all the other unique boutiques that can only be found in our Gritty Urban Core (and the 10,000 other MSAs/DMAs that meet the appropriate demographic and psychographic metrics, as well as ample off-street parking).

2. Tall Oaks Shopping Center, known to retail historians throughout the world as the "graveyard of international food stores."

1. The Macaroni Grill. Was there any doubt on this one? Like Venice, people simply need to see it before it sinks beneath the waves is converted into a mixed-use wonderland, the end.

Flashback Monday: In Mauve Blood

The DeLong Bowman House, the fancy white mansion in the office townhouse complex off Reston Parkway that was one home to liquor tycoons, then Bob Simon, and now a bunch of offices, isn't the oldest house in Reston. Instead, as readers of the most recent issue of Reston: The Magazine know, it was used by Bob and Anne Simon as a part-time home and a place to entertain prospective investors in Reston, before bundling them into a bus to see the muddy sinews and whatnot that would soon become our favorite earth-toned community. But there was something we didn't know about one of the darker chapters in the 1940s-era home's storied history.

When Gulf Oil staged its bloodless coup informed Mr. Simon that a new management team was coming in to run Reston's development in 1967, the Simons vacated the house, leaving only one personal belonging behind -- a copy of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood. The symbolism's admittedly a bit more muddled than this, but it's exactly why we love Bob Simon.