At the McTaco Hut, Make a Run for the DRB

While we're big fans of the stucco-on-Tyvek (or is it Tyvek-on-stucco?) look, we're not sure the members of the DRB will be equally enchanted the next time one of them has a hankering for something from the 79 cent Super Value Menu.

Lake Anne: It's an Ethnic Marketplace! A Restaurant Row! An Ice-Cream Parlor! A Floor Polish!

The consultants have spoken, and their recommendation is to make Lake Anne a theme park like Wally World themed destination area, much like the Fake Downtown. (What is the Fake Downtown's theme, anyway, besides chain retail and dining?)

Does Reston's historic Lake Anne Plaza have a future as an expanded dining destination, an ethnic marketplace or a downtown arts district?

Perhaps. These were three of six concepts presented by consultants from Alvarez & Marshal and The Eisen Group. Also envisioned: a sustainable development center that could be a prototype for other communities and projects; an office cluster for start-ups, who would be drawn by the lower rents than but close proximity to the Dulles Tech Corridor; and a walkable village center with more residences and more businesses to serve them.

The ideas were presented at a public meeting Wednesday at Reston Community Center at Lake Anne.

At the meeting, folks actually addressed the elephant in the room -- vacancy rates exceeding 50 percent in the Plaza. There was also some debate over whether there needs to be a more unified approach to manage retail properties and "coordinate merchants," which we have to say sounds a bit Soviet, even for the brutalist architecture of the Plaza.

(Speaking of which, apparently Lake Anne can apply for National Historic Registry status in the next few years. Who knew? We can't wait for the signs that reveal that as a young surveyor, George Washington slept nearby and wrote up his first DRB violation notice when he spotted a log cabin chinked with off-teal oakum.)

But we digress. One suggestion from the consultants was to form a business improvement district, much like the ones downtown that hire their own staff to chase away the vagrants pick up trash.

Consultants Alvarez & Marsal and The Eisen Group are also asking the community to begin thinking about forming a new entity, such as a business improvement district, that can take ownership of the revitalization efforts and possibly raise additional funds to support a staff that can help manage the center. The consultants will produce a final report in mid-October that will recommend next steps for reaching the community's goals.

So... lots to talk about during those quiet winter months at the Plaza! Meanwhile, our favorite correspondent, the Peasant From Less Sought After South Reston, has contributed a Lake Anne-themed scene to our ongoing pre-write of Reston: The Opera. We're not ashamed to admit that we had tears in our eyes as we sang the last line, out loud, as people sitting nearby nervously edged away.

On the YouTubes: School's In.... Forever

So school opened yesterday, and our BFFs at Reston Patch were there with one of those fancy "video cameras" we keep hearing about. Maybe our own attitude about school is to blame, but we especially enjoyed the bluesy soundtrack, which reinforced the idea that heading off to school is just another example of working for the man, only with naptime and chocolate milk. Oh, wait -- apparently chocolate milk has been banned. What's next -- tetherball?

On the bright side, Fairfax County appears to have outsourced scoliosis screenings, saving the current generation of children the indignity of queuing up to have a school nurse prod vaguely at their backs and mumble something about poor posture, the end.

Reston: The Opera to be a Profound Meditation on 21st Century Existence, or Maybe Just Answer the Question of How to Say "Russet Brown" in Italian

Along with the usual book talks and fancypants musical performances, the Center Stage at the Reston Community Center has apparently decided to do something a little more... let's go with "daring" for its 2010-11 season: an opera "about the one subject that unites us all -- Reston."

Yes, the picture above is really supposed to be what our earth-toned opera will look like. No, we're not sure what they're smoking:

A civic celebration, Reston: The Opera combines a heartfelt toast to our community, with a vaudvillian roast, interviews with local citizens, as well as art created by Reston students specifically for the show. Explore how Reston sees itself, as a whole and within its diverse communities, and discuss the broader issues of shared humanity and the need for self-definition.

And we thought it would just be a bunch of catchy musical numbers about replacement window requirements, with maybe a dancing cat or two to keep things lively. Which goes to show you we're not the kind of avant-garde thinkers needed to contribute to such a profound meditation of the human existence. But that won't stop us from trying!

ACT 1, SCENE 1
(or whatever you call the opening part of an opera, like we would know)
The setting is the foyer/living room area of an earth-toned Reston condo, resplendent with a step-down conversation pit, royal purple shag carpeting, and metallic wallpaper.

Enter FRED, a lumpen Reston proletariat, holding a letter.

FRED (sings): Woe is me, woe is me,
I just got a letter from the DRB.
In that letter, it clearly states,
I must repaint my back-yard gate.

Enter SUSIE, Fred's paramor, through the passthrough from the kitchen, where an avacado-green refrigerator can be seen.

SUSIE (sings): The garden gate?

FRED (repeats, in alto): The garden gate.

SUSIE: We just repainted the garden gate!

FRED: We just repainted the garden gate.
But the DRB is quite irate,
They said we used the wrong shade of paint,
And now we must defenestrate.

SUSIE: Oh, the pain! Oh the chills!

FRED (walking over to comfort Susie): At least we have the Macaroni Grill.

All exunt.

Sorry -- it sounds better in Italian.

Labor Day Weekend: Smell the Excitement

Two Reston residents -- Victor Camcho and Edwin Cisneros -- show the appropriate enthusiasm as summer draws to a close and fall, with all its attendant pleasures such as football season, prepares to arrive. What's shocking is that these two Restonians traveled to Detroit to watch a Lions-Bills preseason game, which goes to show you the ends to which some people will go to watch a team worse than the Redskins.

Closer to home, the South Lakes High School football team now has two female players. Think that's a recipe for disaster? The Seahawks won their first game 37-0.

Discuss your own Labor Day weekend plans, or whatever, in the comments.

Lake Anne Revitalization Reaches New Milestone With Yet Another Consultant's Report

Hey, remember that time that after years of expensive and nicely double-spaced consultant studies and "charettes," whatever those are, Fairfax County decided to put the rubber to the road and revitalize Lake Anne? And now Lake Anne is totally revitalized, ringed by 96-story condominiums whose curb cuts are protected from tire scuffs by fanciful concrete bollards as a floating RA barge sits just offshore, offering mini-golf and casino nights?

Yeah, that was awesome. Well, the recession kind of got in the way, but never fear. Another consultant study is about to be released, and that will totally fix everything.

Fairfax County will have a public workshop next week on strategies to strengthen the viability of businesses at Lake Anne Village Center in Reston. Consultants Alvarez and Marsal Real Estate Advisory Services, LLC and The Eisen Group will present the findings of their study and a series of potential strategies for addressing the problems at Lake Anne. Meeting attendees will be able to ask questions and provide feedback on the consultants' report.

The workshop will be from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Sept. 8 at the Reston Community Center Lake Anne, 1609-A Washington Plaza, Reston.

All joking aside, it's a good thing to see forward progress of any kind, especially since the current business community is doing reasonably well at this point. Let's just hope that needed investment around the plaza doesn't get overlooked in all the excitement about the land grab redevelopment discussions along the Toll Road.

Creeping Socialism Alert! Paris-Like Bike-Sharing Program Could Come to Reston

A fancy bicycle sharing program expected to launch in D.C. and Arlington this fall could expand to Reston if it gets a grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Capital Bikeshare, which will launch this fall with about 1,100 bikes for use on a vaguely Zipcar-like model, is looking at adding another 100 in an undisclosed location in Reston if the grant comes through. Maybe they'll have bikes on both ends of the fabulous Personal Injury Lawyers Road Velodrome, so cyclists can zip back and forth to the delight of the newly dieted motorists!

In any case, if this happens, Reston will be just like the Paris of the Northern hemisphere, only with more earth tones and fewer sidewalk cafes. Fortunately, right-thinking politicians are bravely pointing out the dangers of such schemes, and we, for one, salute them. You can have my privately owned and maintained fixed-gear bike when you pry it from my cold dead fingers, Pierre!

All of this is conjecture at this point, as Capital Bikeshare hasn't even launched in DC yet. But it does give us an excuse to post this video for the 93rd time:

As the Capital Bikeshare site helpfully suggests, "wear a helmet."