Reston which county

To the northwest of the mall, but still within the city limits, lies the upscale residential and commercial enclave of Georgetown, home to Georgetown University, George Washington Hospital, and a variety of entertainment and nightlife amenities.

But not all of the D. Read More about Reston. For most prospective residents, the real story of the D. Just south across the Potomac in Virginia lies Fairfax County, a built-up area including the satellite city of Arlington and the larger suburbs of Alexandria, McLean, and the more upscale Fairfax. This is hardly the whole Northern Virginia story — the sprawling D.

The super-suburbs especially west include such names Reston, Herndon, Ashburn and extend to Leesburg, all very large and mostly new residential suburbs, some well-planned and some not. Extensive commercial and corporate developments lie along the corridor with new-economy names like AOL, Nextel, Siebel, Oracle, IBM and Accenture mixed with numerous other businesses and government contractors.

Employment in the greater DC area is strong in general and particularly strong in this zone. Many do commute to the DC area proper but more often commute to other places in the suburbs. Areas east of the city are more industrial and generally uninspiring, while the Maryland suburbs along I northwest through Bethesda, Silver Spring, Rockville, and Gaithersburg have been split off into another metro area.

The dominance of the U. Government and its impact on the local economy and culture cannot be overstated. Not surprisingly, the area has a high percentage of well-educated citizens. But a significant number of educationally and economically disadvantaged people are also within its borders. Arts, entertainment and cultural assets in total are among the best. The Cost of Living Index is high but not exorbitant for this type of area.

Housing options and costs have escalated in recent years, but there are signs of softening. Growth and sprawl is a major concern, with development and business activity flung farther out into the countryside and even across venerated Civil War historic sites. Public transportation works well as far out as Dulles Airport and northwest into Maryland, but whether it relieves traffic issues further out is yet unclear. Bottom line - Washington, D.

It does have downsides, and they are becoming strong enough even in the suburbs to negatively impact the ranking. The D. Washington lies at the western edge of the mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain, about 50 miles east of the Blue Ridge Mountains and 35 miles west of Chesapeake Bay.

The immediate area is flat with rolling hills starting just outside the city to the northwest and southwest. The climate is coastal continental with a subtropical influence. Summers are warm and humid with occasional hot, sticky spells and thunderstorms. Winters are cold but not severe. By , Simon, with planning and architectural expertise from the New York firm of Conklin and Rossant, had published the master plan for his new prototype community of Reston.

This series of maps, from the original master plan, showcases both the boundaries of his acquisition and the ambition of his vision. Note that in the first image Simon includes the proposed "Outer Loop" of the Washington Beltway, which has never been built.

The town schematics themselves show Simon's interest in mixed-use planning in the interest of, in his words, "a full life centered around neighborhood living, working, educational and recreational opportunities. With his purchase of the land in Fairfax, Simon was, for the first time, in a position to do something about his frustrations with the suburbs and desire for community living.

He started by drawing up a wish list of what he wanted his dream community to be and to have. His jottings included pathways separated from roadways a Radburn inspiration , swimming pools in every neighborhood, outdoor courts for tennis as well as volleyball and badminton, childcare, a community center, and garden plots.

He also wanted everything to be in place when the first residents arrived. To develop ideas for his list, Simon toured cities, old and new, in England, Scandinavia, and elsewhere in Europe. Meanwhile, just as Simon was putting together his dream community, suburban sprawl was becoming an increasingly common phenomenon.

Uninspired instant subdivisions were spreading to every metropolitan region of the country. As the baby boom saw births per woman rise to an all-time high of 3. The majority of housing opportunities available in these new communities, however, had no employment base few cultural adornments, and little heterogeneity, as they were often exclusively white.

In another visionary stroke, Simon decreed that Reston would be open to everyone regardless of race—years before the amendments to the Civil Rights Act that banned discrimination in housing. His position, he said, shut many doors to potential financing. With planning and architectural expertise from the New York firm of Conklin and Rossant—one of whose founders, Julian Whittlesey, was a junior planner involved in the Radburn project—Simon began the staggering task of making his Seven Goals a reality.

The crucible was the first of five future villages, Lake Anne. There Simon and his planning team built the first townhouses in the suburbs, artfully clustering them on the gently rolling land. With its first phase of town houses and Lake Anne Village Center finished, Reston attracted national media attention. The first family to settle there—a Central Intelligence Agency officer, his wife, and their children—moved into a lakeside townhouse in the autumn of About the same time, the first company, Air Survey Corporation, arrived.

Between and , Reston was featured in more than thirty American magazines, including Life , Time , Newsweek , and even Esquire , as well as on three major television networks.

But most home buyers, having been raised during the depression, wanted value that was calculated according to more simple principles, such as cost per square foot. By the autumn of , Simon was forced out by his major lender, Gulf Oil. In a steady stream of full-page ads in newspapers and magazines, Mobil began selling Reston as a better place to live. The campaign produced results. Reston attracted scores of businesses as well as new home builders who focused on creating more aesthetically pleasing designs and better amenities, including big kitchens and opulent bathrooms.

Proposal submittals from pre-qualified development teams were due October 24, After a technical and financial review, no development proposals were accepted by the county. View Concept Sketch. Redevelopment Process. View Blocks Map. Related Resources Interactive Maps. Translate Awards Site Feedback. Site Tools Site Tools. Support Support.