Reston, Virginia

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Because it is a planned community, Reston has many walking trails throughout. Bicycles are also permitted on the trails. Motor vehicles, except maintenance and police vehicles, are prohibited from using the walking trails. [cite web|url=http://www.reston.org/parks_rec/p_pathways.html|publisher=Reston Association|accessdate=2007-10-12|title=Pathways]

Geography

Reston is located at coor dms|38|57|16|N|77|20|47|W|city (38.954577, -77.346357).GR|1

According to the United States Census Bureau, the community has a total area of 17.4 square miles (45.0 km²), of which, 17.1 square miles (44.4 km²) of it is land and 0.2 square miles (0.5 km²) of it (1.21%) is water. Reston contains four artificial lakes: Lake Anne, Lake Audubon, Lake Newport, and Lake Thoreau. Another artificial lake, Lake Fairfax, is only partially on Reston property, but is technically Fairfax County park land.

Education

As a part of Fairfax County, Reston is served by Fairfax County Public Schools and a number of private schools. Reston has one high school within its boundaries, South Lakes High School, which serves the southern part of Reston. On the same lot as the high school is Reston's only junior high school, Langston Hughes Middle School. Students who live in the northern part of Reston attend Herndon High School. Reston has a number of elementary schools including:

* Buzz Aldrin Elementary School
* Neil Armstrong Elementary School
* A. Scott Crossfield Elementary School
* Dogwood Elementary School
* Forest Edge Elementary School for Communication & Technology
* Fox Mill Elementary School
* Hunters Woods Elementary School for the Arts and Sciences
* Lake Anne Elementary School
* Sunrise Valley Elementary School
* Terraset Elementary School

There are several private schools located in Reston, including:

* Academy of Christian Education (elementary)
* Edlin (elementary and middle school)
* Reston Montessori School
* United Christian Parish Preschool
* Lake Anne Nursery and Kindergarten)

Reston has a satellite campus of NVCC (Northern Virginia Community College), University of Phoenix - Northern Virginia campus, and Marymount University - Reston Center.

Demographics

USCensusPop
1970=5722
1980=36407
1990=48556
2000=56407As of the censusGR|2 of 2000, there were 56,407 people, 23,320 households, and 14,481 families residing in the community. The population density was 3,288.6 people per square mile (1,269.9/km²). There were 24,210 housing units at an average density of 1,411.5/sq mi (545.0/km²). The racial makeup of the community was 73.62% White, 9.12% African American, 0.25% Native American, 9.62% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 4.12% from other races, and 3.23% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 10.10% of the population.cite web|url=http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/SAFFFacts?_event=&geo_id=16000US5166672&_geoContext=01000US%7C04000US51%7C16000US5166672&_street=&_county=Reston%2C+VA&_cityTown=Reston%2C+VA&_state=&_zip=&_lang=en&_sse=on&ActiveGeoDiv=&_useEV=&pctxt=fph&pgsl=160&_submenuId=factsheet_1&ds_name=null&_ci_nbr=null&qr_name=null&reg=null%3Anull&_keyword=&_industry=&show_2003_tab=&redirect=Y|title=Reston CDP, Virginia|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|accessdate=2007-10-12]

Reston was Virginia's best educated city, proportionately, with 66.7% of adult residents (25 and older) holding an associate degree or higher, and 62.8% of adults possessing a baccalaureate degree or higher. [cite magazine|url=http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2006/snapshots/PL5166672.html|publisher=Money Magazine|accessdate=2007-10-12|title=Reston, VA]

There were 23,320 households out of which 29.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.2% were married couples living together, 8.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.9% were non-families. 29.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 2.99.

The population is spread out with 22.5% under the age of 18, 6.9% from 18 to 24, 36.3% from 25 to 44, 27.0% from 45 to 64, and 7.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 95.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.1 males.

The median income for a household in the community was $80,018, and the median income for a family was $94,061. Males had a median income of $70,192 versus $45,885 for females. The per capita income for the community was $42,747. About 3.2% of families and 4.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.1% of those under age 18 and 7.0% of those age 65 or over. A portion of the housing is set aside for Section 8 low-income housing. [cite web|url=http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/rha/rentalhousingprograms/fcrp.htm|publisher=Fairfax County Government|accessdate=2007-10-12|title=Fairfax County Rental Program (FCRP)] Subsidized senior citizen housing is also available.Fact|date=July 2007

The home ownership rate (owner-occupied housing units to total units) was 66.7%.

Governance

As noted above, Reston is unincorporated; it receives "municipal" services either from the county or from the Reston Association, which operates recreational facilities across the town and maintains pathways and other common grounds. [cite web|url=http://www.reston.org/Reston_Resident_FAQ/images/PDF/FAQ_General.pdf|publisher=Reston Association|format=PDF|accessdate=2007-10-12|title=General Information: A Quick Reference]

It has been proposed to incorporate Reston as a municipality. A referendum to incorporate Reston failed in 1980 by a 2-1 margin; however, the proposal was resurrected in 2005 by the Reston Citizens Association. [cite web|url=http://mars.gmu.edu/dspace/bitstream/1920/1867/1/534_02_01a.pdf|title=THE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF THE INCORPORATION OF RESTON AS A TOWN|publisher=Reston Community Association|accessdate=2007-10-12|date=1978-09-01]

The covenants at Reston specify that the assessments paid to the association are to be in proportion to the assessed value of the property as determined by Fairfax County. "The Voluntary City" notes that this may have been an attempt to imitate local governments. However, it argues that it would have been better to assess all property owners the same amount for three reasons. First, the public goods that residents enjoy are not likely to be dependent on the value of the property they occupy. Second, the tax structure is factored into the price of the property; thus, an inexpensive home saddled with higher assessments would become even more inexpensive, because its value would be diminished by the tying of these payments to the property. Third, payments based on assessed value dampen the incentive to improve the value of the property. [cite book|title=The Voluntary City|chapter=Contractual Governments in Theory and Practice|pages=298|authors=Boudreaux, Donald J. and Holcombe, Randall G.|publisher=The Independent Institute|isbn=0-472-08837-8]

Reston has a federal system of government in which cluster associations form around neighborhoods. These cluster associations are responsible for maintaining common areas and have the power to tax their residents to do so. Many of these clusters have their own websites. [http://www.reston.org/community/com_index.html]

Local media

Reston is served by the Washington, D.C. market, and has three local newspapers: the "Reston Observer", the "Reston Times", and the "Reston Connection".

Gallery

References

External links

* [http://www.restoncommunitycenter.com/ Reston Community Center] — The tax district which supports the activities of the Reston Community Center.
* [http://www.reston.org/ Reston Association] — The official association website.
* [http://www.restonmuseum.org/retrospective.html A Brief History of Reston] — The official website of the Reston Historic Trust and its museum.
* [http://www.restonmuseum.org/images/masterplan/restonbooklet.pdf 1962 Master Plan] - Robert Simon's copy of the original Master Plan, at the Reston Museum's web site.
* [http://www.gmu.edu/library/specialcollections/plancomm.html Planned Communities] — from the Special Collections and Archives of George Mason University.
* [http://www.aladin.wrlc.org/dl/collection/hdr?pcar Reston Planned Community Archives] - online images from the Special Collections and Archives of George Mason University.
* [http://www.jamesrossant.com/reston.html Reston] on JamesRossant.com
* [http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/ci/?id=101938 Reston Buildings] Details many of Reston's highrises.
* [http://www.maj.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=139 1981 poster with aerial view of Reston] at maj.com
* [http://www.beyonddc.com/profiles/reston.shtml Beyond DC Reston gallery]
* [http://www.restoncommunityorchestra.org/"Reston Community Orchestra"]
* [http://www.fcps.edu/HuntersWoodsES/ Hunters Woods Elementary School for the Arts and Sciences]
* [http://www.fcps.edu/LakeAnneES/ Lake Anne Elementary School]
* [http://www.fcps.edu/TerrasetES/ Terraset Elementary School]
* [http://www.restonmontessori.com/ Reston Montessori School]
* [http://www.unitedchristianparish.org/preschool/default.htm United Christian Parish Preschool]
* [http://www.lankschool.com/ Lake Anne Nursery and Kindergarten]
* [http://restoncitizensassociation.org Reston Citizens Association]
* [http://mars.gmu.edu/dspace/bitstream/1920/1273/1/457_01_05.pdf Wolf Von Eckardt, "The Row House Revival is Going to Town–Not to Mention Country"; Washington Post; July 24, 1966]