Reston is an unincorporated planned community and census-designated place located in western Fairfax County, Virginia, in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. As of the 2000 census, the community had a total population of 56,407. Although Reston is not a city, and does not have a traditional central business district, it is home to the world headquarters of two Fortune 500 corporations (Sprint Nextel and Sallie Mae), as well as the United States Geological Survey and the National Wildlife Federation.
History
Reston was conceived as a planned community by Robert E. Simon. Founded on April 17, 1964, Simon's 50th birthday, and named for his initials, it was the first modern planned community, sparking a revival of the new town concept. Simon's plan incorporated higher density housing to conserve open space, as well as mixed use areas for industry, business, recreation, education and housing. The first section of the community to be built, Lake Anne Plaza, emulated a European village on a lake. This careful planning gives Reston large swathes of wooded areas and several streams (called runs in Northern Virginia), wild flower meadows and four lakes. Reston was built in wooded areas of oak, maple, sycamore and Virginia pine.
A strain of Ebola called Ebola Reston was named after the community, after monkeys imported from the Philippines that were in the community were found to have the virus.
Reston is one of just a handful of communities in the U.S. that has been designated a backyard wildlife habitat community. Usually this designation is for a single home.
Notable locations in Reston
Transportation
Reston is a 15-20 minute drive from Dulles International Airport, and has four exits on the Dulles Toll Road, which splits the community along a westnorthwest-to-eastsoutheast axis: Fairfax County Parkway, cutting north-south through the west side of Reston, Reston Parkway through the center of town, Wiehle Avenue arcing through the northeastern residential section of Reston, and Hunter Mill Road on the eastern border. Office space in Reston is primarily located along two roads with confusingly similar names, running east-west on either side of the Toll Road: Sunrise Valley Drive to the south and Sunset Hills Road to the north.
Once Metrorail is extended from West Falls Church to Dulles Airport, Reston will have two stops, near the Wiehle Avenue/Toll Road interchange (phase one) and the Reston Parkway/Toll Road interchange (phase two). Until then, Fairfax County provides several commuter express bus services from free park-and-ride lots to the West Falls Church Metrorail station Monday–Friday, from which commuters can reach most commercial and government buildings in the District of Columbia and Arlington. The Reston Internal Bus System (RIBS) is a set of routes that circulates within the community, operated by Fairfax County's Fairfax Connector bus service.
Geography
Reston is located at 38°57'16" North, 77°20'47" West (38.954577, -77.346357)Template:GR.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the community has a total area of 45.0 km² (17.4 mi²). 44.4 km² (17.1 mi²) of it is land and 0.5 km² (0.2 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 1.21% 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
Reston has one high school within its boundaries, South Lakes High School. On the same lot as the high school is Reston's only junior high school: Langston Hughes Middle School. Reston has a number of elementary schools including:
- Dogwood Elementary School
- Hunters Woods Elementary School for the Arts and Sciences
- Sunrise Valley Elementary School
- Terraset Elementary School
- Forest Edge Elementary School
- Buzz Aldrin Elementary School
- Lake Anne Elementary School
- Neil Armstrong Elementary School
- Edlin (private school and middle school also)
Reston has one satellite campus of NVCC (Northern Virginia Community College, and University of Phoenix - Northern Virginia campus in Reston.
Demographics
As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 56,407 people, 23,320 households, and 14,481 families residing in the community. The population density was 1,269.9/km² (3,288.6/mi²). There were 24,210 housing units at an average density of 545.0/km² (1,411.5/mi²). 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. 10.10% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
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. 4.5% of the population and 3.2% of families were below the poverty line. 6.1% of those under the age of 18 and 7.0% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line. A portion of the housing is set aside for low-income housing.
Population history of Reston
Figures are based on U.S. Census Bureau data.[1]
Proposed town status
As noted above, Reston is unincorporated; it receives "municipal" services either from the county or from the Reston Association. However, 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.
References
- The Washington Post, Sunday April 18, 2004, page C6.
External links
- Reston Association — The official association website.
- A Brief History of Reston.
- Planned Commmunities — from the Special Collections and Archives of George Mason University.