Reston is a
census-designated place
A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only.
CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...
in
Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, and a principal city of both
Northern Virginia
Northern Virginia, locally referred to as NOVA or NoVA, comprises several County (United States), counties and independent city (United States), independent cities in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. ...
and the
Washington metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, Reston's population was 63,226.
Founded in 1964, Reston was influenced by the
Garden City movement
The garden city movement was a 20th century urban planning movement promoting satellite communities surrounding the central city and separated with Green belt, greenbelts. These Garden Cities would contain proportionate areas of residences, i ...
that emphasized planned, self-contained communities that intermingled green space, residential neighborhoods, and commercial development. The intent of Reston's founder,
Robert E. Simon, was to build a town that would revolutionize
post–World War II concepts of land use and residential/corporate development in suburban America.
History
Colonial era
In the early days of
Colonial America, the land that is present-day Reston was part of the
Northern Neck Proprietary, a vast grant by
King Charles II to
Lord Thomas Fairfax that extended from the
Potomac to the
Rappahannock rivers. The property remained in the Fairfax family until they sold it in 1852.
["A Brief History of Reston, Virginia," Gulf Reston, January 1970, George Mason Archival Repository Service, retrieved April 2018, http://mars.gmu.edu/handle/1920/1268?show=full ]
19th century
Carl A. Wiehle and William Dunn bought 6,449 acres in northern
Fairfax County along the
Washington and Old Dominion (W&OD) Railroad line in 1886, later dividing the land between them, with Wiehle retaining the acreage north of the railroad line. Wiehle envisioned founding a town on the property, including a hotel, parks, and community center, but completed only a handful of homes before his death in 1901.
Wiehle's heirs eventually sold the land, which changed hands several times before being purchased by the A. Smith Bowman family, who built a
bourbon distillery on the site.
20th century
By 1947, the Bowmans had acquired the former Dunn tract south of the railroad, for total holdings of over . In 1961,
Robert E. Simon used funds from his family's recent sale of
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...
to buy most of the land, except for 60 acres (240,000 m
2) on which the Bowman distillery continued to operate until 1987.
Simon officially launched Reston on April 10, 1964 (his 50th birthday) and named the community using his initials.
/sup> He laid out seven "guiding principles" that would stress quality of life
Quality of life (QOL) is defined by the World Health Organization as "an individual's perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards ...
and serve as the foundation for its future development. His goal was for Restonians to live, work, and play in their own community, with common grounds and scenic beauty shared equally regardless of income level, thereby building a stronger sense of community ties. The initial motto of the community, as articulated by Simon, was "Work, Play, Live" or often was memorialized onto Reston merchandise as, "Live, Work, Play."
Simon envisioned Reston as a model for clustered residential development, also known as conservation development, which puts a premium on the preservation of open space, landscapes, and wildlife habitats. Reston was the first 20th-century private community in the U.S. to explicitly incorporate natural preservation in its planning.
Simon hired the architectural firm of Whittlesey, Conklin, & Rossant to design his new community. The plans for Reston were designed by architect James Rossant, who studied under Walter Gropius
Walter Adolph Georg Gropius (; 18 May 1883 – 5 July 1969) was a German-born American architect and founder of the Bauhaus, Bauhaus School, who is widely regarded as one of the pioneering masters of modernist architecture. He was a founder of ...
at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, and his partner William J. Conklin. From the outset, Rossant and Conklin's planning conceptualized the new community as a unified, cohesive, and balanced whole, including landscapes, recreational, cultural, and commercial facilities, and housing for what was envisioned to be a town of 75,000. For Lake Anne Plaza, the first of Reston's village centers, the architects combined a small shopping area with a mix of single-family houses, townhouses, and apartments next to a manmade lake featuring a large jet fountain. Close by were the cubist townhouses at Hickory Cluster, designed by modernist architect Charles M. Goodman in the International Style
The International Style is a major architectural style and movement that began in western Europe in the 1920s and dominated modern architecture until the 1970s. It is defined by strict adherence to Functionalism (architecture), functional and Fo ...
. Lake Anne also included an elementary school, a gasoline station, two churches, an art gallery, and several restaurants. The first section of a senior citizens' residence facility, the Lake Anne Fellowship House, was completed several years later.
Reston welcomed its first residents in late 1964. During the community's first year, its continued development was covered in such major media publications as ''Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...
'', ''Time
Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'', ''Life
Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...
'', and ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', which featured the new town in a front-page article extolling it as "one of the most striking communities" in the United States. Nikki Hornsby performed an hour-long paid concert, singing with her guitar outside for this new Reston Community.
Simon ran into financial difficulties as sales in the new community flagged. To keep his project going, he accepted a loan of $15 million from Gulf Oil
Gulf Oil was a major global oil company in operation from 1901 to 1985. The eighth-largest American manufacturing company in 1941 and the ninth largest in 1979, Gulf Oil was one of the Seven Sisters (oil companies), Seven Sisters oil companies. ...
that allowed him to pay off his creditors. Even so, sales were sluggish as Simon's reluctance to compromise on his high standards for building designs and materials meant that a townhouse in Reston could cost as much as a single-family house elsewhere in Fairfax County.
By 1967, Gulf Oil forced Simon out and formed Gulf Reston, Inc., to manage the community. Gulf retained many of Simon's employees and continued to adhere largely to the spirit of the original Reston master plan as envisioned by Simon. During the 1970s, Gulf built the Reston International Center near the intersection of Sunrise Valley and Reston Parkway and added low- to moderate-income housing to the community's residential mix, including the Cedar Ridge, Laurel Glade, and Fox Mill apartment developments. Gulf also constructed housing for employees of the U.S. Geological Survey headquarters, located on Sunrise Valley Drive.
Gulf Reston put a premium on protecting Reston's open spaces and pedestrian-friendly landscape throughout its ownership. The corporation also transferred title for many Reston recreational facilities, including land, parks, lakes, and facilities, to the Reston Homeowners Association, thereby preventing development.
Within ten years of buying Simon out, Gulf opted to begin pulling out of the real estate business to focus exclusively on energy. It sold Reston's developed portions, including three completed village centers (Lake Anne, Tall Oaks, and Hunters Woods), the Reston International Center, and Isaac Newton Square, to an investment firm.
In 1978, the company finalized the sale of Reston's remaining 3,700 undeveloped acres to Mobil, which pledged to continue respecting the ideals of Robert Simon. Mobil formed the Reston Land Corporation as a subsidiary to manage its holdings and began developing the remaining residential areas in what would become the South Lakes and North Point villages. Reston Land introduced a wider mix of housing choices, including more townhouses and smaller “starter” homes, and completed the North County Government Center, which houses the Reston District police station, Fairfax County government offices, and a regional library and homeless shelter.
Reston Land also broke ground on the 460-acre Reston Town Center which formed part of Simon's original master plan for Reston. The first four-block development of this multi-phase mixed-use project were opened in 1996 and included a hotel, several restaurants, a cinema, and office buildings.
By 1996, Mobil had decided to follow Gulf Oil's steps and pull out of the land management business. It sold its entire Mobil Land Development subsidiary, including its Reston holdings, to Westbrook Partners, LLC, for $324 million. As Reston Town Center continued to develop, Boston Properties emerged as a leading player. The company became the sole owner of the core mixed-use tracts in Reston Town Center when it completed the purchase of the Fountain Square office/retail complex in 2012.
Ebola virus scare
In December 1989, a filovirus, at first suspected to be Ebola virus (EBOV), was discovered among crab-eating macaques (''Macaca fascicularis'') within a facility operated by Covance (now Fortrea). This attracted significant media attention, including the publication of the popular 1994 book '' The Hot Zone'' and the subsequent development of the National Geographic Channel TV Series '' The Hot Zone (television series)''. The filovirus was found to be distinct from EBOV and to be nonpathogenic for humans. It was named after the community, and is now known as Reston virus (RESTV). Macaques found to be or suspected to be infected with RESTV were euthanized, and the facility was sterilized. The facility was located in an office park near Sunset Hills Road and Wiehle Avenue. It was eventually torn down, and a daycare was built in its place.
Geography
Reston is located in northern Fairfax County at . Neighboring communities are Great Falls to the north, Wolf Trap to the east, Franklin Farm, Floris, and McNair to the southwest, the town of Herndon to the west, and Dranesville to the northwest.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Reston has a total area of , of which is land and , or 2.10%, is water.
Climate
The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification
The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
system, Reston has a humid subtropical climate
A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...
, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.
Planning and zoning
Reston is divided into three separate planning areas: the original Planned Residential Community (PRC) area that governs the majority of residential areas in the community; the Reston Town Center (RTC) District, which includes all of the high-density, high-rise portions of Town Center; and the Transit Station Area (TSA) on either side of the Dulles Toll Road.
From Reston's inception, planning and zoning
In urban planning, zoning is a method in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into land-use "zones", each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for ...
in the PRC area has emphasized the inclusion and integration of common grounds, parks, large swaths of wooded areas with picturesque runs (streams), wildflower meadows, golf courses, public swimming pools, bridle paths, a bike path, four lakes, tennis courts, and extensive foot pathways. Reston was built in wooded areas of oak, maple, sycamore, and Virginia pine, and remains heavily wooded. Extensive canopy guidance protects tree cover throughout the PRC, and homeowners are prohibited from removing trees larger than 4 inches in diameter without written permission from Reston's Design Review Board. Total zoning density throughout the overall PRC area is currently capped at 13 persons per acre. This figure, however, does not include residents in Fairfax County workforce and affordable units (WDUs/ADUs), as well as the "bonus" units developers are allowed to add to their projects in compensation for having included ADUs in their proposals,
Reston's five village centers are included in the PRC area. Simon envisioned a total of seven village centers, but only five were developed. The village centers and the town center are an important part of Reston. Each village center, all of which (save North Point) predate the Reston Town Center, was intended to be a short walk from most homes and incorporate the daily retail and community service needs of residents. Moderately denser developments, such as apartments and townhouse clusters, as well as some single-family homes, encircle each center. The first to be built was the critically acclaimed Lake Anne, followed by (in chronological order) Hunters Woods, Tall Oaks, South Lakes, and North Point. By 2015, however, Tall Oaks had become defunct as a village center and was purchased by a local development firm, Tall Oaks Development Company, with the intent of rezoning the 7.6-acre parcel and converting it to residential housing.
Reston generally follows "new urbanism" guidelines. The residential portion of the town was built with an extensive path system, and Fairfax County has constructed many sidewalks over the past decades. The downtown and original areas also incorporate mixed-use development
Mixed use is a type of urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning classification that blends multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions ...
, with more mixed-use development planned near Washington Metro stations. However, Reston differs from New Urbanism
New Urbanism is an urban design movement that promotes environmentally friendly habits by creating Walkability, walkable neighbourhoods containing a wide range of housing and job types. It arose in the United States in the early 1980s, and has ...
principles in several important ways. Many buildings in the PRC area are oriented away from main streets, and several major arteries lack complete sidewalk networks as a result of Fairfax County's control over Reston's transportation planning: until recently, the Fairfax County zoning code only required developers to build sidewalks in certain limited cases. The original inward orientation of the village centers was an intentional design element by Reston's early planners, who wished to avoid the commercial strip look that dominates many suburban developments.
Reston Town Center District
During Mobil's ownership period, the corporation worked with Fairfax County to create a new Town Center District to govern planning and design for existing and new development in the core Town Center area and to remove it from the oversight of Reston Association's Design Review Board. Review and comment of all RTCD development proposals is limited to members of the RTC District Association, which is overseen by the 9-member Board of Directors, 7 of whom represent commercial property owners.
Transit Station Area
The core portion of the Transit Station Area (TSA), consisting of the 12-lane Dulles Toll Road, Metro's heavy rail line, and the office parks on either side—cuts a half-mile wide swath through the community, with four north–south connections. A fifth crossover at Soapstone Drive has been proposed by Fairfax County transportation planners, though funding has not yet been identified. Zoning and planning for TSA development is governed by Fairfax County; as with the RTC District, no direct oversight from Reston Association is included, while input from and notification to PRC residents is limited. TSA zoning guidance explicitly calls for this area to be designed as an urban center, with 30 million square feet of new and existing office development and 44,000 residential units.
Demographics
2020 census
Economy
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, "professional, scientific, and technical services" are by far the largest economic activity in Reston, consisting of 757 different companies employing 21,575 people in 2007. The Information sector follows second with 9,876 employees working at 150 companies in Reston. Reston is part of the Dulles Technology Corridor and is home to the following companies:
* Bechtel
Bechtel Corporation () is an American engineering, procurement, construction, and project management company founded in San Francisco, California in 1898, and headquartered in Reston, Virginia in the Washington metropolitan area. , the '' E ...
* CACI
* Caliburn International
* Carahsoft
* Comscore
* ICF International
* Leidos
* Maximus
Maximus (Hellenised as Maximos) is the Latin term for "greatest" or "largest". In this connection it may refer to:
* Circus Maximus (disambiguation)
* Pontifex maximus, the highest priest of the College of Pontiffs in ancient Rome
People Roman hi ...
* Rolls-Royce North America
Rolls-Royce North America, Inc. is a subsidiary of multinational corporation Rolls-Royce plc. The American unit operates under a Special Security Arrangement which allows it to work independently on some of the most sensitive United States de ...
* Science Applications International Corporation
* NII
* NVR
* Noblis
* Revature
* Verisign
* Learning Tree International
* United States Geological Survey
The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The agency was founded on Mar ...
* National Wildlife Federation
* American College of Radiology
* CNRI
* Google
Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...
Federal Services
* Gate Group's North American division
* General Dynamics
* Siteworx
* Volkswagen Group of America
Of the 20 largest venture capital firms in the Washington, D.C. area, five are in Reston. The amount of capital under management of the Reston firms, $6.9 billion, represents 53% of those top 20 regional venture capital firms.
Reston also serves as the headquarters for the North American command of the German armed forces which oversees upwards up 1,500 troops deployed in the United States at any given time.
Arts and culture
A special tax district within Fairfax County was created to fund various recreational, educational, and cultural activities in Reston. The Reston Community Center (RCC) is a core element, with its main building in south Reston at Hunters Woods Plaza and featuring a theater, indoor heated swimming pool with jacuzzi, ballroom, meeting rooms, and classroom space. A smaller RCC branch is at Lake Anne Plaza.
Reston is home to several performing arts groups. The Reston Community Players (originally known as Reston Players) has been in operation since 1966 and performs at Reston Community Center's Center Stage in Hunters Woods Plaza. The Reston Chorale was founded in the late 1960s as a mixed-voice chorus comprising both professional and amateur singers. The Reston Community Orchestra, launched in 1988, also offers regular performances throughout the year, generally at the Reston Community Center. In the summer, free public concerts are offered at both Reston Town Center and at Lake Anne Plaza.
The Greater Reston Arts Center (GRACE), founded by local artists, is home-based at Reston Town Center and sponsors the annual Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival. The privately owned Reston Art Gallery at Lake Anne Plaza includes both regular art exhibits and artist studio spaces.
Reston's sole museum, the Reston Historic Trust & Museum, is also located in Lake Anne Plaza. It has maps, photos, and books that provide a detailed look at Reston from the 1960s on.
The Washington West Film Festival is an autumn event in Reston center. The festival, co-founded by Mark Maxey and Brad Russell, offers a juried array of feature films, shorts and documentaries.
Events
* Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival (Reston Town Center) (May)
* Taste of Reston Food Festival (Reston Town Center) (June)
* Reston Triathlon (September)
* Reston Multicultural Festival (Lake Anne Plaza) (late September)
* Flavors of Fall (Reston Town Center) (October)
* Reston Holiday Parade (Reston Town Center) (November)
Libraries
Fairfax County Public Library operates the Reston Regional Library. Also located in Reston is the United States Geological Survey Library, a federal research library that is open to the public with over 3 million items, ranging from books and journals to maps and photographs, as well as field record notebooks.
Historic sites
In 2017, the Lake Anne Village Center's historic district was named to the U.S. Park Service's National Register of Historic Places, which serves as the official list of historic places worthy of preservation and protection.
Parks and recreation
Building on Robert Simon's emphasis on preserving green space and providing recreational opportunities, Reston features over 55 miles of walking and hiking paths for residents, with currently about 250 acres of woodlands and open space. Reston is noted for its tree canopy, which currently covers about half of Reston's total area. It is one of only eight localities in the U.S. to be a member of the worldwide Biophilic Cities Organization, which promotes the importance of protecting and promoting nature within urban areas.
The centerpiece of Reston's focus on nature is the Vernon J. Walker Nature Education Center. The Nature Center's of hardwood forest include a picnic pavilion, campfire ring, and other facilities that support its outreach programs. Its LEED gold-certified Nature House offers exhibits, an on-site naturalist, and various programs for children; it may also be rented for community or private meetings.
Two golf courses are located in Reston. The 166-acre Reston National Golf Course in south Reston is certified by Audubon International as a Cooperative Sanctuary on the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The Hidden Creek Country Club was purchased in 2017 by Wheelock Communities, a real estate development company.
The Washington and Old Dominion (W&OD) trail, which runs through Reston, is a pathway built solely for pedestrian and bicycle traffic along the former W&OD train line.
Reston contains four manmade lakes: Lake Anne, Lake Audubon, Lake Newport, and Lake Thoreau. Also within Reston's area is the Lake Fairfax Park, operated by Fairfax County and which features boat rentals, a large outdoor pool complex called "The Water Mine", overnight campground facilities, and picnic areas.
A 30-acre (120,000 m2) zoo, NOVA Wild, is located on the northeast edge of the community. It is dedicated to family-friendly animal interaction with bus rides and feeding stations. Animals include lambs, camels, zebras, antelope
The term antelope refers to numerous extant or recently extinct species of the ruminant artiodactyl family Bovidae that are indigenous to most of Africa, India, the Middle East, Central Asia, and a small area of Eastern Europe. Antelopes do ...
, bison
A bison (: bison) is a large bovine in the genus ''Bison'' (from Greek, meaning 'wild ox') within the tribe Bovini. Two extant taxon, extant and numerous extinction, extinct species are recognised.
Of the two surviving species, the American ...
, cheetah
The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large Felidae, cat and the Fastest animals, fastest land animal. It has a tawny to creamy white or pale buff fur that is marked with evenly spaced, solid black spots. The head is small and rounded, wit ...
, emu
The emu (; ''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is a species of flightless bird endemism, endemic to Australia, where it is the Tallest extant birds, tallest native bird. It is the only extant taxon, extant member of the genus ''Dromaius'' and the ...
, camel
A camel (from and () from Ancient Semitic: ''gāmāl'') is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. Camels have long been domesticated and, as livestock, they provid ...
s, goats, reptile
Reptiles, as commonly defined, are a group of tetrapods with an ectothermic metabolism and Amniotic egg, amniotic development. Living traditional reptiles comprise four Order (biology), orders: Testudines, Crocodilia, Squamata, and Rhynchocepha ...
s, horses, buffalo, and waterfowl.
Reston has an assortment of pools, including a year-round indoor pool at the Reston Community Center. Ice skating is available year-round at SkateQuest, a privately run indoor rink, and during the winter on an outdoor rink at Reston Town Center's Pavilion.
Government
Reston is an unincorporated area in Fairfax County, and its schools, roads, and law enforcement services are provided by Fairfax County.
Parks, recreation facilities, and common grounds, as well as the extensive trail system, are overseen by the Reston Association under the provisions of the Reston Deed, the community's basic governing document. A standard assessment is levied on each apartment or lot (for townhouses and houses). The Deed also allows for reduced assessments for those who "qualify for real estate tax reduction by Fairfax County Ordinance; (ii) their units are subsidized by the federal or state government; or (iii) their units are designed and used primarily for elderly congregate care or assisted living facilities and occupied by low or moderate income residents."
Reston's individual clusters or neighborhoods have their own neighborhood associations which also levy assessments to cover grounds upkeep, snow removal, trash pick-up, and other maintenance. Each cluster has its own elected board of directors who report to the residents of that cluster.
The majority of Reston lies within Virginia's 11th congressional district and is currently represented in Congress by Representative Gerry Connolly (D). It is represented by Karen Keys-Gamarra (D) in the Virginia House of Delegates
The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two houses of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...
, and by Jennifer Boysko (D) in the State Senate
In the United States, the state legislature is the legislative branch in each of the 50 U.S. states.
A legislature generally performs state duties for a state in the same way that the United States Congress performs national duties at ...
.
While Reston has, from its inception, been an unincorporated area, several efforts have been made to achieve town status, primarily to gain more control over zoning and development decisions, which now are the purview of Fairfax County elected officials and staff. Robert Simon initially explored the option of incorporation as a town but was blocked by Fairfax County. Simon asserted to an interviewer that Fairfax officials informed him they would deny Reston access to Fairfax's water and sewer lines if he sought incorporation for his new community. In 1980, a group of Reston residents were successful in pushing for a referendum to incorporate Reston as a town, but the referendum failed in 1980 by a 2–1 margin. A similar initiative in 2005, which was publicly supported by Robert Simon, also failed.
Education
Primary and secondary schools
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 most of Reston. Adjacent to South Lakes High School is Reston's only middle school, Langston Hughes Middle School. Students who live in the far northern part of Reston attend Herndon High School.
Public elementary schools
* Buzz Aldrin Elementary School
* Neil Armstrong Elementary School
* A. Scott Crossfield Elementary School
* Dogwood Elementary School
* Forest Edge Elementary School
* Fox Mill Elementary School
* Hunters Woods Elementary School for the Arts and Sciences
* Lake Anne Elementary School
* Sunrise Valley Elementary School
* Terraset Elementary School
Private schools
* Children's House Montessori School of Reston
* Community Montessori School
* Reston Montessori School
* Academy of Christian Education (elementary)
* Edlin (elementary and middle school)
* United Christian Parish Preschool
* Lake Anne Nursery and Kindergarten (LANK)
* Ideaventions Academy for Math and Science (4th - 12th)
* Reston Children's Center (RCC)
Colleges and universities
Reston has several higher education resources, including a satellite campus of NVCC (Northern Virginia Community College
Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC and, informally, NOVA) is a public community college with six campuses and four centers in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C. It is the third-largest multi-campus community college in t ...
), the University of Phoenix
University of Phoenix (UoPX) is a Private university, private For-profit higher education in the United States, for-profit university headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 1976, the university confers certificates and degrees at the Ac ...
– Northern Virginia campus, and Marymount University – Reston Center.
Media
Reston is served primarily by the Washington, D.C. media market. The community lies within the local newspaper distribution area for ''The Washington Post'' and ''The Washington Times'', as well as two local publications, the ''Fairfax Times'' and the ''Reston Connection''. All four also offer digital subscriptions. A third local paper, the "Observer," which covered Reston and nearby Herndon, closed in 2010 and transferred coverage to AOL's Patch service of local digital news sites, which launched a Reston site in August 2010. Website ''Reston Now'' provides daily local news coverage. In addition, multiple television and radio stations in the Washington metropolitan area provide coverage of local developments.
Infrastructure
Transportation
Reston sits astride the Dulles Toll Road, from Tysons and the Capital Beltway to the east, and from Washington Dulles International Airport to the west. Four roads cross the community from north to south: Fairfax County Parkway on the western side, Reston Parkway through the center of town, Wiehle Avenue through the northeastern residential section, and Hunter Mill Road on the eastern border.
The Metro's Silver Line, which runs along the Dulles Toll Road, opened its first Reston station, Wiehle-Reston East, on July 26, 2014. Two additional stations, Reston Town Center and Herndon, opened on November 15, 2022 and serve the western half of Reston as part of an expansion towards Dulles International Airport.
The Reston Internal Bus System provides five regularly circulating routes connecting Reston's village centers, using Reston Town Center as a hub. Fairfax County's Fairfax Connector and Metrobus service both link commuters in Reston to Metro stations as well as points throughout Fairfax County.
Notable people
See also
* Reston Station
Notes
References
External links
Reston Association
– The official association website
Reston Planned Community Archives
– online images and articles from the Special Collections and Archives of George Mason University
George Mason University (GMU) is a Public university, public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Located in Northern Virginia near Washington, D.C., the university is named in honor of George Mason, a Founding Father ...
Wolf Von Eckardt, ''The Row House Revival is Going to Town–Not to Mention Country''; Washington Post; July 24, 1966
{{authority control
1964 establishments in Virginia
Census-designated places in Fairfax County, Virginia
Washington metropolitan area
Census-designated places in Virginia
Planned communities in the United States
Populated places established in 1964