@historygeek 206485 wrote:
Greenbelt (built by the federal government during the New Deal era) also has pedestrian tunnels to separate foot traffic from automotive traffic. Such a great idea!
While Reston wasn’t built until the 1960’s, in Virginia at the time there were still many legal restrictions aimed at preventing the mixing of blacks and whites. Robert Simon rejected that idea, as well as stratifications based on income, and specifically set out to build a truly integrated community. The mixture of housing styles, incomes, and backgrounds made it a challenging sale except to those who had the vision and desire to see a community develop that was based just on who wanted to live, work, and play there – not on different barriers that would keep them from doing so. Simon sold his interest in Carnegie Hall to start the project and planned 7 village centers connected by paved paths to the communities around them. He prized public art and walkable/bikeable congenial living. Reston is young enough that people who grew up here (and have remained) still ferociously protect the original vision – sometime to the detriment of necessary progress. Interestingly, Reston has never had the wherewithal politically to incorporate as its own town, but instead remains a part of Fairfax County’s larger jurisdiction. So our roads are controlled by VDOT, our sidewalks and some infrastructure is controlled by FCDOT, and our internal paths and underpasses are controlled by Reston Association. It’s a strange way to get things done but anything more efficient might destroy that unique character. One of the favorite stories people tell here is that nowhere else in Fairfax County did the community ASK for a homeless shelter to be located in its midst. Sure enough, we have Embry Rucker shelter right next to the Fairfax County Reston Regional Library. We could probably do all of our “finds” for this game and others within Reston (certainly with public art we could)! It’s a lovely place to live. I’m leading a public art ride on Feb 13 that will show off Reston to its best, would love to see you join us! (No time yet – waiting on weather prognostications).
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