Reston, Virginia
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Reston is an unincorporated planned city 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.
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.
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History
Reston was conceived as a planned city by Robert E. Simon. Founded on April 17th 1964, Simon's 50th birthday, and named for his initials, it embodied the use of higher density housing to conserve open space, mixed use areas for industry, business, recreation, education and housing. The first section of the community, Lake Anne Plaza 1964, 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), but no meadows, because Reston was built in wooded areas of oak, maple, sycamore and Virginia pine.
Notable Locations in Reston
- United States Geological Survey
- National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
- Reston Town Center
- W&OD runs through Reston
- Young Men's Christian Association
Transportation
Reston is a 15-minute drive from Dulles International Airport, and has three 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, and Wiehle Avenue arcing through the northeastern residential section of Reston. 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.
When Metrorail is extended from West Falls Church to Dulles Airport, Reston will have two stops, near the Wiehle Avenue/Toll Road interchange and the Reston Parkway/Toll Road interchange. 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, that being 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
- Sunrise Valley Elementary School
- Terraset Elementary School
- Forest Edge Elementary School
- Buzz Aldrin Elementary School
- Lake Anne Elementary School
- Neil Armstrong Elementary School
Reston does not host any colleges or universities, although there is a University of Phoenix - Northern Virginia campus in Reston.
Demographics
As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there are 56,407 people, 23,320 households, and 14,481 families residing in the community. The population density is 1,269.9/km² (3,288.6/mi²). There are 24,210 housing units at an average density of 545.0/km² (1,411.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the community is 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 are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 23,320 households out of which 29.6% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.2% are married couples living together, 8.9% have a female householder with no husband present, and 37.9% are non-families. 29.3% of all households are made up of individuals and 5.2% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.40 and the average family size is 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 are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 36 years. For every 100 females there are 95.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 93.1 males.
The median income for a household in the community is $80,018, and the median income for a family is $94,061. Males have a median income of $70,192 versus $45,885 for females. The per capita income for the community is $42,747. 4.5% of the population and 3.2% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 6.1% of those under the age of 18 and 7.0% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line. A portion of the housing is set aside for low-income housing.
External links
- Reston Association (http://www.reston.org/) — The official association website.
- A Brief History of Reston (http://www.restonmuseum.org/retrospective.html).
Reference
The Washington Post, Sunday April 18, 2004, page C6.