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Reston in Fairfax County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)
 

Robert E. Simon, Jr. / Reston, Virginia

National Planning Pioneer / National Planning Landmark

— American Institute of Certified Planners Designations —

 
 
Robert E. Simon, Jr. / Reston, Virginia Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By J. J. Prats, October 10, 2015
1. Robert E. Simon, Jr. / Reston, Virginia Marker
Inscription.
The American Institute of Certified Planners has designated

Robert E. Simon, Jr. as a National Planning Pioneer. At Reston, Robert E. Simon, Jr. created the nation’s first Planned Community Zone to fulfill his visions of a new town in which people of all ages, races, and incomes could live and stay for their full life cycle. His visions included preservation of the wooded hills and valleys through concentration of development at urban villages and higher density zones. He introduced urban living to the American suburban countryside at Lake Anne Village Center. At Reston, Simon created a welcoming community dedicated to social openness, citizen participation, and the dignity of the individual.

Reston, Virginia as a National Planning Landmark. Robert E. Simon, Jr., working with the firm of Whittlesey and Conklin, developed the plan for Reston to concentrate development in higher-density zones permitting fields and trees to serve as large areas of commonly held ground. The plan for this new town in the country provided for a full range of commercial, recreational and cultural facilities at the outset. Reston breathed new life into the American new towns movement in the early 1960s and became world renowned as one of the finest examples of American 20th century conceptual new town planning.
 
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2002.
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: ArchitectureNotable Places. A significant historical date for this entry is April 10, 1964.
 
Location. 38° 58.134′ N, 77° 20.457′ W. Marker is in Reston, Virginia, in Fairfax County. Marker can be reached from the intersection of North Shore Drive and Village Road, on the left when traveling west. It is on the left wall at the entrance to Lake Anne Village Center's Washington Plaza. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 11404 Washington Plaza W, Reston VA 20190, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Reston (within shouting distance of this marker); Sunset Hills Station (approx. 1.1 miles away); Train Wrecks (approx. 1.1 miles away); Fields of Fire (approx. 1.4 miles away); Budgerigar (approx. 1.4 miles away); Kune Kune Pig (approx. 1˝ miles away); African Pygmy Goat (approx. 1˝ miles away); Soay Sheep (approx. 1˝ miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Reston.
 
Also see . . .
1. Wikipedia entry for Reston, Virginia. “The first section of the community to be built, Lake Anne Plaza, was designed by James Rossant (who studied under Walter Gropius at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design) to emulate the Italian coastal
Robert E. Simon, Jr. / Reston, Virginia Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By J. J. Prats, October 10, 2015
2. Robert E. Simon, Jr. / Reston, Virginia Marker
town of Portofino. Lake Anne village was designed with modern architectural themes that extend to a nearby elementary school, a gasoline station, and two churches. Lake Anne also has an art gallery, several restaurants, the Reston Historic Trust Museum, shops, and a senior citizens' fellowship house. All are local businesses, as there are no chain stores or chain restaurants allowed in Lake Anne. Close by are the cubist townhouses at Hickory Cluster that were designed by the noted modernist architect, Charles M. Goodman, in the international style. Other sections of the town, such as Hunters Woods, South Lakes, and North Point, were developed later, each with a neighborhood shopping center and supermarket.” (Submitted on October 11, 2015.) 

2. History of Reston - Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce. Excerpt: “Bob Simon engaged noted planners and architects to prepare a grand design for the development of his land and a talented environmentalist to plan for the management of open space. He persuaded the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors to pass an ordinance making possible the clustering of housing closely together so that open space with fields and trees could serve as large areas of commonly held land to improve the physical appearance and the environmental quality of the community. Natural streams
The Founder of Reston, Robert E. Simon, Jr. image. Click for full size.
Photographed By J. J. Prats, October 10, 2015
3. The Founder of Reston, Robert E. Simon, Jr.
“Untold Stories,” a bronze portrait by Zachary Oxman. Dedicated by the Reston Historic Trust, April 17, 2004.
were dammed to form lakes, and village centers were designed to provide shopping facilities and other services. Lake Anne Village Center with its tall apartment building, Heron House, and innovative townhouses surrounding the lake like a European coastal village, became an internationally recognized symbol of this growing American New Town.

Providing the services of roads, streets, sewer, water, shopping centers, parklands and recreational facilities, and working with county officials to provide schools, libraries, and other necessities became too great a burden for one man’s bank account. One of his principal investors, Gulf Oil, stepped in to save the project from bankruptcy in 1967. It is to their lasting credit that Gulf Reston officials continued development of the New Town and for more than ten years encouraged a diversity in housing sizes, styles, and prices. The company actively sought businesses and organizations that would establish themselves in Reston and thus provide opportunities for residents to work near the places where they lived.” (Submitted on October 11, 2015.) 
 
A Portion of Washington Plaza at Lane Anne Village Center, Reston, Virginia image. Click for full size.
Photographed By J. J. Prats, October 10, 2015
4. A Portion of Washington Plaza at Lane Anne Village Center, Reston, Virginia
View of Lake Anne from the Plaza image. Click for full size.
Photographed By J. J. Prats, October 10, 2015
5. View of Lake Anne from the Plaza
Waterway at Lake Anne Village, Reston, Virginia image. Click for full size.
Photographed By J. J. Prats, October 10, 2015
6. Waterway at Lake Anne Village, Reston, Virginia
On Lake Anne, Reston, Virginia image. Click for full size.
Photographed By J. J. Prats, October 10, 2015
7. On Lake Anne, Reston, Virginia
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on October 11, 2015, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio. This page has been viewed 890 times since then and 24 times this year. Photos:   1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. submitted on October 11, 2015, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio.

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Mar. 19, 2024