If I didn’t tell you, you might not be able to guess that these photos are from a modern, top-down, tightly managed “town center” development:

This is the Reston Town Center, a later 1980s addition to the 1960s planned community of Reston, Virginia (where I live.) Reston’s original “village” concept—housing of mixed densities adjacent to community buildings and neighborhood shopping centers—still survives, but most of Reston looks and feels pretty typically suburban. Which is not surprising, because it’s a 30-40 minute drive west from D.C., and was considered remote when it was first built in the mid-1960s.

However, despite some protests that Reston is supposed to be leafy and quiet and low-intensity, or that recent development would have its founder spinning in his grave, this sort of thing was there from the very beginning. This is the first “village center” constructed, back in rural Fairfax County, beginning in 1963.

With that out of the way, more on the Town Center. I’ve seen a number of these types of developments. And the Reston Town Center is one of the best, in my opinion. Rockville, Maryland has one, as does nearby North Bethesda; Leesburg, in Virginia, has something similar. Even the outer suburbs have these kinds of developments today (though often without the high-rises.) They’re an interesting combination of real downtowns and outdoor shopping malls.

Some have more of that outdoor-mall or movie-set feel than others. Most are full of parking garages, and don’t exactly feel like real cities. They’re not connected to much of anything, so within a few blocks you simply reach an edge, which more often than not is a highway not hospitable to pedestrians. The commercial spaces are large, favoring chain establishments. Here, a considerable number sit empty. Some people claim the paid parking’s to blame. I’m not sure if an unwillingness to pay a couple of bucks is a cause of reduced commercial life, or an effect.

But with those shortcomings acknowledged, it is very cool to see suburban places that also have the option of something like urban living. Here’s a picture from a strip mall a couple of miles away. The Reston Town Center creates a skyline out in the middle of suburbia!

The Reston Town Center isn’t just stores, restaurants, and offices; it has apartments and condos, as well as very nearby townhouses. They are some of the most expensive homes in Reston. That isn’t because urban living is inherently an “unaffordable,” “elitist” luxury. It is because the market will bear those prices. Which in turn means there is demand for even more of these sorts of homes. Arguing that the most expensive real estate is elitist or unaffordable and should thus not be developed is like arguing that the candidate with the most votes should not win the election.

At Christmastime, the Town Center is lovely. There’s a square with a fountain (currently undergoing a major rebuilding), there are decorations, window displays, ice skating, a huge Christmas tree. While much of the development’s footprint is taken up with large parking garages, the sidewalks are wide, and the streets are relatively narrow. Drivers generally go slowly, and it’s pleasant to walk around. (One day, those parking garages could be replaced with buildings, or perhaps get buildings capping them, depending on real estate trends and the development’s fortunes.)

Here, at a little square flanked by tall residential and office buildings, is a splash park, a performance space, and, on most days, just a little park to wander and sit down.

A couple more shots:

The area’s newest Metro rail station is walkable from here, and will connect this all to public transit as well as some newer adjacent development.

Here’s the satellite view of Reston Town Center and the immediate area:

This is far from ideal land use. But what I see is a lot of opportunity. Little by little, this whole area that was once rural, and then suburban, is becoming something else. Something more.

I felt like I could have been in “Silver Bells” the other day, walking along these streets. Maybe if you can pull that off, you’re on your way to building a city.

Related Reading:

A Little More on Rockville Pike

A Great Everyday Neighborhood

Urbanist Sprawl

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