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Vramin on September 21, 2018 at 5:30 pm
That's an absurd way to characterize the way Reston was planned. The high-character areas that exist in Reston (like Lake Anne) were made by putting onerous restrictions and requirements on developers. Developers have free reign in Herndon and Sterling right now and they're not producing a lot of character.

You are conflating three issues. 

1. Developers will not have "free reign" under the new plan. They will be allowed to build taller and denser developments in some areas than others, but that's hardly a Houston-style free-for-all.  

2. You bet your caboose that Bob Simon had a passel of lawyers and lobbyists, and he definitely made a profit on Reston. However, my tone was sarcastic. Unlike some commentators here, I don't think it's actually evil for developers to make a profit. We need people to build our cities, and the private sector does a good job with that. The fact is, outside of housing projects and military bases, everyone in this country is probably living in a building that was built by a developer. That's neither good nor bad.

3. You're confusing "community character" and "architectural character". @John Heithaus seemed to be bemoaning the fact that Reston would change it's "character" because there would be some dense pockets. You're talking about whether you think the buildings in Herndon and Sterling have "character". The problem with that is a) no one ever thinks that new construction has character (cityobservatory.org/the-immaculate-co...). b) the lack of "character" is going to be a problem whether they're putting up dense apartment blocks or sprawly McMansions, it's got nothing to do with the zoning issue. Unless, again, you want to completely freeze construction so no one can move in to Reston. In which case, we go back to my original point: You can't stay still. Either accommodate growth, or become an expensive museum.

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