These lovely 3-D renderings, apparently generated by a Commodore 64 somehow coaxed onto the Internet long enough to download a blurry image off Google Maps, show what the area around the Wiehle Avenue Metro station -- that red thing that looks like a stalled semi in the middle of the Toll Road -- might look like somewhere down the road.
Here's a closer view looking south. Note how the ugly, low-slung boxy architecture of Issac Newton Square (at lower right) has been replaced by ugly, slightly taller boxy architecture. Nice! Also, the McTacoHut complex appears to have been replaced by two small rhomboid thingies, hopefully large enough to include an entire food court's worth of modern fast food fry pits.
The red lines in the drawrings above represent components of what could become a more urban street grid, which is probably a good thing. As a service to the master planning process -- and based on our years of studying urban development issues -- we've annotated the rendering below, using what we've learned about "best practices" in redevelopment.
You're welcome.
Flashbacks:
The RNGC Caddyshackpocalypse
Bollards!
Looks like Stalingrad(Volgograd)circa 1956.
ReplyDeleteYou forgot to note the areas for "Section 8, public housing".
ReplyDeleteHudginsgrad, circa 2020
ReplyDeleteOnce they start construction in the area, 10 am, it's going to look like Stalingrad, circa Dec. 1942.
ReplyDeleteBTW, where's all of the gridlock that's going to infest the area once the new teeming masses arrive? Oh, yeah. They conveniently left that part out.
Looks beautiful! Start jackhammering all of these wasteful parking lots now! I can't wait until I can walk to the new station! :-D
ReplyDeleteReston will be Megacity One. Does that make Herndon the Cursed Earth?
ReplyDeleteIt looks like something you'd see in the Bronx, or Newark or Scranton. Or one of those psych experiments to see how many lab rats can be crowded into a cage before they die of stress. Or an award winning design used by slum clearance experts nationwide. That, or somebody's playing Reston Monopoly and has built a lot of hotels.
ReplyDeleteOr maybe all four.
Speaking of fanciful concrete bollards... can we buy some "from the shoulders of Mt. Pinatubo" and lob them at the developers?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.restorationhardware.com/rh/catalog/product/product.jsp?productId=prod90212&navAction=push&navCount=3
Does anyone know what they're setting up to do on FFCty Parkway northbound near Sunset Hills? They were blocking lanes yesterday putting in concrete barriers. I looked on VDOT and couldn't narrow it down to anything...
ReplyDelete@11:48 Section 8 housing is in the woods there next to the new buildings. Look really close, no really, really close. You may be able to see a russet brown pixel out of the corner of your eye. One very russet, very brown pixel.
ReplyDeleteYes. Infest the place with Section 8 and "affordable" housing!!! Whoohoo!!
ReplyDelete@Anon 8:43AM
ReplyDeleteMy guess is they're setting up for metro construction. They're making pretty good progress on the 267 and I'm fairly certain they're West of Weihle now.
anyone up for starting Reston West somewhere out further than Purcellville?
ReplyDeleteBollards ate my baby.
Where are the trees?
ReplyDeleteNow that's sprawl that even Arlington's Ballston-Rosslyn corridor doesn't even have. With the congestion, everybody will be riding bicycles.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that it's brown. Because my first thought was more chain restaurant-anchored shiite.
ReplyDeleteWhy does Falls Church City support places like Dogwood, Clare N'Don's, Stacy's, 4 Ps, and Lazy Sundae, while Reston is filled with places where a distant marketing department has mandated that waiters and waitresses gather every hour and sing happy birthday to one of the customers---while holding sparklers.
Because unfortunately many Restonians are unsophisticated boobs who would rather go to a place with a name they recognize from advertising campaigns and/or "safe" corporate appearances rather than support a local business and help the community.
ReplyDelete