End of an Earth-Toned Decade: What's Changed, What Remains the Same in Reston

The end of the decade is a time for introspection, for looking at the years that have rolled by like so many fanciful concrete bollards and making wistful yet trenchant observations about the passage of time and the commonality of the human--er, Restonian--experience.

Haha, no, it's actually time for lazy "web loggers" to stretch themselves by pulling together not just the usual year-end list of what's in and what's out, but a decade-long list. Excelsior!

Actually, it turns out that 2009 was a pretty big year for our plastic fantastic planned community. The Metro Silver Line was finally approved, though our property values haven't exactly had the decade that bitcoin did. (There's always Phase 2! And HQ 0.5!) The nautical crime of the century occurred! There hadn't been any 500-year floods, but we'd catch up pretty quickly over the decade to come! And we got a shockingly prescient sneak peek of what politics in the ought-teens would wind up looking like!

But long paragraphs of words are, you know, boring. Bring on the Listicle!

2009	2019
Metro Silver Line Phase 1 finally approved, though construction delays would postpone our first ride for another half-decade.	Silver Line Phase 2 faces construction delays, but at least there's a bathroom while we wait
Scolding articles in the media about Restonians' irrational fear of development and being "rich"	Um, same?
Oddly angular art proposed for the Metro station	More oddly angular buildings proposed around the Metro station
Sketchy politicking in local elections	Spending $25 per voter to win a seat on the county board
Trees cut down for stream restoration	Trees cut down for sport development
Proposed high-rise meets community opposition, ultimately prompting compromise reducing height	Same, but this time mockingly described as a "geriatric day-glow rave."
Reston Association considers large indoor rec center, complete with juicery	Reston Association considers large indoor water park, status of juice purveyors not included in costly member survey
Bob Simon attends meetings about Reston master plan	Bob Simon used as justification for short-sighted proposed revisions to master plan which were ultimately tabled
Tall Oaks anchor store sits empty while waiting for third grocery store to open	Um... what Tall Oaks?
Reston Town Center rebranding effort includes fun-filled contest	Reston Town Center crisis management plan includes fun-filled contest with doctored results
The Apple store grand opening draws massive crowds to RTC	Paid parking draws a massive lawsuit and, um, a nail salon? to RTC
T&A and foul language were apparently rampant	Biophilia, ewwwww
Star Wars was a big draw for residential real estate	Caddyshack was a big draw for residential real estate
Childish "web log" jokes about RA violating child labor laws	RA actually caught violating child labor laws
Bob Simon launches what the RA erroneously calls a "blob". Reston: The Magazine announced, with page after page of badmiton class schedules delighting tens of residents	Restonian: The Blob publishes several posts, delighting tens of residents