RECREATION IN RESTON AND DC

Reston, VA has long been admired for the way its visionary planner Robert E. Simon dedicated nearly 12% of Reston, his most famous project, to park land.   He went on to link these parks to the community with more than 55 miles of trails, hopping from one condominium project to subdivision to apartment complex to the downtown-ish Reston Town Center with winding pathways that plunge deep into the hardwood forests found in this part of the country.  

The effect is stunning, and the town provides perhaps the best access to nature--the thing I'm seeking most on this adventure--of any town in America.    People can walk from their homes to just about any point in the town by paved trail, most of which is located safely away from cars.  In fact, it's startling to return to the noise and pollution of cars after wandering through the woods from park to park. 

I wish I could say that I found my dream home there but I can't.  It's very expensive and the 70s-era housing stock, referred to one Reston blogger as "the particleboard jungle," can be pretty substandard, with the low ceilings, tiny bedrooms and peculiar room layouts of that low point in architecture.  

I also discovered that these trails are designed more for walkers than cyclists, which leaves the bicycle superhighway known as the W&OD trail developed as an almost arrow-straight trail much favored by the speedy spandex set.  

But I'm not entirely giving up on Reston.  The town is in the grip of the same baffling seller's market I'm seeing in many of the other towns I'm looking at, with multiple offers sometimes yielding sale prices 10% above ask.

But let's take a look at the trails.  Here are some photos that capture the tranquil nature of the town.

More schools should be named after

 black poets.

DC is close and I have many friends there, so I reached out to an agent who helped me with earlier real estate deals.   We got together for a tour of the lower end of DC condos (up to $400k) and also struck out for the time being.  But I had a great time returning to some of my favorite places and meeting up with old friends.  I'm certain I will make another try, but a friend says that if Biden wins, prices will likely go up even higher as government workers who left during the Trump administration will come back to their old jobs.

A night out at the irreplaceable Lauriol Plaza

with great friend Elliott Blumenstein 

and his husband Diego Carrillo.

The C&O canal and the Capital Crescent 

Trail travel side by side along the Potomac for a bit, 

near Fletcher's Boathouse.   These were my favorite trails while I lived in DC.  The C&O canal, once an important shipping route, extends well into Maryland and West Virginia and beyond.  The unpaved cycle path was once the towpath for the horses that led the barges up and down the canal.    The Capital Crescent Trail is a terrific rail-to-trail that leads from Georgetown up to Bethesda, then over to Silver Spring, where it connects with the famous Rock Creek Parkway for a gorgeous, mostly downhill run back to the city.  The parkway is free of motor vehicles on weekends, and nowadays is closed entirely to cars due to the pandemic.  Rock Creek Park was designed by Frederick Law Olmstead and is an immense greenbelt that starts near Georgetown and extends north well up into Maryland.  It's by far the best playground in DC. 

Looking uphill from Fletcher's Boathouse.

Meanwhile here is a video of a man riding a 

hydrofoil, a kind of powered surfboard that rises up from the water by 

what, a foot or more, and is driven by what sounds like an

egg beater.  Apparently you can buy these on Amazon.  I'll stick to my bike.