Robert E. Simon's Seven Goals for Reston

Simon Enterprises, headed by Robert E. Simon, Jr. purchased 6,750 acres (additional acreage added later, to 7400 acres) of the historical parcel of Virginia countryside in March 1961 from Lefcourt Realty Corporation. The price of the purchase was $13,150,000 or $2,000 an acre, a long way from the $5.00 an acre paid by Benjamin Thornton 100 years earlier.

Before engaging architects, economists, sociologists and planners, Robert Simon set down seven goals which were to become the blue-print for the building of Reston (a name formed from his initials):

1. That the widest choice of opportunities be made available for the full use of leisure time. This means that the New Town should provide a wide range of recreational and cultural facilities as well as an environment for privacy.

2. That it be possible for anyone to remain in a single neighborhood throughout his life, uprooting being neither inevitable nor always desirable. By providing the fullest range of housing styles and prices-from high rise efficiencies to six-bedroom townhouses and detached houses-housing needs can be met at a variety of income levels, and at different stages of family life. This kind of mixture permits residents to remain rooted in the community-if they so choose-as their particular housing needs change. As a by-product, this also results in the heterogeneity that spells a lively and varied community.

3. That the importance and dignity of each individual be the focal point for all planning, and take precedence over large scale concepts.

4. That people may be able to live and work in the same community.

5. That commercial, cultural and recreational facilities be made available to the residents from the outset of the development-not years later.

6. That beauty-structural and natural-is a necessity of the good life and should be fostered.

7. That Reston be a financial success.