Have you been to Reston, Virginia lately?

Reston Town Center alone should be enough to give you an idea about the kind of classy in-place city this once-upon-a-time sleepy little town bloomed into within the last ten years.

With enough upper scale shops, restaurants, an ice rink that transforms into a band stand and open air dancing stage in summers, a grand old circular water fountain as ornate and beautiful as any you'd see around the country, the Reston Town Center continues to attract both local shoppers and visitors like a magnet. The Multiplex movie theater never fails to attract its own share of strollers as well.

But the real story welcomes you before you even get to the town center itself.

Right next to the Dulles International Airport and fed by the 8-lane Dulles Toll Road (Route 267), Reston sits at the hub of countless big-name high-tech corporations ranging from Oracle and Honeywell to Siemens and Nissan. This is where the best and the brightest in the Northern Virginia hi-tech corridor are employed. If you are a techie on the go or a daring entrepreneur you'll find plenty opportunities in and around Reston to quench your ambitions.

The only downside to Reston is perhaps the ever critical housing situation. The area has developed and prospered so fast that housing is always at a premium and the prices have skyrocketed during the last 5 years.

Another corollary of the same growth process is the lack of sufficient schools and teachers to serve the increasingly youthful families of Reston.

But this is a well-managed community with a tremendous vitality and cash flow. Reston will continue to grow and prosper and solve its few problems as it matures into one of the great metropolitan centers of America. Who knows, one day you might also end up calling yourself a "Restonian" and encourage others to do the same.

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