In a New York - or High Density - State of Mind

My wife and I recently spent 10 days in New York City. We searched remarkable (new to us) websites where you can rent private homes for short periods of time. Our selection was a two-bedroom apartment on Manhattan's Upper East Side. We chose that area so I could be close to Cornell Medical School in New York Presbyterian Hospital. I particularly wanted to make an extended and tense medical visit into an adventure. As a result we were immersed in the Big Apple experience.

I grew up in the 1950s in Northern New Jersey. New York City was always a forbidding and rather dangerous and dirty place,  particularly to a 10 year old. Much has changed since that time and New York is an exciting and relatively safe place you should visit.

Convenience is a city necessity. Within a three-block walk, we could choose numerous restaurants, excellent grocery stores, and many other opportunities for personal services. I imagine there is a flow to city living than one must enjoy, merge and engage.

There was no need for a car; in fact it would have been extraordinarily expensive to have one. Parking is about $40 a day; never mind the exceedingly high tolls from Reston to midtown Manhattan. Barely more than current tolls, the train is the way to go. It costs $49 (one way) from Union Station to Penn Station, directly under Madison Square Garden. (Which, ironically, is round, as is St. Peters “Square” in the Vatican!)

Fascinating as it is Bizarre

As you might expect, New York City is as fascinating as it is bizarre. Our home-away-from-home, the apartment building on W. 63 Street, had a permanent and uncontrollable central heating system for the entire building. The temperature in our apartment was irritatingly uncomfortable at about 80 degrees. As strange as it sounds, we were told that to moderate the temperature we should turn on the window air-conditioning units. They were incredibly loud and unconscionably wasteful, so we opened the windows. It was at that moment we truly experienced the dramatic realization of living in extreme density.

Like a bolt of lightning, I recalled my college sociology classes. I remembered learning about the cultural changes that occur with the change of housing density. Living amongst thousands of people on one small street, perhaps 200 yards long, is truly a unique experience. It presented some stark and dramatic differences from our home in Reston.

To begin with, New Yorkers are wonderful, warm, and friendly people - until they go outside. Outside its every person for themself, damn the torpedoes, full speed

ahead, get out of my way, I'm in a hurry!

We also became totally uncomfortable with the city noise. I felt completely simpatico with the Grinch; noise, noise, noise! Every noise, every conversation echoed off the building walls up through our converted rheostat, the open windows. It seems New Yorkers drive with one hand on the wheel and one hand on the horn. We were told that there were local ordinances preventing excessive use of horns. That's a laugh!

Horn blowing is a symptom of the culture, not an exercise of safety

The bizarre nature of the horn blowing is a symptom of the culture, not an exercise of safety or a "hey, good to see ya," toot! The drivers actually think that they are making a difference by "leaning" on the horn in order to speed up the flow of traffic. Amazingly, they believe that other people are really paying attention to their anger and are intimidated by their power to influence!  The fact is, so many people blow car horns with such frequency that no one ever pays any attention. They reluctantly pay attention to the sirens of emergency vehicles.

 Something else we noticed and didn’t understand was considerable dog ownership in this incredibly dense environment. 

We were amazed at the population of dogs on the streets, accompanied by
an owner with a leash in one hand and a full plastic bag in the other. Don’t misunderstand, I like dogs. But in this environment it actually
it takes a high level of pedestrian skill to navigate a circuitous route and
slalom between and around the parade of dogs on leashes.

I realize in the dichotomy of these population-saturated neighborhoods, loneliness can easily occur. But no matter how hard New York tries it is challenging to walk down the
street without leaping over urine streams and ‘little  packages’ left on the sidewalk. Don't dare look at the faces; watch where you're walking.

On the whole, we really enjoyed our visit to Manhattan. The number of choices that someone can enjoy in such a small area is truly staggering. But it was extremely apparent that we wanted it to be a visit. We certainly aren’t ready to move there! We respect peoples’ decisions to live in extremely high dense areas. But we came to learn the sacrifices and the complexities of just daily living that density forces people to accept.

The operative term here is Choice.

Returning to Reston, we understood that our community was designed with choice in mind.

Reston planners provided city living for those who choose that lifestyle. Others, however, made a conscious decision not to choose density. They purposely chose open space. Thirty-five years ago after a detailed research project, I moved my young family to Reston. For 50 years, thousands and thousands of Restonians chose to live without the challenges of the shadowed walls of density.

That can easily change. Changing the Reston Master Plan or the county's Comprehensive Plan could forcefully alter the decisions of thousands of people. A small group of people, perhaps less than 12, could dramatically change Reston’s culture and design. Some of these are elected officials, people we vote for, and everyone should remember that. There are others behind the scenes, outside of this community, that have the capability and the direct intention to change way we choose to live. Let me say that again – they want to change the way "we choose" to live, in the name of profitability.

The successful redevelopment of Reston National Golf Course into medium-high density housing and commercial buildings would send a clear signal; a precedent, an open door to potential major changes in how developers and planners could view your neighborhood. ‘It could never happen to me’, you say. Well, thousands of people living in South Reston are experiencing that very real possibility.

You can participate in that choice. Your voice can and should be heard.  Like many other Restonians, my family plans to attend the Board of Zoning Appeals meeting on the morning of May 22 at the Fairfax County Government Center.

We will be wearing Rescue Reston's bright green T-shirts to express our support for the Zoning Administrator’s decision that the Reston National Golf Course not be developed into density housing and commercial buildings.

Another evolving choice this week was the announcement of the county's potential choice to invest an estimated $100 million dollars to extend Soapstone Drive and build a bridge across the Dulles Toll Road to Sunset Hills Road. The merits of this should be closely examined. Specifically, who are the direct beneficiaries of that investment? Where does the money come from? Perhaps another use of much less money; the county could choose to spend less than 20 percent of that money to purchase 166 acres of the Golf Course’s open space area and preserve it for eternity. Again, it's a clear choice for people who work for us.

Some people choose to live along the shadowed streets of high-rise buildings; others choose to live under the shadow of trees. A business should not make that decision for either you or the entire community.