Nearby

The Reston Town Center is special, and the community’s focal point. It’s an appealing mixed-use development that’s got charming shops (ranging from the quaint Appalachian Spring to sophisticated Sephora), attractive condos and apartments—and a languid vibe. Business people staying at the Hyatt at the Town Center can pick from a large variety of appealing restaurants offering everything from seafood and Thai to custom-made burgers and wine bars. There is a French bistro—and an outpost of Clyde’s. Smyers calls the Town Center “very boulevard-y,” adding, “A lot of communities across the country are trying to emulate it.”

Herndon, next door to Reston, is a much older community, but with a younger population. It was recently named by Money magazine as the 8th best place “to be rich and single.” “We are all a bit surprised,” laughs Connie Hutchison, Herndon’s vice mayor and head of the Herndon-Dulles Visitor Center, which occupies an old train depot building. “The majority of our residents are young professionals with families,” she says. The town was named for U.S. Navy Commander William Lewis Herndon, who was born in Fredericksburg but apparently spent no time in northern Virginia. However, he was a hero: In 1857, he helped to save the women and children on the ship Central America as it sank in a hurricane. After World War II, the navy named a destroyer after him. There is plenty more about him in the visitor center.

Those looking for some local flavor can stroll to Jimmy’s Old Time Tavern, which had more than a few guys enjoying beverages during my noontime visit. I ordered an iced tea, prompting one of the bar regulars (I presume) to suggest, with a red-faced grin, “Try a Guinness!” That’s what he was doing. Herndon has opened a new art gallery in a nearby former tractor supply shop. The building is nondescript white cinder block, but the paintings are worth a look.

To get a fix on the history of Fairfax County, visit Fairfax City. It’s hectic but has a handful of historic buildings, including the original County Courthouse (where the first Civil War soldier was killed), the Old Town Hall (built by Joseph Willard) and the Ratcliffe-Allison House (oldest house in the city, built in 1812). The city’s small museum, located in a historic, two-story brick elementary school building, runs through the history and development of the county. There, I learned that Fairfax County led the state in dairy production in the 1920s, but even then farmland was being lost to residential and commercial development. A 1925 survey concluded, “The outlook for agriculture … is dismal.” Between 1940 and 1957, Fairfax County was the fastest-growing region in America. “Thousands of new residents migrated to the area, seeking jobs with the expanding federal government,” reads one display in the museum. And in the ’50s, many of them were buying “three-bedroom ramblers” for under $20,000—the hip new homes replacing Holstein and Guernsey cows on the landscape.