| Hernston:
The New Town |
| In 1996, when Polo Fields subdivision changed from a Herndon
Zip code to a Reston Zip code, I wrote a column extolling
the virtues of combining Reston and Herndon into one town
and calling it Hernston. |
| It was a joke. Really. Some people took it seriously. Some
found it absurd, but most found it, well, something like a
camel. A camel, you may remember, is the only animal built
by a committee, which is just the way Hernston would operate:
by a committee of political wannabees. |
| And who would ever be mayor? |
| But now the idea of Reston and Herndon joining into one
town, with one governance, has reared its ugly head again.
Reston, since its beginning, has tried to figure out what
kind of governance it really wanted. It has always been saddled
with what amounts to nothing more than a very large homeowners
association. Herndon, on the other hand, has been a town for
more than 100 years. |
| Some say Herndon also operates like a very large homeowners
association. |
| Earlier this month, Reston Association board president Glenn
Downing said that Reston might benefit from an annexation
by the Town of Herndon. He went on to say that most Restonians
probably would be against that idea. |
| Oh, really? |
| He hasn't bothered posing the annexation question to Herndonites,
but we can pretty well figure out what the answer would be.
Herndon Mayor Thomas D. Rust, soon to be Delegate Thomas D.
Rust, didn't comment on the matter, saying no one had approached
him with the idea. |
| Secretly I think the mayor-slash-delegate thinks the question
is really, really silly. |
| Ha, ha, you may laugh. You may think the idea of Herndon
annexing Reston has about as much of a chance as actually
getting Reston residents to vote in Reston Association elections,
or Herndon residents agreeing on whether they should tear
down an abandoned gas station or turn it into a historic nail
salon. |
| But the idea may have merit. Sort of. |
| Back in 1996, the good folks in Polo Fields, address Herndon,
dues payable to Reston, wanted to officially become Reston.
|
| Some folks in Polo Fields were so vocal in getting their
address changed to Reston that the post office became involved
and did a study on what address the residents wanted. Reston
won. |
| One Polo Field resident asked us why they received The Herndon
Observer and not The Reston Observer. Our answer was simple:
Because you live in Herndon. Today some residents ask us why
they receive The Reston Observer and not The Herndon Observer.
Our answer is simple: Because you live in Reston. |
| At the time of the Zip code change, some Polo Field residents
thought their property values would triple and their children
would all become Merit finalists. I haven't asked whether
that has happened or not. |
| Now Polo Fields is officially Reston, dues, addresses and
all, and the 20171 Zip code, which was once the Zip code of
Polo Fields (it is now 20191), is now called Oak Hill. Oak
Hill, of course, is nowhere. Well, it is somewhere: It is
south of the Dulles Toll Road. Maybe Herndon could annex Oak
Hill as well. And while Herndon is at it, it could annex Rockville,
Md. It's just a thought. |
| The big mistake made by Reston many years ago was not incorporating
into a town. I don't subscribe to the theory that Reston,
like Middleburg, is a state of mind. But as Restonians say,
Reston is øWhere Community Happens.Ó |
| I didn't make that up, either. Honestly. |
| People these days seem to try to no end to describe, or
maybe just manufacture, a difference between Herndon and Reston.
|
| Like the difference between boys and girls and the birds
and the bees, there are many substantial differences between
Herndon and Reston, but unlike the sexes, there may be more
similarities than most of us think. |
| Of all the differences between Herndon and Reston, the most
apparent is that Herndon is a legally chartered town, with
its own mayor, council, police department, public works department
and much more. |
| The similarities are also there: Two areas are made up of
people raising children, working, playing, shopping, planning
and worrying about the future, |
| I don't think either area is thinking about annexation. |
| And that's Our Town this week. |
