Robert E. Simon Jr., a real estate visionary and the founder of Reston, a town in Fairfax County, was announced dead by the Reston Historic Trust. Mr. Simon passed away at the age of 101.
Mr. Simon's name is still tied up with Reston even if he was forced to resign and later on fired in his position as chairman of Reston, when Gulf Reston took over the daily management and development of the project. Mr. Simon was then called by Bob Ryan, Gulf Reston's on-site manager, as a "visionary with no business sense."
According to a report by the Washington Post, Mr. Simon initially planned Reston to be built around village clusters that have homes and shops close to one another. It will be environment friendly and will focus on walking, hiking, and outdoor activities with less or none at all travel by car.
Mr. Simon succeeded the position of his father, when he was just in his 20s, as the head of the corporation who oversees Carnegie Hall.
He sold the Carnegie Hall to New York City in 1960 for $15 million, and spent the money buying 6,750 acres of wooded fox-hunting territory, 18 miles west of Washington.
Reston was born using $800,000 in cash and a $12 million mortgage. The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved the zoning for the community in 1962. Mr. Simon became a national celebrity who attracted flattering profiles in major newspapers and magazines when the construction and sales began in 1963.
Properties in Reston was sold aggressively to different races even if banks put constant pressure to Mr. Simon to change their system and go all white.
Mr. Simon disagreed with the proposition to go all white, which could be considered as a sound proposition during those times, because of the law that prohibited interracial marriage was still active at that time, but was later on abolished by the U.S. Supreme Court as a violation of the Constitution's equal protection clause.
During the 50th anniversary of Reston last year, Mr. Simon stressed the need for a performing-arts theater, better bus service and a bigger library. "Community ... that word is the whole discussion ... I think having facilities readily available for people of all kinds, from little kids to the elderly - that's the most important thing of all," said Simon.
