Residence Reston, Virginia Children Paul Simon, Margo Simon Education Harvard University | Name Robert Simon Alma mater Harvard University | |
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Born April 10, 1914 ( 1914-04-10 ) New York City, New York, U.S. Died September 21, 2015, Reston, Virginia, United States Spouse Dorothy Monet (m. 1973–2004) | ||
1986 an interview with robert e simon
Robert E. "Bob" Simon, Jr. (April 10, 1914 – September 21, 2015) was an American real estate entrepreneur, most known for founding the community of Reston, Virginia. He was the maternal uncle of feminist historian and writer Elizabeth Fox-Genovese.
Contents
- 1986 an interview with robert e simon
- Robert e simon jr on piano
- Early life
- Reston
- Goals of Reston
- References
Robert e simon jr on piano
Early life
Simon was born in New York City in 1914 to a family that immigrated from Germany.
Reston
After graduating from Harvard University, Simon took over the family real estate management and development business. In 1961, with the proceeds from the sale of a family property, Carnegie Hall, Simon purchased 6,750 acres (27 km²) of land in Fairfax County, Virginia and hired Conklin + Rossant to develop a master plan for the new town of Reston, Virginia, a planned community well known on the national level. (The town's name was derived from Simon's initials and the word "town".) Simon's new town concept emphasized quality of life for the individual and provided a community where people could live, work, and play without driving long distances.
Simon returned to live in Reston in 1993 and helped celebrate Reston's 40th birthday in 2004. In that same year a bronze statue of Simon was placed on a park bench in Washington Plaza on Lake Anne, the original heart of the community he built.
Goals of Reston
Simon wrote in 1962 that:
In the creation of Reston, Virginia, these are the major goals:
- That the widest choice of opportunities be made available for the full use of leisure time. This means that the New Town should provide a wide range of cultural and recreational facilities as well as an environment for privacy.
- That it be possible for anyone to remain in a single neighborhood throughout his life, uprooting being neither inevitable nor always desirable. By providing the fullest range of housing styles and prices – from high-rise efficiencies to 6-bedroom townhouses and detached houses – housing needs can be met at a variety of income levels and at different stages of family life. This kind of mixture permits residents to remain rooted in the community if they so choose – as their particular housing needs change. As a by-product, this also results in the heterogeneity that spells a lively and varied community.
- That the importance and dignity of each individual be the focal point for all planning, and take precedence for large-scale concepts.
- That the people be able to live and work in the same community.
- That commercial, cultural and recreational facilities be made available to the residents from the outset of the development – not years later.
- That beauty – structural and natural – is a necessity of the good life and should be fostered.
- Since Reston is being developed from private enterprise, in order to be completed as conceived it must also, of course, be a financial success.