Reston VA is one of the United States original "Planned" communities, featuring a diverse mix of commercial and residential properties.
That may cause you to ask, "Aren't all communities "Planned"?" Well, yes and no. Most counties take a periodic review of how the resulting community will look , usually when asked to sign off on each individual project or subdivision. Reston is unique in that the original design started from scratch and anticipated the entire community at one time and anticipated the placement of all of the neighborhoods, clusters & buildings that would be part of the developed area.
Reston is geographically divided by the Dulles International Airport Toll Road. The Dulles Toll Road is the main east - west highway from the Capital Beltway and the communities of Arlington, Alexandria, Annandale, Falls Church, McLean, Great Falls & Vienna to connect with IAD - Dulles. Those lanes that connect directly to the airport have no toll vs. those that serve the exits of 7100 / Fairfax County Parkway, Reston Parkway, Wiehle Avenue & Hunter Mills Road do charge a toll to make an exit at those location to enter Reston.
There are no condominium communities directly next to the Toll Road. The area fans out from the Toll Road with retail & commercial properties acting as a buffer. These commercial areas are anchored by Sunrise Valley Drive to the south and Sunset Hills to the north.
The next section out from the toll road is a were the residential Reston VA Real Estate area starts consisting of a mix of apartments, condos and townhouses with the outer sections being a mixture of larger Reston VA Homes for Sale and garage townhouse with the occasional condo complex sprinkled in. Add in numerous lakes and parks and you have a community that has something for everyone. The majority of condos in Reston are a Garden Style consisting of a cluster of buildings no more than 4 stories in height. Each condo complex having its own management, association and rules.
Up until the past 4-5 years, the only Reston VA Condos for Sale that were of a high rise style was the tower at Lake Anne. Since that time the Reston Town Center, has seen the development of the Stratford Condos, Carlton House Condos, The Paramount Condominium & The Midtown Condominium Towers.