Discovering The Delights Of Density

From the Hanleys' terrace, you can see all the way to Sugarloaf Mountain in northern Montgomery County and out to the Blue Ridge.

In her new routines, Kate Hanley has discovered the appeal of density, whether she's ducking in at Starbucks on her walk to the office, people-watching along Market Street or deciding where to dine each night (Hanley takes pride in her decision never to learn to cook).

Having fallen out of touch with her old neighbors, she rarely looks back at her home of the previous 22 years.

Reston Town Center has been criticized from the start as something artificial, a couple of faux-urban blocks plopped in the middle of suburbia -- tall office buildings and condos surrounded by fields of parking.

"Is it like a downtown of a city? No," Hanley says. "But it's a 21st-century iteration of something different. I had to stay in Fairfax; I was still the chief elected officer when we bought here. And it does still look like a movie set, but more buildings are going up, and that feeling will fade."

Twice each day, Hanley gets a frightening reminder that she still lives in a very car-oriented place, as she gambles her life and jogs across the six lanes of Reston Parkway that separate her home from the town center.

That experience also connects the recovering politician with her former life: "You'd be amazed at the number of people who come up to me and say, 'Kate, I almost ran you over on Reston Parkway!' "

This is one in a series of columns in which people explain why they live where they live.