The altered image used as the front page of the Connection The cover of a recent edition of the Reston Connection presented a full color picture apparently from a Lake Anne vantage point which showed the Heron House and two copies of that element of the photo superimposed elsewhere in the photograph, possibly in the parking lot. This edition of the paper also included an editorial referring to the problems that high density might create to the future of the Lake Anne village. The photos are not referred to in the editorial. Neither was the fact that the cover was an illustration, not an accurate photo. Not withstanding this attempt to confuse readers, the image of Heron House that was selected repeated the most flagrant example of an economic disaster that has occurred in Reston. The thirteen story Heron House has only four units per floor which does not generate enough income to justify the cost of elevators and common space. The Reston Land originally offered this property on a rental basis and as the cash flow of Reston’s development began to be strained by the problems encountered in expanding across the Dulles Toll Road to Hunters Woods, the decision was made to sell this property. The purchaser also found it difficult to hold this investment and decided to convert it and the rest of Lake Anne to Condominiums. Each Condominium purchaser becomes an owner that must agree to changes in the economic structure of the majority of the Lake Anne Village Center. There are a couple of properties in the Lake Anne Village that are own fee simple allowing them to determine the future of their investment on their own. Since this condominium was an economic disaster, the portrayal of two more units around the lake would compound the problems. The photos of the high density housing in Pasadena, California show a project built over a parking structure which has a central walkway which has the feel of a Mediterranean village. This project has 72 units per acre, twenty percent are subsidized. Six units are offered rent free to artisan residents. This project stimulated the revitalization of old Pasadena such that it is now a destination for tour buses and nearby residents because of the quality of its offerings such as theatre, restaurants, and shops supported in part by the residents of the adjacent housing area. If the site supporting the Heron House is one acre, the density would be 54 units per acre, considerably less than the Pasadena project. Other high rises in today’s marketplace are often built at 90-100 units per acre. The website will soon contain photos from center city Los Angeles that have made this a vital place for young people now to live, work, go to school, spend money, and enjoy life. This type of housing also provides a strong market for the linear plaza of the Fourth Avenue Mall in revitalized Santa Monica, California. The Connection cover deserves a big red “Rejected” stamp as it more relates to “disconnectivity” than its own title.