Thursday, November 5, 2026
Good morning. Here's what's in this week's issue:
A Reston family of four spends about $10,300 a month in our sample budget
Herndon elected five first-time council members, and four incumbents lost
Five things to do, starting with the Reston Town Center ice rink opening Friday
Kathy & Graham
THE BIG STORY
A RESTON FAMILY OF FOUR SPENDS ABOUT $10,300 A MONTH IN OUR SAMPLE BUDGET
A Reston family of four that owns a median-priced townhouse spends about $10,300 a month in the sample budget we built for 2026, or about $123,600 a year. The household is two working adults and two children in elementary school. They bought with 20 percent down, drive one car, and one parent rides Metro to work. The total leaves out federal income tax, retirement savings and everything a family spends for fun.
Housing, insurance and utilities take just under half. The $4,628 housing line covers principal and interest at the 7.40 percent rate Freddie Mac reported on Oct. 8, the Fairfax County real estate tax, the Reston Association assessment and the cluster fee. Homeowners insurance adds $154, and electricity, water and sewer add $320. A median condo would bring the housing line down to about $3,105 a month, and a median detached house would push it to about $7,349.
Groceries come to $1,389, the USDA's moderate-cost plan for a couple with children ages 6 to 11. Before- and after-school care through the county's School-Age Child Care program, known as SACC, runs $1,353 for two children at the top fee tier. Households earning $148,500 or more pay $712 a month for one child, and the county takes 10 percent off for the second.
One new car costs about $1,072 a month by AAA's 2026 figures, before the county's yearly car tax. A parent who pays the $6.75 top Metro fare each way and parks at Wiehle-Reston East spends $369 over 20 workdays. The employee's share of family health insurance averages $571 a month nationally, according to KFF. Virginia income tax comes to about $444 a month for a couple earning $148,710, Reston's median household income, who itemize their mortgage interest and real estate tax.
Washington-area households spent an average of about $108,000 a year in 2023 and 2024, roughly 39 percent more than the national average, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
READER POLL
How does your household's monthly spending compare with our $10,300 sample?
We'll share the results next Thursday.
QUICK HITS
AROUND RESTON AND HERNDON
Herndon voters gave five of six Town Council seats to first-time candidates on Nov. 3, and four incumbents lost. The new council inherits the Comstock fight, Herndon 2050 and the town's first affordable housing policy, and we lined up where each winner stands.
Fairfax County voters approved the $180 million parks bond and the $75 million health and human services bond with about 70 percent each, and Sen. Mark Warner and Rep. James Walkinshaw won reelection. All three amendments to the Virginia Constitution passed too.
Fairfax County is rewriting the policy behind every rezoning in Reston and unincorporated Herndon, and comments close Dec. 18. The draft drops the rule that made builders trade affordable housing for extra density.
The three applications for 306 stacked townhomes on Reston National Golf Course now go before the Planning Commission on Jan. 20, 2027. The fight over the course goes back to 2012.
The Board of Supervisors approved Parkline at Woodland Park on Oct. 27, clearing the way for 429 to 584 homes on office land west of the Herndon Metro station. Three of the four office buildings there would come down.
Comstock refinanced the three original Reston Station towers for $299.1 million and says more office and residential towers come next. It has not said where, but the likeliest site sits across the Toll Road and goes before the Planning Commission on Nov. 18.
Virginia Main Street accepted Herndon as an Exploring Main Street community on Oct. 30, three days after the Town Council voted to apply. The next step is a volunteer board and a new downtown nonprofit.
Umbra, which promised Reston more than 100 jobs in February, filed for a building permit on Oct. 29 for an office in RTC West. Its satellites photograph the ground through clouds and in the dark.
Fairfax County wants bike lanes on three stretches of Glade Drive and on Bowman Towne Drive when VDOT repaves them in 2027, with comments due Nov. 18. Each Glade Drive stretch looks different today.
Fairfax County is seeking a federal grant of more than $1.9 million toward a $3.9 million makeover of South Lakes Drive Park. The plan removes the baseball diamond and adds a community lawn with a pavilion.
The county proposes a new Reston #4 precinct for 2027 with about 2,449 voters, and the Board of Supervisors holds a hearing Dec. 8. Those voters would cast ballots at the Reston Teen Center.
Median apartment rents slipped 0.4 percent in Reston and 0.8 percent in Herndon over the past year, according to Apartment List data.
Herndon's curbside leaf pickup reaches the north side of town Nov. 9 to 13 and the south side Nov. 16 to 20, with another round after Thanksgiving.
Crossfield Elementary on Fox Mill Road finished a three-year renovation and addition this spring. Starting in 2027-28, most of its families switch middle schools.
Tall Oaks and the Uplands hold about 1,580 homes east of Wiehle Avenue. Tall Oaks lost its grocery store in 2007 and rebuilt its village center as 156 homes.
OPENINGS & CLOSINGS
WHO'S IN, WHO'S OUT
OPEN Livewell Animal Hospital of Reston, 11993 Inspiration Street, RTC Next, Reston Town Center. The general vet practice opened July 23 and takes walk-ins for same-day sick visits.
COMING Ebbitt House, 1860 Reston Row Plaza, Reston Station. Clyde's Restaurant Group now lists mid-November for its 275-seat restaurant with a raw bar.
COMING Mountain Mike's Pizza, South Lakes Village Center, Reston. The California chain filed permits Nov. 2 for its first Virginia restaurant, and it builds its menu around a crispy, curly pepperoni.
COMING Red Ember Hunan Cuisine, Village Center at Dulles, Herndon. The sign is up for a Hunan restaurant that plans two private dining rooms, each built around a round table.
COMING Mezeh Mediterranean Grill, Village Center at Dulles, Herndon. The bowl-and-pita chain filed permits Nov. 4, including one to rebuild part of the old Noodles & Company storefront with structural steel, and it is aiming for April 2027.
COMING Go Greek Yogurt, RTC Next, Reston Town Center. The Southern California chain plans a frozen yogurt shop, and its yogurt bars also sell the company's own olive oil.
COMING IMAGE Studios, Woodland Park Crossing, Herndon. The chain filed for 31 private suites, each roughly 200 square feet, that stylists rent by the week.
COMING Huey Magoo's, Arrowbrook Centre, Herndon. The chicken tenders chain has its sign up and is aiming to open its first Northern Virginia location in mid-December.
FROM GREATER RESTON LIVING AT COMPASS
What would your home sell for this fall?
We price homes against recent sales in your own neighborhood. Get a range in a couple of minutes.
THINGS TO DO
OUR FIVE PICKS FOR THE WEEK
THU., NOV. 5 · 8 P.M. · NEXTSTOP THEATRE, HERNDON
"The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity". NextStop opens Kristoffer Diaz's Pulitzer finalist comedy about professional wrestling tonight and runs it through Nov. 29, with strong language, simulated fighting, haze and flashing lights.
FRI., NOV. 6 · 11:30 A.M. · RESTON TOWN CENTER
Ice Skating Pavilion Opens. The outdoor rink opens for the season, weather permitting, with new Gondola Lounges overlooking the ice, and Reston Town Center recommends buying tickets in advance.
SAT., NOV. 7 · 5 P.M. · RCC HUNTERS WOODS, RESTON
Reston Community Orchestra: "250 Years of America". The orchestra opens its season with an all-American program, and a chamber set starts at 4:40 p.m. Tickets cost $25, $18 for seniors, and active military and first responders get in free.
SUN., NOV. 8 · 1 P.M. · LAKE ANNE, RESTON
Lake Anne Brew House Chili Cook-Off. The fifth annual cook-off benefits the RoSigle Community Giving Foundation, which funds literacy projects in Reston such as Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, and tasters vote for the best meat and veggie chili. Register ahead to enter a pot or to taste.
WED., NOV. 11 · 8 A.M. · RESTON TOWN CENTER
RTC Run for Valor 5K. The second Veterans Day 5K starts at Window Plaza on Opportunity Way and benefits Soldiers' Angels. Registration costs $35, and packet pickup runs 4 to 7 p.m. on Nov. 10 at PR Run and Walk.
ASK THE INSIDERS
Send us your Reston and Herndon questions
Curious about a building going up, the name on a street sign or a storefront that went dark? Send us your question, and we will answer it here in a coming issue.
A FINAL NOTE
PHOTO OF THE WEEK
Send us your best fall photo from Reston or Herndon, and we will run a favorite here with your name on it.
Openings, closings, questions and corrections
Know a neighbor who'd like it? Send them this link.
Reston Insider is written by Kathy and Graham Tracey of Greater Reston Living at Compass, and you can call or text us at (703) 231-7049.
Compass, 11943 Democracy Drive, Reston, VA 20190 | (703) 783-7485
