Reston Library

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Reston has pretty much always been solidly on the left. Sorry folks: you can't change this situation.

....but how extreme to the left does this have to be?? It's crazy. Even liberals are objecting. The people pushing it through are the extreme progressives, who are giving priority to the homeless shelter over the library where children study.

When I was 11 or 12, my mom would drop me off at the library and pick me up two hours later. Very typical. But now, a parent would be crazy to lewve her daughter unattended at this library. In fact, I wouldn't even want my daughter there if I escorted her in. The men catcalll these pre-teen girls and make it very obvious they're stsring at them. Creepy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for starting this thread. I've also noticed a lot of homeless/suspicious men there. I didn't know there was a homeless shelter next door! I thought those men might be drug dealers, I didn't know about the shelter. I've pointed them out to my kids, if you see someone like that, stay away.

It is bad there. They loiter out in the front or to the side, under the trees or in front of the bike rack. I've seen trash bags under a tree nearby. I've seen them hanging out in the parking lot.

I'm concerned more for the parents that don't know and just drop their kids off there thinking it's fine.

Op, you can do something about it. There is a Fairfax county employee building across the street! Certainly they've seen it. Take your complaints and do something about it. Join a group or start one.

OP here, and you're welcome.

I just drove by there this morning, and there was a cop standing in the parking lot, on his phone. Lord knows what the disruption is today. And you're right...I am going to do some research to see if there's a group battling this issue, and I will definitely post my findings. It seems like the County is ramming this through over the objection of residents.

P.S. At the minimum, and based on what you said, I'd like to start an awareness campaign to alert parents to the situation. (Of course, the liberals are going to hate me.)

They hate everybody anyway. I mean we are all walking on eggshells already, you know? I guess I no longer sound loyal to being the liberal I was raised as, but there just comes a time.

[Anonymous]

It's the liberal dream gone to the crazy extreme. Let's build an upscale community and call it the Reston Town Center, complete with $1 million condos, nice boutiques lining the streets, an ice skating rink and a regional library for the kids, and then.....let's take the existing homeless shelter on the next block and triple it in size so we can attract more aggressive, mentally ill, and smelly men next door to the kids!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for starting this thread. I've also noticed a lot of homeless/suspicious men there. I didn't know there was a homeless shelter next door! I thought those men might be drug dealers, I didn't know about the shelter. I've pointed them out to my kids, if you see someone like that, stay away.

It is bad there. They loiter out in the front or to the side, under the trees or in front of the bike rack. I've seen trash bags under a tree nearby. I've seen them hanging out in the parking lot.

I'm concerned more for the parents that don't know and just drop their kids off there thinking it's fine.

Op, you can do something about it. There is a Fairfax county employee building across the street! Certainly they've seen it. Take your complaints and do something about it. Join a group or start one.

OP here, and you're welcome.

I just drove by there this morning, and there was a cop standing in the parking lot, on his phone. Lord knows what the disruption is today. And you're right...I am going to do some research to see if there's a group battling this issue, and I will definitely post my findings. It seems like the County is ramming this through over the objection of residents.

P.S. At the minimum, and based on what you said, I'd like to start an awareness campaign to alert parents to the situation. (Of course, the liberals are going to hate me.)

They hate everybody anyway. I mean we are all walking on eggshells already, you know? I guess I no longer sound loyal to being the liberal I was raised as, but there just comes a time.

OP here, and I was raised as a liberal too. But they've just gone nuts. There is no acceptable reason to take an existing problem (the homeless shelter next to the library, which was stupid to begin with) and, as part of a redevelopment plan that would allow for a "fix," instead double down on the problem by leaving the shelter in the same location and more than doubling it in size.

The homeless shelter should not be in Reston Fown Center at all. There are plenty of undeveloped parcels of land less than 2 miles away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's the liberal dream gone to the crazy extreme. Let's build an upscale community and call it the Reston Town Center, complete with $1 million condos, nice boutiques lining the streets, an ice skating rink and a regional library for the kids, and then.....let's take the existing homeless shelter on the next block and triple it in size so we can attract more aggressive, mentally ill, and smelly men next door to the kids!

Reston was originally built by Robert E Simon (RESton, get it?) and yeah, he planned for RTC. And yeah, he was a liberal - Reston was the first integrated community built in Virginia, IIRC. And he wanted a mix of incomes as well.

While I don't know how we would deal with the issue of both helping people who have mental illness and who don't have homes, with that of maintaining order in a library, I suspect very much he would be displeased with the hateful rhetoric some people use about other human beings, whom they would have been had they been unlucky.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:cation and more than doubling it in size.

The homeless shelter should not be in Reston Fown Center at all. There are plenty of undeveloped parcels of land less than 2 miles away.

Privately owned I gather - if commercially zoned, probably very expensive land. And I doubt if it moved to a new parcel in or even near a residential area that there would not be massive opposition. Its much easier to add capacity on the site where it already exists.

But I mean, who really cares about the homeless and/or mentally ill? They aren't as good as we are, and their needs can be cavalierly dismissed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's the liberal dream gone to the crazy extreme. Let's build an upscale community and call it the Reston Town Center, complete with $1 million condos, nice boutiques lining the streets, an ice skating rink and a regional library for the kids, and then.....let's take the existing homeless shelter on the next block and triple it in size so we can attract more aggressive, mentally ill, and smelly men next door to the kids!

Reston was originally built by Robert E Simon (RESton, get it?) and yeah, he planned for RTC. And yeah, he was a liberal - Reston was the first integrated community built in Virginia, IIRC. And he wanted a mix of incomes as well.

While I don't know how we would deal with the issue of both helping people who have mental illness and who don't have homes, with that of maintaining order in a library, I suspect very much he would be displeased with the hateful rhetoric some people use about other human beings, whom they would have been had they been unlucky.

I'm a liberal and expect that public libraries should be enclaves of wonder and knowledge for all income levels. Stop the BS . Hateful rhetoric? It's not rhetoric but facts. Low income families, individuals, etc are as impacted by this dismal unusable unsafe library as everyone else.

Middle school students should be able to congregate at the library - do projects-walk safely for a snack. Why even the pretense of calling it a library?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:cation and more than doubling it in size.

The homeless shelter should not be in Reston Fown Center at all. There are plenty of undeveloped parcels of land less than 2 miles away.

Privately owned I gather - if commercially zoned, probably very expensive land. And I doubt if it moved to a new parcel in or even near a residential area that there would not be massive opposition. Its much easier to add capacity on the site where it already exists.

But I mean, who really cares about the homeless and/or mentally ill? They aren't as good as we are, and their needs can be cavalierly dismissed.

Well then build them their own library lounge . But wait I guess we are...do they also get a gym and a pool?

[Anonymous]

The only times I've ever been sexually harassed have been at my library while growing up. Looking back it makes me sad that we as a society don't do more to protect children at these places. I was flashed several times, touched inappropriately and caught an older man trying to look up my skirt. Pedophiles thrive at these types of places because we are under the impression that libraries (like schools) are safe havens for children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:cation and more than doubling it in size.

The homeless shelter should not be in Reston Fown Center at all. There are plenty of undeveloped parcels of land less than 2 miles away.

Privately owned I gather - if commercially zoned, probably very expensive land. And I doubt if it moved to a new parcel in or even near a residential area that there would not be massive opposition. Its much easier to add capacity on the site where it already exists.

But I mean, who really cares about the homeless and/or mentally ill? They aren't as good as we are, and their needs can be cavalierly dismissed.

OP here, and you're one of the "extreme liberals" by virtue of the fact that you are taking the argument to the extreme. Whoever said we don't care about the homeless? Has anyone here objecting to the location of a shelter adjacent to a library serving children suggested we abolish homeless shelters and let the people fend for themselves? NO. We are saying that we should not be giving priority to them over our children, and this PC nonsense has to stop.

And your (sarcastic) bit about them not being "as good as we are" is the problem in a nutshell. The progressives are so eager to prove that since everyone is equal, it would be just wonderful to put homeless men next to schoolchildren, like one big happy family. And what makes it even worse is that the liberal officials know full well of all the problems this has caused, but instead of acknowledging reality and relocating the shelter, they want to double down on their wonderful liberal utopia where catcalling, filthy, homeless men mingle with young teen girls.

I'm getting more disgusted - perhaps some readers note a change in tone - because my research is uncovering no groups going up against this. Apparently, there was a hearing a couple of years ago, where objections about library safety were made, but the county officials decided to proceed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:cation and more than doubling it in size.

The homeless shelter should not be in Reston Fown Center at all. There are plenty of undeveloped parcels of land less than 2 miles away.

Privately owned I gather - if commercially zoned, probably very expensive land. And I doubt if it moved to a new parcel in or even near a residential area that there would not be massive opposition. Its much easier to add capacity on the site where it already exists.

But I mean, who really cares about the homeless and/or mentally ill? They aren't as good as we are, and their needs can be cavalierly dismissed.

OP here, and you're one of the "extreme liberals" by virtue of the fact that you are taking the argument to the extreme. Whoever said we don't care about the homeless? Has anyone here objecting to the location of a shelter adjacent to a library serving children suggested we abolish homeless shelters and let the people fend for themselves? NO. We are saying that we should not be giving priority to them over our children, and this PC nonsense has to stop.

And your (sarcastic) bit about them not being "as good as we are" is the problem in a nutshell. The progressives are so eager to prove that since everyone is equal, it would be just wonderful to put homeless men next to schoolchildren, like one big happy family. And what makes it even worse is that the liberal officials know full well of all the problems this has caused, but instead of acknowledging reality and relocating the shelter, they want to double down on their wonderful liberal utopia where catcalling, filthy, homeless men mingle with young teen girls.

I'm getting more disgusted - perhaps some readers note a change in tone - because my research is uncovering no groups going up against this. Apparently, there was a hearing a couple of years ago, where objections about library safety were made, but the county officials decided to proceed.

OP, if you are so afraid of homeless people then you can't let your kid go to Harvard. Lots of homeless are in the square and there is a homeless shelter near the university. I am sure they will fit in with the tiki torch wielding crowd at UVA.

People like you make wish we were staying in Reston so I can help defend the right of a homeless person to use public facilities. There are social workers who operate out of libraries as it is a place where homeless individuals can study for a GED or a certificate and/or job hunt. Everyone deserves dignity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:cation and more than doubling it in size.

The homeless shelter should not be in Reston Fown Center at all. There are plenty of undeveloped parcels of land less than 2 miles away.

Privately owned I gather - if commercially zoned, probably very expensive land. And I doubt if it moved to a new parcel in or even near a residential area that there would not be massive opposition. Its much easier to add capacity on the site where it already exists.

But I mean, who really cares about the homeless and/or mentally ill? They aren't as good as we are, and their needs can be cavalierly dismissed.

OP here, and you're one of the "extreme liberals" by virtue of the fact that you are taking the argument to the extreme. Whoever said we don't care about the homeless? Has anyone here objecting to the location of a shelter adjacent to a library serving children suggested we abolish homeless shelters and let the people fend for themselves? NO. We are saying that we should not be giving priority to them over our children, and this PC nonsense has to stop.

And your (sarcastic) bit about them not being "as good as we are" is the problem in a nutshell. The progressives are so eager to prove that since everyone is equal, it would be just wonderful to put homeless men next to schoolchildren, like one big happy family. And what makes it even worse is that the liberal officials know full well of all the problems this has caused, but instead of acknowledging reality and relocating the shelter, they want to double down on their wonderful liberal utopia where catcalling, filthy, homeless men mingle with young teen girls.

I'm getting more disgusted - perhaps some readers note a change in tone - because my research is uncovering no groups going up against this. Apparently, there was a hearing a couple of years ago, where objections about library safety were made, but the county officials decided to proceed.

OP, if you are so afraid of homeless people then you can't let your kid go to Harvard. Lots of homeless are in the square and there is a homeless shelter near the university. I am sure they will fit in with the tiki torch wielding crowd at UVA.

People like you make wish we were staying in Reston so I can help defend the right of a homeless person to use public facilities. There are social workers who operate out of libraries as it is a place where homeless individuals can study for a GED or a certificate and/or job hunt. Everyone deserves dignity.

^^^ OP here, and this is what I'm talking about - the extreme liberal above who wants to defend the right of a homeless person to "use" the library even if it means the children are placed in an unsafe environment not conducive to study and adults can no longer enjoy the library, either. What about defending them?

The homeless can study for their GED in the shelter, if they choose, but NONE of the homeless at Reston are doing so. Mostly they are sleeping at the desks or begging for money out front. The whole library smells bad when you walk in there.

Finally, I'm not so afraid of the homeless. (There's that extreme position liberals take when arguing a point.) Did you read that I donate to the shelter, which requires me to enter the building? Not a problem. It IS a problem when they meander over to where young teens are study and ogle them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:cation and more than doubling it in size.

The homeless shelter should not be in Reston Fown Center at all. There are plenty of undeveloped parcels of land less than 2 miles away.

Privately owned I gather - if commercially zoned, probably very expensive land. And I doubt if it moved to a new parcel in or even near a residential area that there would not be massive opposition. Its much easier to add capacity on the site where it already exists.

But I mean, who really cares about the homeless and/or mentally ill? They aren't as good as we are, and their needs can be cavalierly dismissed.

OP here, and you're one of the "extreme liberals" by virtue of the fact that you are taking the argument to the extreme. Whoever said we don't care about the homeless? Has anyone here objecting to the location of a shelter adjacent to a library serving children suggested we abolish homeless shelters and let the people fend for themselves? NO. We are saying that we should not be giving priority to them over our children, and this PC nonsense has to stop.

And your (sarcastic) bit about them not being "as good as we are" is the problem in a nutshell. The progressives are so eager to prove that since everyone is equal, it would be just wonderful to put homeless men next to schoolchildren, like one big happy family. And what makes it even worse is that the liberal officials know full well of all the problems this has caused, but instead of acknowledging reality and relocating the shelter, they want to double down on their wonderful liberal utopia where catcalling, filthy, homeless men mingle with young teen girls.

I'm getting more disgusted - perhaps some readers note a change in tone - because my research is uncovering no groups going up against this. Apparently, there was a hearing a couple of years ago, where objections about library safety were made, but the county officials decided to proceed.

OP, if you are so afraid of homeless people then you can't let your kid go to Harvard. Lots of homeless are in the square and there is a homeless shelter near the university. I am sure they will fit in with the tiki torch wielding crowd at UVA.

People like you make wish we were staying in Reston so I can help defend the right of a homeless person to use public facilities. There are social workers who operate out of libraries as it is a place where homeless individuals can study for a GED or a certificate and/or job hunt. Everyone deserves dignity.

What's more important to you? The right of homeless men to cause disruptions at the library or the right of children to study in peace and quiet?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:cation and more than doubling it in size.

The homeless shelter should not be in Reston Fown Center at all. There are plenty of undeveloped parcels of land less than 2 miles away.

Privately owned I gather - if commercially zoned, probably very expensive land. And I doubt if it moved to a new parcel in or even near a residential area that there would not be massive opposition. Its much easier to add capacity on the site where it already exists.

But I mean, who really cares about the homeless and/or mentally ill? They aren't as good as we are, and their needs can be cavalierly dismissed.

OP here, and you're one of the "extreme liberals" by virtue of the fact that you are taking the argument to the extreme. Whoever said we don't care about the homeless? Has anyone here objecting to the location of a shelter adjacent to a library serving children suggested we abolish homeless shelters and let the people fend for themselves? NO. We are saying that we should not be giving priority to them over our children, and this PC nonsense has to stop.

And your (sarcastic) bit about them not being "as good as we are" is the problem in a nutshell. The progressives are so eager to prove that since everyone is equal, it would be just wonderful to put homeless men next to schoolchildren, like one big happy family. And what makes it even worse is that the liberal officials know full well of all the problems this has caused, but instead of acknowledging reality and relocating the shelter, they want to double down on their wonderful liberal utopia where catcalling, filthy, homeless men mingle with young teen girls.

I'm getting more disgusted - perhaps some readers note a change in tone - because my research is uncovering no groups going up against this. Apparently, there was a hearing a couple of years ago, where objections about library safety were made, but the county officials decided to proceed.

OP, if you are so afraid of homeless people then you can't let your kid go to Harvard. Lots of homeless are in the square and there is a homeless shelter near the university. I am sure they will fit in with the tiki torch wielding crowd at UVA.

People like you make wish we were staying in Reston so I can help defend the right of a homeless person to use public facilities. There are social workers who operate out of libraries as it is a place where homeless individuals can study for a GED or a certificate and/or job hunt. Everyone deserves dignity.

^^^ OP here, and this is what I'm talking about - the extreme liberal above who wants to defend the right of a homeless person to "use" the library even if it means the children are placed in an unsafe environment not conducive to study and adults can no longer enjoy the library, either. What about defending them?

The homeless can study for their GED in the shelter, if they choose, but NONE of the homeless at Reston are doing so. Mostly they are sleeping at the desks or begging for money out front. The whole library smells bad when you walk in there.

Finally, I'm not so afraid of the homeless. (There's that extreme position liberals take when arguing a point.) Did you read that I donate to the shelter, which requires me to enter the building? Not a problem. It IS a problem when they meander over to where young teens are study and ogle them.

Listen to yourself. You want to further disenfranchise some of the most vulnerable people in our society because "the children." I bet you give to your church too....as long as they don't have homeless people there, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:cation and more than doubling it in size.

The homeless shelter should not be in Reston Fown Center at all. There are plenty of undeveloped parcels of land less than 2 miles away.

Privately owned I gather - if commercially zoned, probably very expensive land. And I doubt if it moved to a new parcel in or even near a residential area that there would not be massive opposition. Its much easier to add capacity on the site where it already exists.

But I mean, who really cares about the homeless and/or mentally ill? They aren't as good as we are, and their needs can be cavalierly dismissed.

OP here, and you're one of the "extreme liberals" by virtue of the fact that you are taking the argument to the extreme. Whoever said we don't care about the homeless? Has anyone here objecting to the location of a shelter adjacent to a library serving children suggested we abolish homeless shelters and let the people fend for themselves? NO. We are saying that we should not be giving priority to them over our children, and this PC nonsense has to stop.

And your (sarcastic) bit about them not being "as good as we are" is the problem in a nutshell. The progressives are so eager to prove that since everyone is equal, it would be just wonderful to put homeless men next to schoolchildren, like one big happy family. And what makes it even worse is that the liberal officials know full well of all the problems this has caused, but instead of acknowledging reality and relocating the shelter, they want to double down on their wonderful liberal utopia where catcalling, filthy, homeless men mingle with young teen girls.

I'm getting more disgusted - perhaps some readers note a change in tone - because my research is uncovering no groups going up against this. Apparently, there was a hearing a couple of years ago, where objections about library safety were made, but the county officials decided to proceed.

OP, if you are so afraid of homeless people then you can't let your kid go to Harvard. Lots of homeless are in the square and there is a homeless shelter near the university. I am sure they will fit in with the tiki torch wielding crowd at UVA.

People like you make wish we were staying in Reston so I can help defend the right of a homeless person to use public facilities. There are social workers who operate out of libraries as it is a place where homeless individuals can study for a GED or a certificate and/or job hunt. Everyone deserves dignity.

What's more important to you? The right of homeless men to cause disruptions at the library or the right of children to study in peace and quiet?

NP. Actually for me it would be the rights of the homeless. If need be, the children can study in peace and quiet at home. The homeless have no place else to go.