Reston and Tall Buildings

Matt Yglesias dislikes DC's low buildings--says true urban advantages come from high density and tall buildings.  Along those lines, the father of Reston is interviewed here and says:

"Tall buildings are good because they preserve open space. If you take a tall building and take it all down to two, three or four stories, you use up all the grass and use up all the open space. So if you have a tall building, you are helping the community."

 The original plans for Reston had more townhouses and fewer single-family houses, but that mix didn't sell well in the 1960's and 1970's.  Times have changed.  The Post had an article today on the redevelopment near Mount Vernon square, which is the location of the original main DC library.  Apparently there's now good demand for downtown apartments from people like Mr. Yglesias.