Is Manassas really that bad?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is interesting as someone who's lived in Manassas for 22 years. I raised my kids there and moved there after a horrific divorce that screwed me financially.

I worked nights at the local hospital (and weekends) as a RN (and then a Nurse Practitioner) while I raised my two kids. They were to OP high school and yes, the school wasn't as wealthy as the community where we lived when they were in elementary (McLean) but it was safe and the teachers really seemed great across the board. Yes, it's diverse. Yes, a lot of people in our community worked blue collar jobs and many worked two jobs each. Beyond petty crime, it's very safe. The serious crimes involve criminals hurting criminals, basically. Yes, there were aunts and uncles who shared their homes with each other. Yes, there were multigenerational homes. And yes, the issues of working class poverty is a reality here.

But I would say the community is supportive. People in our (older) neighborhood watched out for each other. And I really dispute the whole idea about not taking care of their homes comment -- my neighbors, many of whom did landscaping across NOVA -- really did keep their yards neat. The issue that people might complain about is that there are a lot of cars and expanded driveways and that's because well...multiple adults in a family live in the home.

If anything, I would say my kids went through a bit of culture shock in college...being white, they weren't used to the amount of class and racial segregation at UVA and Emory.

I actually am thankful places like my town exist in this area. Not everyone can afford to spend the $ to live in fairfax to have a bit of space, a yard, and some peace. I bought my home for 120K in 1998. It's a nice single level ranch and has a 1/3 of an acre wooded lot. And yes, it's worth more now (maybe 350K?) but I don't care. It's paid off, my taxes are low and I intend to age in place in my community until I can no longer.

Safe relative to SE DC maybe.

[Anonymous]

I love Manassas. It’s a wonderful place to start out. Our children went to private school. We eventually moved to Tysons after 12 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My husband is a manassas city police officer. He does not want to live in manassas, shop in manassas, eat in manassas or BE in manassas other than the hours he is at work. It is definitely THAT bad. Try Bristow, Gainesville or Warrenton. Especially the last-much more bang for your buck. But the commute can be brutal.

+1. I live in Bristow/Gainesville. If you can flex your hours, it's not so bad. On the road by 6. We've been pleased w the people and the schools. We even have a Wegmans

What time do you get home?

9pm. It gets dark at 4pm, so who cares lol

And funny about the cop, as Manass isnt exactly a war zone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is interesting as someone who's lived in Manassas for 22 years. I raised my kids there and moved there after a horrific divorce that screwed me financially.

I worked nights at the local hospital (and weekends) as a RN (and then a Nurse Practitioner) while I raised my two kids. They were to OP high school and yes, the school wasn't as wealthy as the community where we lived when they were in elementary (McLean) but it was safe and the teachers really seemed great across the board. Yes, it's diverse. Yes, a lot of people in our community worked blue collar jobs and many worked two jobs each. Beyond petty crime, it's very safe. The serious crimes involve criminals hurting criminals, basically. Yes, there were aunts and uncles who shared their homes with each other. Yes, there were multigenerational homes. And yes, the issues of working class poverty is a reality here.

But I would say the community is supportive. People in our (older) neighborhood watched out for each other. And I really dispute the whole idea about not taking care of their homes comment -- my neighbors, many of whom did landscaping across NOVA -- really did keep their yards neat. The issue that people might complain about is that there are a lot of cars and expanded driveways and that's because well...multiple adults in a family live in the home.

If anything, I would say my kids went through a bit of culture shock in college...being white, they weren't used to the amount of class and racial segregation at UVA and Emory.

I actually am thankful places like my town exist in this area. Not everyone can afford to spend the $ to live in fairfax to have a bit of space, a yard, and some peace. I bought my home for 120K in 1998. It's a nice single level ranch and has a 1/3 of an acre wooded lot. And yes, it's worth more now (maybe 350K?) but I don't care. It's paid off, my taxes are low and I intend to age in place in my community until I can no longer.

I would be extremely happy to have you as my neighbor. You sound like a very nice person! Thank you for writing this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is interesting as someone who's lived in Manassas for 22 years. I raised my kids there and moved there after a horrific divorce that screwed me financially.

I worked nights at the local hospital (and weekends) as a RN (and then a Nurse Practitioner) while I raised my two kids. They were to OP high school and yes, the school wasn't as wealthy as the community where we lived when they were in elementary (McLean) but it was safe and the teachers really seemed great across the board. Yes, it's diverse. Yes, a lot of people in our community worked blue collar jobs and many worked two jobs each. Beyond petty crime, it's very safe. The serious crimes involve criminals hurting criminals, basically. Yes, there were aunts and uncles who shared their homes with each other. Yes, there were multigenerational homes. And yes, the issues of working class poverty is a reality here.

But I would say the community is supportive. People in our (older) neighborhood watched out for each other. And I really dispute the whole idea about not taking care of their homes comment -- my neighbors, many of whom did landscaping across NOVA -- really did keep their yards neat. The issue that people might complain about is that there are a lot of cars and expanded driveways and that's because well...multiple adults in a family live in the home.

If anything, I would say my kids went through a bit of culture shock in college...being white, they weren't used to the amount of class and racial segregation at UVA and Emory.

I actually am thankful places like my town exist in this area. Not everyone can afford to spend the $ to live in fairfax to have a bit of space, a yard, and some peace. I bought my home for 120K in 1998. It's a nice single level ranch and has a 1/3 of an acre wooded lot. And yes, it's worth more now (maybe 350K?) but I don't care. It's paid off, my taxes are low and I intend to age in place in my community until I can no longer.

I would be extremely happy to have you as my neighbor. You sound like a very nice person! Thank you for writing this.

The only downside is it cost you more to live there than Bethesda or DC. Back in 1998 you count have bought a row house in DC for $250k or Bethesda or Nova and maybe if legal rented part of it first few years.

In that case it cost you $650,000 in lost gains living there for 22 years almost 3k a month.

I made same mistake I bought small starter home in 1999 in a blue collar neighborhood, did poorly vs overpriced house sister bought in rich neighborhood and in end cost me more

My sister is retiring and listing her 2,500 square foot house on an 80 by 100 plot for 1.5 million. My sister and her husband make 95k they put down 20k to buy home in 1981 when sister was 24 years old. Her entire wedding money and jobs through college and grad school was 10k bad husband came up with other 10k.

Funny that house is a time bomb. They kept it nice but no money for new bathrooms, kitchens, roof or oil burner, windows all been patched and fixed with DYI or handiman. My brother calls it a time bomb.

But they literally have 1.3 million in gains over 40 years. $2,500 a month up in value every month for 40 years.

Meanwhile same year tree crap neighborhood five miles over homes were 60k cheaper in 1981 today those homes are 800k cheaper

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is interesting as someone who's lived in Manassas for 22 years. I raised my kids there and moved there after a horrific divorce that screwed me financially.

I worked nights at the local hospital (and weekends) as a RN (and then a Nurse Practitioner) while I raised my two kids. They were to OP high school and yes, the school wasn't as wealthy as the community where we lived when they were in elementary (McLean) but it was safe and the teachers really seemed great across the board. Yes, it's diverse. Yes, a lot of people in our community worked blue collar jobs and many worked two jobs each. Beyond petty crime, it's very safe. The serious crimes involve criminals hurting criminals, basically. Yes, there were aunts and uncles who shared their homes with each other. Yes, there were multigenerational homes. And yes, the issues of working class poverty is a reality here.

But I would say the community is supportive. People in our (older) neighborhood watched out for each other. And I really dispute the whole idea about not taking care of their homes comment -- my neighbors, many of whom did landscaping across NOVA -- really did keep their yards neat. The issue that people might complain about is that there are a lot of cars and expanded driveways and that's because well...multiple adults in a family live in the home.

If anything, I would say my kids went through a bit of culture shock in college...being white, they weren't used to the amount of class and racial segregation at UVA and Emory.

I actually am thankful places like my town exist in this area. Not everyone can afford to spend the $ to live in fairfax to have a bit of space, a yard, and some peace. I bought my home for 120K in 1998. It's a nice single level ranch and has a 1/3 of an acre wooded lot. And yes, it's worth more now (maybe 350K?) but I don't care. It's paid off, my taxes are low and I intend to age in place in my community until I can no longer.

I would be extremely happy to have you as my neighbor. You sound like a very nice person! Thank you for writing this.

+1

[Anonymous]

No doubt that nearly all of the Manassas-bashers on this thread have never spent any time in the city, are simply spouting BS they hear in gossip circles, and/or are closet racists.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is interesting as someone who's lived in Manassas for 22 years. I raised my kids there and moved there after a horrific divorce that screwed me financially.

I worked nights at the local hospital (and weekends) as a RN (and then a Nurse Practitioner) while I raised my two kids. They were to OP high school and yes, the school wasn't as wealthy as the community where we lived when they were in elementary (McLean) but it was safe and the teachers really seemed great across the board. Yes, it's diverse. Yes, a lot of people in our community worked blue collar jobs and many worked two jobs each. Beyond petty crime, it's very safe. The serious crimes involve criminals hurting criminals, basically. Yes, there were aunts and uncles who shared their homes with each other. Yes, there were multigenerational homes. And yes, the issues of working class poverty is a reality here.

But I would say the community is supportive. People in our (older) neighborhood watched out for each other. And I really dispute the whole idea about not taking care of their homes comment -- my neighbors, many of whom did landscaping across NOVA -- really did keep their yards neat. The issue that people might complain about is that there are a lot of cars and expanded driveways and that's because well...multiple adults in a family live in the home.

If anything, I would say my kids went through a bit of culture shock in college...being white, they weren't used to the amount of class and racial segregation at UVA and Emory.

I actually am thankful places like my town exist in this area. Not everyone can afford to spend the $ to live in fairfax to have a bit of space, a yard, and some peace. I bought my home for 120K in 1998. It's a nice single level ranch and has a 1/3 of an acre wooded lot. And yes, it's worth more now (maybe 350K?) but I don't care. It's paid off, my taxes are low and I intend to age in place in my community until I can no longer.

I would be extremely happy to have you as my neighbor. You sound like a very nice person! Thank you for writing this.

The only downside is it cost you more to live there than Bethesda or DC. Back in 1998 you count have bought a row house in DC for $250k or Bethesda or Nova and maybe if legal rented part of it first few years.

In that case it cost you $650,000 in lost gains living there for 22 years almost 3k a month.

I made same mistake I bought small starter home in 1999 in a blue collar neighborhood, did poorly vs overpriced house sister bought in rich neighborhood and in end cost me more

My sister is retiring and listing her 2,500 square foot house on an 80 by 100 plot for 1.5 million. My sister and her husband make 95k they put down 20k to buy home in 1981 when sister was 24 years old. Her entire wedding money and jobs through college and grad school was 10k bad husband came up with other 10k.

Funny that house is a time bomb. They kept it nice but no money for new bathrooms, kitchens, roof or oil burner, windows all been patched and fixed with DYI or handiman. My brother calls it a time bomb.

But they literally have 1.3 million in gains over 40 years. $2,500 a month up in value every month for 40 years.

Meanwhile same year tree crap neighborhood five miles over homes were 60k cheaper in 1981 today those homes are 800k cheaper

I wrote this initial post. And I want to drive a serious point home. In no way could I afford a 250K home when I bought my home. Heck, I stretch and worked overtime for years until I got my master's degree to afford the 120K ranch I bought. But that's the big point. I'm not sitting at home lamenting about the money I could have made if I only could have afforded it. I needed a safe home for my children to grow up. I wanted a single level home. I wanted a brick home that was solidly built (oddly, my old 1950's home has less issues than my friends' new construction homes...I mean, beyond regular repairs and maintenance, newer builds seem to fall apart in 10 years it seems).

I enjoy gardening and found so much peace working in my own yard. I raised great kids who contrary to what people think got a good education in PWC schools that were diverse, had working class poverty issues (and yes, this is very different and something people don't talk about enough when we discuss working class and the struggle people face making ends meet). I live with nice neighbors on a block of families who look out for each other. And yes, I was able to do that living in a older working class community.

I don't look at what I could have. If I did, I probably would have not gotten divorced, living in my ex's home which is worth much, much more than mine because McLean. I walked away from that for the right reasons and happy my ex (now) has a decent relationship with our children and is by all accounts a better (sober) husband and father now to his current wife and kids.

And like I said, I will continue to live in my single level ranch until I can't for health reasons. I'm good and set for a happy retirement. I'm working full-time now, but really will continue to work two days a week until I no longer can because I love what I do.

I think there is something strange about how much people complain about how expensive DC and the DC suburbs are while trashing affordable communities. Yes, not everyone can make living out here work, particularly with commutes. But many people do and are happy.

[Anonymous]

The posts pretty much reflect the folks who frequent here. You are a low life, living in the slums if you are not in Arlington (make that “North Arl”), McLean, NW DC, Bethesda, or whatever close in crap locality. Get this...The same losers cutting down on Manassas cut down on Great Falls in the same manner - and Great Falls has top schools and expensive homes. Fickle bunch of losers on this forum.

[Anonymous]

I live in Haymarket (which I love) and have to shop in Manassas sometimes. It doesn’t feel safe when I’m there and the traffic is awful. I would look in Gainesville - you might find a small townhome in that price range. Sometimes there are townhomes in Haymarket for a little over 300. Have you looked into the condos available in Brambleton in Ashburn? The neighborhood is great with awesome schools even though the town of Ashburn is now filled with Data Centers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in Haymarket (which I love) and have to shop in Manassas sometimes. It doesn’t feel safe when I’m there and the traffic is awful. I would look in Gainesville - you might find a small townhome in that price range. Sometimes there are townhomes in Haymarket for a little over 300. Have you looked into the condos available in Brambleton in Ashburn? The neighborhood is great with awesome schools even though the town of Ashburn is now filled with Data Centers.

Where in Manassas do you not feel safe? I live in Bristow and shop in Manassas all the time. My kids go to school in Manassas. When I go on a long run I sometimes run to Manassas (alone, as a female, with earbuds in.) I've never felt unsafe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in Haymarket (which I love) and have to shop in Manassas sometimes. It doesn’t feel safe when I’m there and the traffic is awful. I would look in Gainesville - you might find a small townhome in that price range. Sometimes there are townhomes in Haymarket for a little over 300. Have you looked into the condos available in Brambleton in Ashburn? The neighborhood is great with awesome schools even though the town of Ashburn is now filled with Data Centers.

...so you are patting yourself on the back because you live in Haymarket vs Manassas. I thought both were of the same...but
Not in a negative way. Just another locale within PWC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have never heard the word "ghetto" used to reflect a place unless it was meant to be demeaning to people of color.

This sentence. Jews are not people of color and ghetto doesn't always refer to colored folks

Since this comment is at high risk of offending someone, Jewish is not a race, and even the supposedly “white” Ashkenazi Jewish population has significant Middle Eastern ancestry. White passing, sure. But “not people of color” is a huge nuance, especially when you include non Ashkenazi Jews.

[Anonymous]

I’m laughing reading through this. So, living 4 miles into Fairfax is high class? You people. Manassas is affordable now, but it might not always be. Buy where you can afford. Like most people, move again as your family grows.