Manassas! Had low expectations, but it didn't match them. (Herndon: lawyers, homes)

[justtitans]

Originally Posted by stpickrell

IIRC, the Oxon Hill schools aren't even among the good schools in Prince George's -- I'd be A-ok with Eleanor Roosevelt (College Park), and would at least give Bowie a chance.

Oxon Hill HS is in the middle of the test score pack and Potomac is actually THE lowest scoring HS in Prince George's (Greatschools uses the Maryland equivalent of the SOL tests to do its number ratings.)

I remember a couple years ago I helped collate a list of schools by average SAT scores. Freedom-Woodbridge had a score in the middle of the Prince George's pack. Every other Prince William school -- even Gar-Field and Potomac -- outscored all but Eleanor Roosevelt.

Osbourn HS gets a '1' on Greatschools, which means it is one of the worst-scoring high schools in the entire Commonwealth. By comparison, no other school in Northern Virginia gets that rating. Not Freedom, not Gar-Field, not Wakefield, not T.C. Williams. These ratings are *not* subject and are based on standardized test scores.

OTOH, it does seem according to C-D's crime index that cirme is not that terrible in Manassas. DC suburbs of Maryland are a little below the nation's average, but the Virginia suburbs are positively Stepford in comparison, so that Manassas just looks bad. I suspect most if not all people here won't have their kids rolling with MS-13 -- I don't know if Hispanic kids get any harassment for not being in a gang or not.

That's pretty sad about the schools. Pathetic actually.

Manassas I think gets it's rep based on looks. You don't see eye-popping neighborhoods. You see some decent ones, you see some good ones and you see some run down ones. If people are comparing it to Fairfax, it will look like garbage to them, but if you look at it for what it is, it has a lot to offer to those looking for an affordable suburb.

[sharkbait63]

Originally Posted by pgtvatitans

That's pretty sad about the schools. Pathetic actually.

Manassas I think gets it's rep based on looks. You don't see eye-popping neighborhoods. You see some decent ones, you see some good ones and you see some run down ones. If people are comparing it to Fairfax, it will look like garbage to them, but if you look at it for what it is, it has a lot to offer to those looking for an affordable suburb.

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[Fredesch]

Manassas is very mixed. My wife likes the oldest parts of the city with the really old houses. Some areas like Georgetown south are really bad - drugs, violence and more crime.

Mannassas has its own small school system which is not good compared with others in northern Virginia. Fairfax has the best schools year after year, although folks in Loudoun think their schools are good even if their kids have to play musical chairs -swapping schools every year or two or three.

Most of Manassas is Prince William County and you have Manassas Park in there also, so it is hard to tell if you are really talking about Manassas City or Prince William County. In any case Prince William, Manassas and Manassas Park have horrible commutes.

By the way, this is an odd forum for you to appear in Tiger Beer, I usually see you in the Hawaii forum.

[e2ksj3]

Originally Posted by Fredesch

Manassas is very mixed. My wife likes the oldest parts of the city with the really old houses. Some areas like Georgetown south are really bad - drugs, violence and more crime.

Mannassas has its own small school system which is not good compared with others in northern Virginia. Fairfax has the best schools year after year, although folks in Loudoun think their schools are good even if their kids have to play musical chairs -swapping schools every year or two or three.

Most of Manassas is Prince William County and you have Manassas Park in there also, so it is hard to tell if you are really talking about Manassas City or Prince William County. In any case Prince William, Manassas and Manassas Park have horrible commutes .

By the way, this is an odd forum for you to appear in Tiger Beer, I usually see you in the Hawaii forum.

Depends on what you mean by horrible. To my job in Reston, it isn't too bad. Rt. 28 does back up, but it seems like every road in the area is like that during rush hour. People working non-traditional schedules like myself, it is a breeze getting to work. As far as commuting to DC, even though it is horrible people still have options like VRE and bus service connecting to Metro, unlike a lot of places in the area.

[Fredesch]

Originally Posted by e2ksj3

Depends on what you mean by horrible. To my job in Reston, it isn't too bad. Rt. 28 does back up, but it seems like every road in the area is like that during rush hour. People working non-traditional schedules like myself, it is a breeze getting to work. As far as commuting to DC, even though it is horrible people still have options like VRE and bus service connecting to Metro, unlike a lot of places in the area.

To get from Prince William to Fairfax you must take Route 1, 95, Yates Ford, 28, 29 or 66. Route 1, 95 and for most of Manassas, Yates Ford are too far East to use to cross the Occoquan/Bull Run. 29 goes though the battlefield, is very narrow and too far west for a commute from Manassas. Which leaves all of Manassas using 28 and 66. 66 also contains the traffic from the Gainsville and the hinterlands.

As you mentioned, you have non standard hours and can avoid the mess by not being in the normal commute window. But that is not the same as Manassas having a good commute. I commuted on 28 to McLearen Rd for a year and moved to get out of the commute. And yes the commute was horrid.

[JoanCrawford]

Originally Posted by Tiger Beer

Last week, I took a trip into the DC area. Manassas was one of the areas I went to, and it took me by surprise. Had more of a down-to-earth feel, a pleasant downtown, a ton of chain stores, as well as a ton of mom-and-pop stores, and some more creative ones as well.

It seems its low on the list because of schools not being as good, and a larger Hispanic population, which is apparently often mentioned as largely illegal? Speaking of which, whatever happened to that law that PW County authorities were rounding up the illegals? Did that ever occur, or have any actual enforcement behind it?

Nontheless, I did make it to the Manassas Mall, and probably at least 1/3rd Hispanic, more or less. The mall seemed fine to me. The entire area seemed to have pretty much every kind of store, and the downtown had an event going on, and certainly walkable.

Heard the property crime is a little high for Manassas compared to other Virginia cities.

Probably the biggest minus might be it's a bit far from the DC jobs. About one hour on the VRE. But otherwise, caught me by surprise to be a bit better than I expected based on what I'd previously read/heard about Manassas.

Speaking of which, Manassas Park and Bull Run, I couldn't distinguish exactly where they began and ended. What defines them separately from Manassas itself?

Additionally, what are other's impressions of Manassas' city center or downtown area?

I find it kind of gross there... The people are not very pleasant to me, it's always really crowded there, and a lot of the stores are run down.

[Bigfoot424]

Originally Posted by JoanCrawford

I find it kind of gross there... The people are not very pleasant to me, it's always really crowded there, and a lot of the stores are run down.

I've been there since 73. I don't agree with your assessment regarding the people being unpleasant. Maybe it's you?

[tgbwc]

Originally Posted by JoanCrawford

I find it kind of gross there... The people are not very pleasant to me, it's always really crowded there, and a lot of the stores are run down.

Downtown? I never find that.
What part of "Manassas" are you referencing?

It's tough to know where people are talking about when they talk about Manassas. For example, we had a Manassas zip code for 8 years and lived just about 3 or 4 miles off of I 95 near Montclair and Forest Park HS.

[justtitans]

Originally Posted by tgbwc

Downtown? I never find that.
What part of "Manassas" are you referencing?

It's tough to know where people are talking about when they talk about Manassas. For example, we had a Manassas zip code for 8 years and lived just about 3 or 4 miles off of I 95 near Montclair and Forest Park HS.

It's extremely confusing. Also the thing about the area you are talking about, it's much different than the city and also the part of Manassas that is where the hospital and the mall is at.

[gomason]

It's not a bad area if you like suburban living which I hate.

Manassas has a very large El Salvadorian population for whatever reason. Manassas is hardly dangerous at all. Most people around here live in such a bubble they've never really seen what a dangerous area is in middle america.

You can also take a bus or train into DC which takes an easy hour.