Manassas (Reston, Tysons Corner, Gainesville: foreclosures, crime, homes)

[elizamary]

Hello,
I'm new to the Virgina forum and would like information about Manassas.

Crime, things to do, cost of living. Is it a nice area to relocate?
How about traveling such as to Washington DC by metro?

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

[VRE332]

I see you're coming from Deleware... Manassas is a cool city in Prince William County. There is public transportation, see the public transportation thread up top. There is a VRE train (like amtrak) that will get you to DC.

If you have a job already then post the address and I can tell you the commuting times. Please be aware that the traffic in the DC metro area is horrific, and before you purchase/rent something be sure to live close by your job or plan on taking public transportation just like 1000's of people do here. Also you can start by negocating public transportation costs in your salary. The VRE is about $205/month into DC from Manassas.

If you would like to look at something a little bit nicer, try Bristow, Gainesville and my favorite is Haymarket (area code 20169.). Haymarket and Gainesville will have a VRE station soon but no dates planned.

[blossom4792]

I'm a fan of Manassas, but there are definitely good parts and bad parts. My favorite is I guess called Manassas City (I should know the terms, but I'm not sure) ... anyhow, there is a beautiful old town with lovely boutique shops and the homes around there are gorgeous - some large and stately, others dreams cape cods, etc. I always rave about an area called Robnel back there sort of behind Manassas Baptist Church ... in that direction.There are other wonderful pockets of homes from Sumner Lake (a community of lovely, um, carriage homes for lack of a better word, but larger); there are estate homes off the Prince William Parkway; there are less expensive, slightly older homes on some land down 234.There are also a lot of bad areas, areas with crime and foreclosures. It's more like a city with good and bad parts than it is a homogenous whole.There is a VRE to take into the city that is quite comfortable. Driving by car just wouldn't be recommended imo. But, driving to some other places seems to be OK, like Reston or maybe Tysons Corner, etc.