Austin to Manassas?? (McLean, Warrenton, Gainesville: renting, insurance, sex offenders)

[APW5]

Hello! I live in a small town outside of Austin Texas and I am trying to do my research on a move my husband wants to make for a job that will be at Micron in Manassas. I have read a lot of the blogs here and am now a little worried about the crime, schools, sexual offenders and "diversity" as so many have put it in Manassas. We moved from Boise Idaho to Austin and have not liked it much - even living in the country on land this is not what we envisioned moving here - the Austin lifestyle you see is not what you get when you move here (unless you are single of course) or you'd like to play the "Keeping Up With The Jones" game.
We have a small family with young children and although we would like to be on acreage in a small town (or one with a small town feel), I still need to be close enough to do fun stuff with my children and other moms. Great schools or a great homeschooling group (although I would prefer not to). Is this possible having a husband working in Manassas? Could I get some suggestions on places that sound like what we would be looking for? Our range would be $450 -$600.
Also, I am Hispanic, my husband Caucasian. Our children look just me. Are we going to be dealing with racism even though we are educated individuals? Although in Idaho I did not have a single problem, many Idahoans had not met a successful Hispanic woman other than migrant workers. And I did meet my husband there so it was a great place for me! Some of the threads on here have me a little worried. I don't want to raise my children in a racist place.
Also, about Micron. How is it? What is the work atmosphere like. Are the benefits decent? Any info on this end would be appreciated.

Thanks for the help. I am so nervous and don't want to make the same mistake of moving without knowing what we are fully getting into so I am exhausting every possible avenue for information!

[smithy77]

I've lived here for 30 years after living in 5 other major cities. You will find small minded bigots everywhere, but I find this area to be the most accepting of people from different backgrounds. The world lives here----you'll fit right in. Your children will go to school with kids from every type of background.

[normie]

If you want to avoid the "Keeping up with the Joneses" mentality, Manassas is one of the better choices. But, just so you know, you're going to find a certain amount of that out here. Nova has a lot of money, and it attracts a lot of competitive people. Manassas is fairly down-to-earth, though--much less "Keeping up with the Joneses" than the wealthier suburbs like McLean.

You might encounter some "redneck" type bigotry in Manassas, but not to the degree you'd find it in many other parts of the country. IMO northern Virginia is one of the most comfortable places for a mixed family to live in this country.

People in Nova tend to be very busy, which means they can sometimes come across as "unfriendly" or "snooty". Some neighborhoods are very chummy and friendly, others are not. Your best bet is to find a meetup group with likeminded people. They have meetup groups that appeal to just about every interest or personality type.

Welcome to Northern Virginia!

[ngadude]

Manassas is not a racist place. Don't believe everything you read in the press. Prince William County - which includes the Manassas area (but actually the city of Manassas is an independent city) was in the headlines a lot for a crackdown on illegal immigrants. The liberal press vastly distorted this and printed a lot of stuff about how Prince William County was a racist place. Nothing is further from the truth. However, illegal immigrants with no insurance filling up emergency rooms for just simple things like colds, because they know they won't have to pay, has been a problem, as well as day laborers hanging out at locations such as 7-11's. The county made an attempt to do something about these problems, and the liberal press distorted those attempts as being racist.

Micron is supposed to be a good company to work for, from what I've heard. I used to work at what was IBM adjacent to it, and at one time IBM had a piece of what was at first called Dominion Semiconductor. IBM eventually sold their share of it, to become what is now Micron Technology. Everyone I know who works there seems to think it is a good place to work. It has had its ups and downs in terms of growing and shrinking its workforce. However, no place these days is immune to layoffs.

[ngadude]

Originally Posted by APW5

We have a small family with young children and although we would like to be on acreage in a small town (or one with a small town feel), I still need to be close enough to do fun stuff with my children and other moms. Great schools or a great homeschooling group (although I would prefer not to). Is this possible having a husband working in Manassas? Could I get some suggestions on places that sound like what we would be looking for? Our range would be $450 -$600.

You can definitely find acreage/small town feel in places to the west of Manassas, that would be a reasonable (20 mile or so) commute to Manassas. Try looking in the Warrenton area. That definitely has a small town feel, much more so than Manassas. Manassas really does NOT have a small town feel, it is pretty much just the opposite and like a lot of the Northern VA area. It might have had a small town feel in the 70's before it started to grow rapidly to what it is today.

There are also places in the extreme western fringe of Prince William County - Gainesville and Haymarket especially (and also Nokesville), that have a smaller town feel, but are more expensive than out towards Warrenton and Faquier County (the county to the west of Prince William County).

I would say though, if you really want a small town feel look toward Warrenton and other places in Faquier County. There, prices for property are cheaper, and large acreage properties are much more common.

[Bigfoot424]

I've been in Manassas since 1973 and have seen it go from a small town to an extension of the DC Metropolitan area. Is it as refined as Austin? No. It doesn't have the big city feel yet it has most everything you need right here or within a short distance.
As far as racism. I seriously doubt you will have any issues. This is one of the most diverse areas in the US. The illegal immigrants are an issue at times but they limited to certain areas for the most part.
There are certain areas in and around Manassas I wouldn't live if schools are a concern. You'd have to ask about specific neighborhoods as there are too many to mention. Moving out to Haymarket/Gainesville will certainly give you more yard for the money but there are neighborhoods in Manassas where you can get some nice yard space as well.
I don't work for Micron but I know people who do and they've been here for some time now. From what I see/hear it seems like a good company.
As far as Sex Offenders. I doubt you'll find anywhere, including Austin, where they won't be living somewhere near you. Just a fact of life.

[APW5]

Thanks for the information! I feel a little better about this job, knowing that maybe it is similar to Boise, Idaho, where "others" feel it is a racist place and it is not at all for those who live there and know. (Also, I'm sorry I'm so new to this that I am still figuring out how to "quote" and answer direct replies - I'll get to it!). And you all are right, the issues I am worried about are everywhere - I just don't want to move right in the middle of it! I want to be sure as I am a very "non stay-at-home" stay-at-home mom and I want us SAFE and in great schools.
I stayed up late reading as many of these posts as possible and it does sound like Nokesville might be what we are looking for. Today I will look into Warrenton and Faquier County. We would love that small town community where we can contribute and know our community yet be able to provide wonderful and educational experiences (I don't mind driving for those). We absolutely don't want to live in a fast paced city as that is what we don't like most about living here. I know it seems like it wouldn't be that way in Austin but it is, as living on acreage out here is more of a token as to how much you make that you can afford land, if your not in the upscale Austin area. Again we are surrounded by the "game" and it's just not for us so we don't want to be in the middle of it. My family still can't believe I USED to love the city life! Hahaha......

Another thing is how is the "outdoor" lifestyle? Our family passion is being outdoors and I would love to know if camping in the mountains (in our RV of course ) and hunting is a big thing up there? What about hunting land to own or is it public? Everything in Tx is private land and fortunately my father owns a few ranches but my husband loves hunting the mountains (he's from Montana), not sitting in a blind.

Thanks so much again - this forum is great!!

I would love the info to keep coming. I want the best feel possible. I hope to take a few trips to help our decision.

[adolpho]

Micron is a fly-by-night company. Global chip demand is increasing, and that will help them, but..........The funny thing is, people here think you are talking about buying for 450-600K, when you are actually talking about renting for 450-600 per month. A nice 2 br is more like 1200. I've met some of the MU employees that are scattered around Manassas. Nice people, many with ties to Boise, but it is a very transient bunch; that's the nature of the semi-conductor business.

[normie]

Originally Posted by APW5

We absolutely don't want to live in a fast paced city as that is what we don't like most about living here. I know it seems like it wouldn't be that way in Austin but it is, as living on acreage out here is more of a token as to how much you make that you can afford land, if your not in the upscale Austin area. Again we are surrounded by the "game" and it's just not for us so we don't want to be in the middle of it. My family still can't believe I USED to love the city life! Hahaha..

Maybe you can find what you're seeking out in Faquier. But if you hate being "surrounded by the game" I would seriously think twice about moving to Nova. You'd be jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire.

[APW5]

Adolpho - I do mean 450K - 600k. I'll just say we are wise with money! About Micron, benefits are really important - young kids visit the pediatrician a lot and those co-pays can add up. My husband used to work with Lam not MS in Boise - they did contract with MS though. We were fortunate to leave Boise before the tech bust so that we could move closer to family by being in Austin. I guess I did well marrying "into" thetransient lifestyle semi-conductor business as I swear I have a gypsy soul and have been fortunate to live in Italy and Japan with my husband's career; places my degree would not have steered me to and well know that I no longer work .....even better! My main concerns of the company are benefits and how happy employees are. That says a lot and I can pass the information to my husband. Thanks for the info!