Manassas Neighborhoods (Centreville, Woodbridge, Springfield: condo, crime rate, townhouse)

[bcemail]

My wife and I are moving from DC to NoVA, and are looking at Woodbridge, Springfield, Manassas, etc. Woodbridge and the Potomac Mills areas seem to be pretty consistently strip mall suburbia. What about Manassas? Are there different neighborhoods that we should be looking at or avoiding? I've heard that there is some part that is more old town type area, not just the typical commercial area. Someone told us that there are a lot of gangs in Manassas, but the person is someone who overreacts and is slightly sheltered.

Any ideas or suggestions are gladly welcomed. Thanks!

[goldenmom7500]

Hi,

I absolutely love the neighborhoods around old town Manassas. I think on realtor.com those would be listed in the subdivision as "Old Town". There is a neighborhood around there called "Robnel" that I really like a lot. Robnel is sort of between Sudley and Old Town ("above" Sudley, PW Hospital side) near Stonewall.

Below Sudley is a little bit risky, although I have been to neighborhoods there that are lovely. It's sort of "street by street" with one block being well cared for and another run down.

If you want a little bit more land, one option would be "Woodbine Woods" etc. This is off of 234 as you are heading to Woodbridge. There might be other subdivision names as well. These are lovely older colonial type homes with an acre or so.

I'm not giving you any of the newer parts, just instinct. I don't think you would like Bristow/Braemar. Others would (like it), it just doesn't sound like what you want.

[jaywallace]

Originally Posted by bcemail

My wife and I are moving from DC to NoVA, and are looking at Woodbridge, Springfield, Manassas, etc. Woodbridge and the Potomac Mills areas seem to be pretty consistently strip mall suburbia. What about Manassas? Are there different neighborhoods that we should be looking at or avoiding? I've heard that there is some part that is more old town type area, not just the typical commercial area. Someone told us that there are a lot of gangs in Manassas, but the person is someone who overreacts and is slightly sheltered.

Any ideas or suggestions are gladly welcomed. Thanks!

Stay away from Geortown South and the townhome communites off of Sudley near the mall. I agree that Woodbine Woods is very nice. There is a couple newere communites in Prince William off of Rt.234 near Hoadley Road that are real nice. I would stay away from Woodbridge personally. The gang prolbem isn't anywhere near what it used to be. With Prince William passing it's illegal alien law it will only get better.

[El General]

It depends a lot on where you will be working. FCPS are two steps ahead of PWCS, or MPS. The test scores speak for themselves. So, if you have kids; that will be a big consideration, too. The area mentioned above, near Stonewall IS quite nice. But, it represents about an 8 block area of very expensive (500K to 1 Mill) homes and they are close to some horrible areas. We've been back and forth on this GTS issue (119K and up); but don't think that you will be immune from their problems if you live in the surrounding areas. Bristow Station (not to be confused with Bristow) is just as bad, if not worse--for quite a bit more money. The Liberia area seems to have deteriorated the most rapidly, while the now vacant homes may be an improvement over the previous tenants. I know of a superbly nice estate home on Portner Rd,, near West St. that has only been listed a few weeks. It is really classy, and very close to Old Towne.

IMHO, move to Springfield, near the Springfield CC. Look at spending about 500K there, and you will live in a neighborhood that you will be proud of for many generations to come.

[goldenmom7500]

You can move to this old town area or Robnel for under 500K - not too far under. I had included a link for a dreamy cape cod in the old town area that was about 465K, but the moderator removed my link. I kind of don't like to fight over price ranges in the abstract which is why I try to find specifics. I don't really disagree with the assessment of neighborhoods above. Just - look for yourself and see what you think. It's easier for me to say what you absolutely should see rather than to list areas to avoid - in part because someone moving in from outside should play it safe and head to a neighborhood with really good resell value (not to a nice street in a section that might be all over the place).

If you are interested in newish houses (80s/90s) or newer houses (late 90s/2000s) then there are more and other possibilities.

[knopfler]

Originally Posted by bcemail

My wife and I are moving from DC to NoVA, and are looking at Woodbridge, Springfield, Manassas, etc. Woodbridge and the Potomac Mills areas seem to be pretty consistently strip mall suburbia. What about Manassas? Are there different neighborhoods that we should be looking at or avoiding? I've heard that there is some part that is more old town type area, not just the typical commercial area. Someone told us that there are a lot of gangs in Manassas, but the person is someone who overreacts and is slightly sheltered.

Any ideas or suggestions are gladly welcomed. Thanks!

There is some gang activity in Manassas, like there's gang activity in all of the places you mentioned. It's no worse than the others, though.

The standard Big Three to avoid are Coverstone, Irongate and Georgetown South, and the areas immediately surrounding them. However, to give more information than that, what kind of property are you looking for? Condo, TH or SFH? And what's your price range? It'd be swell for me to recommend a very nice area of $550k single family residences, but if your market is $275k townhomes, it won't do you much good.

Welcome to Prince William County!

[kevinm]

I use to own a townhouse in "Wellington" which is right outside of the City of Manassas. It was new at the time (1995). The builder is Ryan which is one of the cheaper builders.

[pyl]

"Stay away from Geortown South and the townhome communites off of Sudley near the mall. I agree that Woodbine Woods is very nice. There is a couple newere communites in Prince William off of Rt.234 near Hoadley Road that are real nice. I would stay away from Woodbridge personally. The gang prolbem isn't anywhere near what it used to be. "


How about townhomes in Manassas Park off Route 28? Also can anyone tell me what Route 234 is like during rush hour? Specifically, traveling east on 234 in the morning, and west in the evening? Also, Liberia Avenue during rush hour? Would really appreciate info on how the commute is along these routes as well as living conditions (crime etc) in the Manassas Park area off Route 28 / Centreville Road. This is my first time posting and I hope I am doing this the right way and that other people will find my questions.... Thanks!

[goldenmom7500]

Hi,

There are several branches of 234. You have 234 business (that is the segment going through Manassas), and you have the 234 bypass looping around Manassas. Also, you have 234 "Dumfries" which is the segment heading to 95. Of course the bypass shares a name with the PW Parkway in places, confusing!

Liberia during rush hour: if you mean the segment "below" route 28 with the Wal-Mart, it's not too bad, but you need to find the back roads around Signal Hill. If you do it right, you will pass the VRE station, etc.

If you lived right off of 28, you might be commuting from 28 to 66 and not be hitting 234??? 234 business can be frustrating during rush hour; 234 bypass is fine; 234 Dumfries, not sure. Apparently, our scientific tests have revealed that if you are coming home at night on 66, and need to choose either 28, 234 business, or 234 bypass, that 234 business is best (fastest). Not sure why.

That segment of 28 is one of the not so good parts of Manassas. That's your Manassas Park area. Once you get off of 28 into the residential areas, I would say the east side (heading to Signal Hill) is nicer than the west side (Yorkshire, etc.). In other words, if you are heading down 28 away from Centreville towards Manassas, if you turn left, there are some nicer developments.

Does this help you?

[knopfler]

Originally Posted by pyl

"Stay away from Geortown South and the townhome communites off of Sudley near the mall. I agree that Woodbine Woods is very nice. There is a couple newere communites in Prince William off of Rt.234 near Hoadley Road that are real nice. I would stay away from Woodbridge personally. The gang prolbem isn't anywhere near what it used to be. "


How about townhomes in Manassas Park off Route 28? Also can anyone tell me what Route 234 is like during rush hour? Specifically, traveling east on 234 in the morning, and west in the evening? Also, Liberia Avenue during rush hour? Would really appreciate info on how the commute is along these routes as well as living conditions (crime etc) in the Manassas Park area off Route 28 / Centreville Road. This is my first time posting and I hope I am doing this the right way and that other people will find my questions.... Thanks!

Route 234 Business, today notwithstanding, is usually much better than Route 28 in the mornings and also in the evenings. It's technically an exit further west on I-66, but in my experience it's actually a quicker route to take, given how miserable Route 28 is. Liberia Avenue is likewise miserable. If you can take Omniride or VRE, it's acceptable, but if you're trying to drive during rush hour it's bloody murder.

The crime rate is, in my unsubstantiated opinion, higher in the areas of Manassas that you're referring to. Lower crime rates would, again in my unsubstantiated opinion, be along the Route 234 corridor from where you leave Manassas City to where you hit I-66.

Welcome to Prince William County!