Tree-lined streets. Office buildings and apartments up to 10 stories high. A pedestrian-friendly hub with a historic yet urban feel.
That long-term vision is what Manassas leaders and planners say they want to bring to the small city.
"We can't spread out -- we've got to spread up," says Manassas City Manager Lawrence D. Hughes. "There's an axiom that says: . . . When cities stop growing, they die."
(Photos Cathy Kapulka -- The Washington Post)
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_____Metrorail Special Report_____
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More Metrorail News
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Metrorail Map
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Discussion: Transportation Costs
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For years, the Manassas gateway along Route 28 and Mathis Avenue has been a hodgepodge of car dealers, gas stations and fast-food restaurants. The gateway, which provides visitors and commuters with their first image of the city, needs updating, city leaders say.
"Route 28 is a missed opportunity," said Deana Rhodeside, whose Alexandria-based architectural and planning firm, Rhodeside & Harwell, was hired by the city to draw up the plans. "Right now, it's a way to get to and from where it is you're going, instead of a place to come to or stop in. We want this to be a place where people can say, 'Gee, now I know I'm in the city of Manassas and this is a nice place to be.' "
This two-mile gateway was developed largely in the 1950s and '60s without an overall long-range plan, Manassas City Manager Lawrence D. Hughes said.
Back then, "most of Prince William County was delighted with any development that happened," he said. "They were just emerging from rural status. The dominant philosophy was that landowners should be allowed to build what they wanted."
Now, looking to boost the city's economy and appearance and give it more of an identity, a group of citizens and officials says it's time for a makeover.
The key to expanding the city and its core is adding density, Hughes said.
"We can't spread out -- we've got to spread up," he said. "There's an axiom that says: . . . When cities stop growing, they die."
Plans call for sidewalks linking shops and restaurants, similar to Arlington County's Clarendon and Ballston neighborhoods and the area near the King Street Metro in Alexandria.
Parking lots would be hidden behind buildings. Small businesses would be combined with large, mixed-use buildings. A fifth, turn lane would be added along Route 28 to ease congestion. Utility lines would be buried.
Officials cautioned that the plans could take years to carry out, depending on market conditions. Yet they say interest is strong. People call daily with interest in putting up residential and commercial buildings, said former mayor John Weber, who is president of Weber & Associates Realty.
"I think there's a lot of interest in that corridor," he said. "But it's not to the degree that's shown in this plan. I don't know that they're at the point yet of . . . putting up high-rises, but everybody is getting calls. . . . It's going to take some time."
Manassas residents, many of whom are not aware of the plan's details, will be asked for their reaction in the next few months. Liz Via, the city's community development director, said planners will alter their sketches as the public weighs in. The Manassas City Council will consider the plan early next year.
