Manassas Changes Definition Of Family

If she fixed a few expensive fire code violations, and if she could find close relatives to move in, the family could perhaps stay, she realized. But it would be a hassle, she said, and one that might never end. She is hoping that things are easier in North Carolina.

"The living is cheaper there," she said. "We'll rent a little house, and we'll be comfortable."

Although safety violations often turn up during inspections, Smith said that the complaints that prompt inspection rarely have to do with safety. Typically, they are about parking or a more general suspicion that a large number of people are living next door.

Purchase, who is an assistant fire marshal, said that occasionally he will find what amounts to a rooming house full of unrelated people. More often he will find, say, eight people who were living lawfully under the old definition of family but who might now be broken up. Mostly, he said, people are living as one unit, and mostly, the houses he inspects are neat and orderly.

A Changing Area

In general, the city of Manassas is neat and orderly, too.

Crime is down again this year. The historic downtown area is doing well, with wine shops and spas and restaurants. And the city is planning more development -- townhouses and single-family homes that will bring more people.

The area is also quietly changing: Se habla espanol signs are hung at car dealerships. Strip malls might have a Starbucks alongside a mercado . Travel agencies advertise flights to Honduras.

Along with those changes, the city has received a rising number of complaints about crowding. To help field them, an "overcrowding hotline" was established, and in October, the mayor sent two letters to Warner asking him to declare a state of emergency.

"One of the largest impacts is being felt on our once-quaint neighborhood streets, which now in many cases are littered with trash and lined with far too many vehicles due to overcrowded boarding houses and multi-family dwellings," the mayor wrote. "The situation is eroding the strong spirit of our city. . . . We must stress that we are not anti-immigration, rather illegal immigration is our concern."

Along the residential streets of Manassas, however, the sense of panic and urgency that many residents and politicians feel is not shared by everyone.

"It's definitely more diverse," said Mike Donick, a retired government worker who has lived 11 years on Abbott Road, where neighbors have complained about some houses with Latino families. "The only thing I notice is more cars around than there used to be. It hasn't really affected me."

Over on Gloxinia Way, however, Marta Horlick, a substitute teacher and translator originally from Puerto Rico, said she has had parking problems and garbage issues and has witnessed some odd scenes: In the garage of a neighbor's house one weekend, a line of men was waiting for a woman to give haircuts, for instance.