Manassas, VA

The Downtown South Neighborhood in Manassas, VA focused on an area of less than one square mile with 7,095 residents. Adjacent to the city's vibrant central business district, the neighborhood was experiencing an increase in and continuing demand for new market-rate housing. M&L obtained grounded local insight from housing developers, social service providers, realtors, community councils, homeowner associations and city staff. This was coupled with a unique neighborhood profile with a high level of spatial detail including trends in building permits, real estate transactions, subsidized housing, crime and public health. A windshield survey pinpointed housing conditions that impacted quality of life from maintenance issues to more severe deficiencies requiring demolition in a few cases. M&L used these diverse inputs to designate Target Preservation Areas and Target Revitalization Areas within the Downtown South Neighborhood along with a tailored set of strategies designed for each area type. The strategies complemented neighborhood-wide recommendations for creating and preserving high quality affordable housing opportunities.