I’ll start of with a blinding flash of insight: Manassas is a City. Cities are interesting things as they have many different features and tend to attract a different kind of people than do more suburban or rural areas. It is my belief that these people may also be somewhat different in their politics than their rural cousins but, in Manassas, I’m not sure how much it matters. It is also my suspicion that these “city folk” tend to have different expectations of their government: more and different amenities, solid schools, good jobs in or around the City and the list goes on. Real tax rates also tend to be higher in cities to support those things – anywhere from 25%-100% higher. This isn’t terribly surprising as there tend to be more people in a smaller space and there are those other things to pay for.

In a tough budget year, priorities have to be established and spending targeted towards those things that are thought to be more important. In good years, those projects move ahead but the fundamental question is always “how much is enough”? How many City-maintained parks, schools with specialty programs and money spent towards economic development is enough? What kind of expenditure is the most important? So this, gentle people is my question to you. What is important to you? What makes Manassas different and a good place to live? What are you willing to see your money spent on?

This is going to be a tough subject to get people wound up about and it probably won’t generate much disucssion but it should. Redevelopment is what the City of Manassas will be looking at very soon. The last of the open land, more or less, has been rezoned away. The projects might not get built until the economy gets squared but the projects are approved. There are a couple of industrial parcels out there but that’s for industry, not houses or retail projects. The challenge for the City will be how best to address this.

One of the questions I asked many of the council candidates concerned thier views on how the City should be involved in redevelopment efforts. Should we be stakeholders (buy the land and resell it) or should we change some laws to make redevelopment more attractive or should we do nothing? It is a knotty, philosophical question that has vast practical impacts. Many feel that municipalities have no business being involved in the process. Others feel that public ownership of land to facilitate development is a good thing as it allows a greater degree of control over the process – we would have a better shot at getting what we want. Some places take a middle road and tighten their development ordinances to offer some control.

It is unavoidable that something will happen, there are many properties in Manassas that are in need of overhaul and when the real estate market comes back, this challenge will be in front of us. In addition, commercial development (which a lot of this would be) helps keep residential property tax rates in check – a real bonus for our homeowners.
So, the question is what does everyone else think? Should we be involved?

As a point of clarification, I’m not asking about Eminent Domain Seizures. The property would be purchased on the open market.