At long last the frozen food building and the storage buildings are gone! The ground breaking for the VRE parking deck is set for Thursday the 18th at 10:30. This is a big step forward for Manassas. We really need these parking spaces to help Old Town. VRE gets the first two levels and we get the rest. We also get the surface lot behind the Train Depot. If you are free on Thursday, stop by!
October 13, 2007 at 3:08 pm
Congrats and thanks to all on City Council & staff for finally moving the “mountain” and getting a parking deck for old town.
October 14, 2007 at 10:09 pm
I am happy this garage will ease the parking woes of VRE commuters, and possibly make it easier for my family and I when we attend festivals, concerts, and the like in Old Town. But let us be serious. Is this worth that big of a pat on the back ? An Old Town business owner might give an enthusiastic yes. Yes, it is something. I congratulate council for doing something. We’re ‘helping’ Old Town againl. But you know what, I will still have to walk just a couple blocks from my car to where I want to go; be it from this parking garage or from Battle, West, or Main Streets.
I hope that after the back patting is complete, coucil members and the mayor will focus on their vision of what they want Manassas to be now and in the future. Does anyone else think they should be about done with putting their eggs in the Old Town basket for a while, begin to look a lot further down the road of Manassas’ future, and cook up some new ideas? I plan to be living in the city for some time to come, and if we want other people to move here and do the same, we’ll have to do better than a parking garage that we rode on the back of VRE to get.
Good luck council members, thanks for your service to the city, and thank you Mr. Harrover for running this forum.
October 15, 2007 at 6:49 am
publius, you should check out the recently passed economic development initiative. It provides for the creation of unique incentive districts accross the City. Staff and Council are currently working their way through it. I started that ball rolling a couple of months ago but never posted much about it here as most people wouldn’t have found it very interesting.
October 15, 2007 at 8:03 am
Where can I check out the recently passed economic development initiative referred to above?
October 15, 2007 at 9:59 am
I’ll put up a link and write a quick story about it later today.
October 16, 2007 at 10:11 am
publius, I live and work in old town and I can tell you I wish there had been *more* done about parking. 2 large office buildings were put up, one at either end of town, and neither have adequate parking. IMO, they shouldn’t have been allowed without the ground level containing a parking garage. Where did they think the employees of these buildings were going to park?
October 16, 2007 at 7:11 pm
d
October 17, 2007 at 9:32 pm
The parking deck is progress, but, unfortunately, it’s two steps forward and one step back. When this thing is built, folks will be amazed at how it overpowers everything in the vicinity, because of its mass and height. The city’s signature structure, the train station, will be grossly overshadowed. those who stand on the station platform will feel as if they’re standing on the floor of a canyon. Good intentions are great, but the folks in charge just don’t understand the built environment. The reason why there are height limitations in DC is to protect scenic vistas… it’s a vision (pardon the pun) based on a thousand year plan. Manassas, God bless us, just stumbles along, and if we keep doing what we’re doing (with the best, but rather uninformed intentions), the historic fabric will be destroyed. Had the city taken the time, and hired, maybe, even one consultant, the outcome would have been much different. There should be several parking decks, strategically located, of two to three stories height maximum, of an appropriate scale given the scale of the historic district, with ground level features and streetscapes that add life to the town. If anyone remembers when Manassas made its first baby steps in Old Town, namely, by placing power lines underground and installing attractive street lighting in the late 1970s, they will also remember the installation of rediculous faux Olde Englishe street lamps that were totally inappropriate for our Old Town. Clyde Wimmer, God bless him, did’t know any better, and the City Council didn’t either. Lots of folks knew that it was just a matter of time before those rediculous looking Olde Englishe street lamps would come down, because they were just plain embarassing. If Manassas ever recovers from the public relations disaster that has engulfed it in the last two years, and somehow manages to move forward, then the new and beautiful, yet monstrous parking garage will meet the same end as the Olde Englishe street lamps. it will be knocked down and replaced with a structure that pays greater respect to its historical surroundings. Citizens and City Council members will gather, they will celebrate the destruction of the old monstrosity, they will congratulate themselves on their good sense and fine appreciation of civic purpose, and be grateful for how far Manassas has come. I just wish we didn’t always have to take one step back for every two steps we take forward.
October 20, 2007 at 4:36 pm
Tudor Hall, bitch and moan, bitch and moan. You never seem to be happy. The parking deck will be a great asset to old town and will blend well with the existing architecture.
October 20, 2007 at 7:11 pm
Agree with Sam. The City is, at long last, getting something done.
October 20, 2007 at 9:34 pm
Just wait until it’s built…. As I said, the parking deck represents progress, in that it’s being built is probably better than it’s not being built. But, I stand my ground in saying that it could have been done much much better. And I stand my ground in saying that that’s always the case in our town, sadly. Google “parking garage” and “Winchester VA” and you’ll see how to do it right. Google “parking garage” and “Asheville NC” and you’ll see how to do it right. No public building of any consequence should be built without an architectural design competition. Manassas gets what it pays for, which is ugly, almost oppressive, public architecture that reflects the sensibilities of engineers, rather than gifted architects. Look at the new Osbourn High School, which is basically a super-sized Butler Building. We’re all going to have to live with that over-sized Public Storage-looking baby-blue-roofed shed for 50 years. I do bitch… but I just can’t understand how casually we pollute our built environment with ugliness. It is a representation of just how far our society has devolved. Why can’t we try just a little harder to get it right? Why is the notion that we had good intentions such an easy excuse for mediocrity?
October 20, 2007 at 9:41 pm
One other thing :)…. It’s not always bitch and moan. I have said, literally dozens of times, that what Manassas needs is a positive vision backed by real investment. A town that believes in itself is a town that invests in itself. I think that the most positive act, based on a positive belief in our future, would be for Manassas to be a little more aspirational…. like we used to be.
October 21, 2007 at 7:33 pm
And I stand my ground, it seems all you ever do is bitch and moan. Move to Winchester or Asheville, NC. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, and I have seen the parking garage and I think it looks great. I also thing the school looks good, not great, but good. How far in google did you go to find “a town that believes in itself is a town that invests in itself.”
October 22, 2007 at 9:53 pm
Umm, You think Osbourn High School looks good? OK, you drew first blood by revealing yourself as a lost soul. You, surely, have visited few countries. You, surely, have occupied an incredibly narrow socio-economic space. I doubt you have any notion of beauty an any dimension. Manassas is devouring itself in an orgy of self-hatred and finger pointing. If you make a decent wage, or have any money in savings, you need to see and feel and understand the World. Check the discount travel sights on the web. Take a long weekend to China (any of its 20 largest cities). Spend some time in Tokyo, or Istanbul or Barcelona or Sienna, or Guanajuato, or Montreal, or Berlin, or Munich, or Paris, or any city or village along the Cote D’Azur, or the Costa de Sol, or any one of 10,000 beautiful and wondrous places on this Earth. Examine the motivation of their leaders and you will find people who believe in themselves, who believe in their neighbors, who believe in their country, and who believe in their political leadership. And, most importantly, they believe in ther future. Waldron and his merry band of rednecks (despite his degree, which just shows how far a an Ivy League man can fall) believes far more in ideological slavishness to the Republican uber ideal of low taxes than in a well-lived and fulfilling life. Waldron and his family drive to DC for their fulfillment. He leaves the rest of us in Manassas, where we are slowly drowning. He has, truly, abandoned us to the barbarians. Oh God, and Mayor, and City Council, why have you forsaken us? The rednecks vote, but that doesn’t have to mean they own you. SAM… I bitch.. but you are rediculously self-congratulatory on behalf of our self-congratulatory mayor and council.
October 23, 2007 at 11:15 am
Andy… I apologize for my last post, and request that you remove it. It’s nothing more than a high horse rant. I do tend to visit your site after visiting BVBL, which always has the effect of making me very sad and very angry. I should not have directed that fury toward anyone who participates in your blog. In hindsight,
I read what I wrote and recognize that it was totally inappropriate (not to mention that I don’t really believe what was written). Once again, my apologies.
October 24, 2007 at 10:23 am
Tudor Hall…Wow…I’m sorry that you feel you’re the only person in Manassas with any “WORLDLY KNOWLEDGE”. One doesn’t necessarily have to visit “foreign lands” to understand architecture and good taste.
I have visited 30+ states in the Union albeit not every town, city or county, but OHS is a very attractive building compared to ANY “Secondary Education Building” within a 30 mile radius and compared to those that I’ve seen in the state of Virginia or other states.
I don’t know how long you’ve lived in Manassas, but OHS has been transformed 3 times in the last 30 years…getting better, IMO, with each transformation.
Back to parking….
The building at the corner of West and Church was originally suppose to have garage parking for 50 cars, if my memory serves me correctly, but some how, it was built without it. Then you have another monster building that goes from Center to Church Street with VERY hospitable signs (NOT) …about parking for building patrons only. Not to mention these buildings do not, IMO, follow the architecture of the rest of “Old Town”.
The City has not served us well (as far as parking goes)…expanding “Old Town” sidewalks without providing additional parking FIRST…nothing like putting the cart before the horse…
Maybe, Tudor Hall, you could use a 5-10 minute time out, re-read those things that you type before you hit the “enter” button.
October 24, 2007 at 6:33 pm
Here your message WSGFN. You’re going to hear a whole new TudorHall from here on out. I have the best interests of our community at heart. And, sometimes, I have to remind myself that other folks do, as well. The only way that people with different opinion can coexist in a civil fashion is if we all begin with the understanding that folks have good intentions. Manassas is my home place. I love it. I am proud of it… and I find myself defending our town and its citizens on a daily basis. The tragedy is that Manassas is perceived so poorly so widely, which is what I think I react to most strongly. I’m not sure the average guy Andy meets in a meeting in Fairfax will tell him that Manassas is a “war zone”, but that’s what the rest of us hear. And it cuts deep. It must be said, however, that Andy has been a guardian of this place, as much or better than any other. My essential point, which I offer respectfully, is that the local Republican Party in its current configuration, with its current focus, and under its current leadership, has taken a wrecking ball to our town. I mean, truthfully, except for Andy, where is the interest in a long-term strategy? Where is the basic awareness that we’re in a competitive environment to attract quality economic development, and that we’re at a material disadvantage to our neighboring jurisdictions that tend to be more aspirational and back that with community investment in infrastructure appropriate to a knowledge-based economy? I was wrong to suggest that Manassas compares poorly in quality of life measures compared to the rest of the developed World. But I do think that we seem at this particular point in time to be less aspirational than we have ever been in our history. Looking back at the minutes of the Manassas Town Council, and the Manassas City Council in its early years, this place was incredibly aspirational. Our belief in each other was expressed in grand projects and a desire to create a beautiful progressive town. I think we’ve lost that, somehow, by focusing on obscure minutiae, and be being subjected to the straight-jacketed mentality of the new Republicans that government is bad, that local taxes (no matter how low) are a sacrifice rather than an investment in ourselves, and that there is no higher value than low taxes. I think that view does reflect a devolution in our sense of community and in our sense of patriotism. I think its reflects a devolution in our respect for our possibilities, and I think it represents a profound change from our history as a progressive and aspirational town. I wish with all my heart that the Republican members of the City Council would stop foreshadowing their expectation that the citizens of Manassas will revolt at the slightest hint of a tax increase. Rather, they should be proactive in educating the citizenry on what has precipitated this financial crisis, educating us, also, on the dire consequences of not raising taxes. It is true, that some folks will reflexively grow furious at the notion of a RE tax increase (and that those folks are likely to scream the loudest). But, the truth is that incomes in Manassas have not decreased, and that most folks will understand, if it is explained to them, that the services offered them by the City (including the quality of the schools, the quality of their public safety, and the quality of their basic quality of life infrastructure) will be materialy effected if the tax rate is not increased substantially. We just aren’t collectively that stupid. Andy is the one guy who tends to take the long view. We just need the rest of the City Council to demonstrate similar leadership, and, as I’ve said before, the rest of us will fall in behind.
October 24, 2007 at 6:34 pm
Darn it. I misspelled the first word in my last post (can anybody say spell check, or maybe I should have reread it before I posted). Sorry.
October 25, 2007 at 9:54 am
Tudor Hall.
Paragraphs are good.
Your rants are growing tired. If you are a drinking person, you should put a breath alcohol detector on your computer so you don’t post drunk. If you’re not a drinking person, you should investigate anger management therapy.
October 27, 2007 at 1:17 pm
Check out how Staunton and Winchester did it…
http://www.archnewsnow.com/features/Feature107.htm
http://www.traditional-building.com/palladio/pallwin4.htm
http://www.winchesterva.gov/parking/index.php
http://www.frazierassociates.com/pdf/press/02JulVTC_10-13.pdf
http://citycomfortsblog.typepad.com/cities/2003/06/modern_urbanism.html
October 28, 2007 at 9:14 am
What makes them right and Manassas wrong. Pleeese move if you don’t want to be here or just shut up. I am sick and tired of your bitching.
October 28, 2007 at 12:37 pm
Tudor Hall,
Please keep posting. While I don’t always with your
observations, they certainly add to the diversity of the blog
and give readers reason to reflect.
October 30, 2007 at 10:49 am
Yes Tudor Hall…I’m a screamer…Probably louder than your spouse…ESPECIALLY when we talk about TAX increases.
As the proverbal saying goes…All S*&T rolls down hill…however it starts at CAPITAL HILL. If the federal government could manage it’s money better for TRUE needs instead of wants (like my mother always taught me). We would all be in MUCH better financial shape.
I would like to use that extra money for “LONG WEEKENDS” to China, as you suggest…however, that’s a “PRETTY LONG WAY” for a LONG WEEKEND!