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By URIAH KISER
MANASSAS, Va. — How do you spruce up a neighborhood that’s about to turn 50-years-old?
In Manassas’ Georgetown South neighborhood, residents bought sod, paint, and during a community clean-up effort, residents and volunteers worked together to make their neighborhood a better place to live.
Saturday marked the second year residents came together for a neighborhood clean-up aptly named “Your Pride Outside Spring.” A total of 22 households bought a combined 458 rolls of sod from Georgetown South’s non-profit homeowners association – each of the sod rolls were wrapped in 10-square-foot rolls. The residents then got help installing the new grass from the neighborhood’s maintenance staff.
“None of this would have been possible or practical had it not been for Centreville Sod and Tim Demeria, who gave us an incredible and very cost effective price. This is all part of our ‘cleaning up’ the community as a whole, which we started doing intensively last year,” said Meg Carroll, with the homeowner’s association. “This phase has the owners and residents doing much of the work on their own homes, rather than volunteers (as has been the case in the past) to create a send of pride in their houses and the community.”
Located just outside Old Town Manassas, Georgetown South was the brainchild of the 1960s, when a developer with their sights set on Manassas wanted to construct colonial-style row houses that resembled those in Washington’s famed Georgetown neighborhood. Early advertising for the neighborhood that appeared in the town’s old newspaper, The Manassas Journal Messenger, marketed elegant homes located just south of the nation’s capital.
On the Georgetown South Homeowner’s Association’s website, some of the text used in those early advertisements is still featured.
“Each street is a picture of beauty. Each home varies in materials, colors, and shape from its neighbors…exactly like the expensive houses of Georgetown,” states the website.
But now as the neighborhood is set to commemorate its 50th anniversary next year, Georgetown South has become known for crime, drugs, and is often mentioned in city police reports. That image is something Carroll, and many who live there, are trying to change.
In recent years, the homeowners association has touted needed improvements that have been made, including:
– Increased lighting on the common areas to encourage community engagement and discourage crime
– Creation of a fitness walk on the outer perimeter of Georgetown South to offer as an amenity to our residents
– Expansion of existing play areas to accommodate special needs
– Organization of a passive, but effective Neighborhood Watch
In March, the Early Head Start Child Development Center in the neighborhood became the first in the state to earn a coveted five-star rating. The neighborhood now also has a pediatric center inside its community center.
In addition to the installation of sod and new paint, a community health fair, and a yard sale was also held Saturday. Organizers said it was a great way for residents to clean out their homes and help make someone’s old trash someone’s new treasure.
