WASHINGTON – Despite a national trend to develop housing near shopping centers and major highways, development was a bad word in Prince William County for the last decade. But after getting hit hard by foreclosures, the county is changing course.

Nowhere is that more obvious than at Potomac Town center in Woodbridge, where hundreds of townhouses sit across the street from a giant retail center. Route 1 has been transformed by stores like Wegmans.

But not everyone is sold.

Some residents worry that traffic could get out of control.

WTOP’s Hank Silverberg contributed to this report. Follow Hank Silverberg and WTOP on Twitter.

(Copyright 2012 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)