Description of DC Neighborhoods?

Question

I'm moving to DC and was wondering if a DC native could give me a rundown of their take on the various neighborhoods of DC.
Any info would be helpful - including Housing (architecture/rent) / crime/ nightlife/ restauraunts/ dog friendliness /parking

Thanks!

Thanks for your responses, here is an update to my vague question:

We have a budget of up to 2,000/month for rent. We are in our mid 30's, professionals, a lesbian couple with a dog looking to rent a 2 bedroom in a cool, relatively safe neighborhood. Need to be close to the metro, but we have 1 car we need to park.

We know dupont is cool but very expensive. We've heard mt pleasant and logan circle are pretty cool. We'd prefer to stay in NW.

We've found lots of listings on craigslist but have a hard time determining if they're in a good neighborhood.

Thanks for any/all information!

Answer 1

There's so many neighborhoods I don't know where to start.
But if you can PM me with either a neighborhood you are already looking at, or at least a quadrant (NE, NW, etc). Or a little about your budget, or do you need public transportation, etc? Townhouse or freestanding house or condo/apartment? Rent or buy? I'll be glad to help!

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Check Logan Circle or Columbia Heights.

Mount Pleasant is very hit-or-miss. Mount Pleasant Street itself is pretty shabby and dumpy, I would never want to live there. A little further back towards the Park, 3 blocks or so from Mt. Pleasant Street, the area gets much better and there are some lovely townhouses but if you are not familiar with the neighborhood, I'd not take the chance. Parking is horrible, but rents are reasonable and Rock Creek Park is great for dogs.

Logan Circle: architecture on most blocks is stunning. Rents are high but you can find a nice place on $2000/month. Very GLBT friendly. There is a large park in the middle of Logan Circle itself which is always full of dogs and their owners. Plenty of restaurants within a 5 block walk or so. Parking is iffy but many apartments will have a space you can rent. In your price range you will get an apartment and not a house here. Public Transportation will be by bus, or a longish walk to metro.

Columbia Heights: better parking but block-by-block in terms of safety. Most streets are nice and safe but there are still a few creepy ones. Metro in the neighborhood, lots of busses. You may find a house on $2000/month if you look around; lots of apartments and condos to rent in that price range. Not a lot of restaurants/bars yet but lots of new commercial development going on. Many homes were built in the early 1900's so the architecture is great. Lots of people have dogs but there are not many places for them to run free; if you have a car, though, you're just 5 minutes from Rock Creek Park.

DuPont: Great nightlife, tons of restaurants, horrible parking, very expensive and many of the older homes have been converted to condos, losing their character in the process (I do not understand why anyone would remove crown molding or tin ceiling). The large park in the center of DuPont Circle itself is the best you will do for dog-friendly, though.

Personally I would go for Logan or Columbia Heights. Petworth has a lot of similarities with Columbia Heights but more crime; still worth looking into though!

Also if you have an address on a property you're interested in, do a search for "DC crime map" or similar; you'll find an interactive map on either the DC Gov website or DC Police (MPDC), can't remember which. Type in your address and it will show you the crime reports from that area for whatever time range you specify; I think it does about a 20-block radius.

Answer 2

The Logan Circle area is the new LGBT area. Dupont used to be, but the gays have all migrated eastward and started the regentrification process in the Logan area. Dupont's still nice, but the prices have skyrocketed, and there is an increasingly large number of chain stores/restaurants.

Columbia Heights, Mt. Pleasant and the U Street areas are all fun neighborhoods too. Some areas are still hit or miss - one street might be nice the next not so much. A lot of it depends on your personal level of comfort.

Adams Morgan is a fun bar area, but I wouldn't advise living in the 18th street corridor. The traffic (foot & vehicle) at night is horrible, not to mention the noise from the bar patrons...

Answer 3

If you would consider going to a close-in suburb I would check out downtown Bethesda, Silver Spring or Takoma Park. All of those are on the Red Line (SS and Takoma Pk are northeast of downtown, Bethesda is northwest). They're very close to downtown - basically adjacent to the DC border so very close and they're easy to get downtown. All those areas have nightlife, especially Bethesda, and they all have TONS of great restaurants and stores and stuff. Plus a short trip into the city. It may also be easier and cheaper to find parking there and more dog-friendly. They all have a more urban feel than being in a far-out suburb.

Other than that, I would go for Dupont Circle or Adams Morgan if you can afford it.

Answer 4

Most anywhere in South East, especially in the Anacostia neighborhood, bad schools, poor librarys, ignored since the mayor Barry days. Also the Trinidad neighborhood. Currently DC has traffic check points that stop and search all vehicle's entering and leaving the neighborhood. Google Washington DC Trinidad, or DC crime emergency. Its pretty bad there.

Answer 5

Can you give us an idea of your budget, and whether you want to rent or buy?
I love Southwest DC. It is close to the monuments, Smithsonean, and metro. It is less expensive than Georgetown which I agree is beautiful and fun, but astronomical in price.
Northeast DC is a little pricier (a friend just bought a row house for $700,000 for example), but also a little triendier. Enough nice restaurants and good access to public transportation.

Answer 6

Georgetown is nice. I've been there at night but just to eat. I hear its pretty pricey, though.

I used to go through northern VA a lot. Lots of DC commuters live there. There's a train that runs into DC. The traffic's a beeitch.

Answer 7

A friend of mine used a company when she was going to DC to locate properties for her. I believe they were called My Corporate House.com or something like that. You should google them.