The Official-ish DC Thread

[smittycl]

I didn't know Bobby Flay lived in DC now.

I do ask my wife to yell “Iron Chef!” when we’re in the sack.

 

[TheSuitBurnsBetter]

I do ask my wife to yell “Iron Chef!” when we’re in the sack.

I bleach my hair and have my wife say "Take me to Flavortown!" Totally normal stuff.

 

[hpreston]

I bleach my hair and have my wife say "Take me to Flavortown!" Totally normal stuff.

?

You guys are killing me....

 

[lordsuperb]

Has anyone participated in the all you can eat crab at Union Market?

 

[Joffrey]

Sorry, no. But largely because Union Market is just too far from me to visit more than a couple of times a year.

Any of you familiar with Mount Vernon Triangle as a potential option to live? I've spent some time in the area (Convention Center, Blagden Alley, etc.) for nightlife but not sure about living there - especially since COVID dilutes the nightlife consideration. The condo I'm looking at is pretty much surrounded by public housing and appears to have a high volume of crime (according to DC crime map). When I did take a look there appeared to a be a number of nicer homes (rowhouses) and condos in the immediate area so maybe I'm just being a chicken? Any thoughts some of you have on considering "gentrifying" neighborhoods would be welcome as I am moving from the exact opposite - FYI I have/am considering some places in Dupont/U St, AdMo, Mt. PLeasant, Cleveland Park under consideration too. I'm giving this unit some serious thought as it's nearly perfect (updated, move-in ready) while another option in Dupont/U st. is much cheaper but could use some work (not necessarily immediate).

 

[beepbop]

Sorry, no. But largely because Union Market is just too far from me to visit more than a couple of times a year.

Any of you familiar with Mount Vernon Triangle as a potential option to live? I've spent some time in the area (Convention Center, Blagden Alley, etc.) for nightlife but not sure about living there - especially since COVID dilutes the nightlife consideration. The condo I'm looking at is pretty much surrounded by public housing and appears to have a high volume of crime (according to DC crime map). When I did take a look there appeared to a be a number of nicer homes (rowhouses) and condos in the immediate area so maybe I'm just being a chicken? Any thoughts some of you have on considering "gentrifying" neighborhoods would be welcome as I am moving from the exact opposite - FYI I have/am considering some places in Dupont/U St, AdMo, Mt. PLeasant, Cleveland Park under consideration too. I'm giving this unit some serious thought as it's nearly perfect (updated, move-in ready) while another option in Dupont/U st. is much cheaper but could use some work (not necessarily immediate).

I think that area is relatively nice. I don't know about safety during covid-times given the decrease in foot traffic, but I never felt unsafe walking and running around there. Only place in NW that ever gave me any sort of pause was Columbia Heights last year, but even then it was fine during the day.

 

[Ambulance Chaser]

I have a friend who lives in one of the new super-luxury apartment buildings near the Convention Center. He really likes the area. Where is your potential building located? I strongly urge you to look west (9th Street and up) of the Convention Center.

 

[TheSuitBurnsBetter]

Sorry, no. But largely because Union Market is just too far from me to visit more than a couple of times a year.

Any of you familiar with Mount Vernon Triangle as a potential option to live? I've spent some time in the area (Convention Center, Blagden Alley, etc.) for nightlife but not sure about living there - especially since COVID dilutes the nightlife consideration. The condo I'm looking at is pretty much surrounded by public housing and appears to have a high volume of crime (according to DC crime map). When I did take a look there appeared to a be a number of nicer homes (rowhouses) and condos in the immediate area so maybe I'm just being a chicken? Any thoughts some of you have on considering "gentrifying" neighborhoods would be welcome as I am moving from the exact opposite - FYI I have/am considering some places in Dupont/U St, AdMo, Mt. PLeasant, Cleveland Park under consideration too. I'm giving this unit some serious thought as it's nearly perfect (updated, move-in ready) while another option in Dupont/U st. is much cheaper but could use some work (not necessarily immediate).

It's a cool area, walking distance to a lot of stuff. My wife lived around there when she first moved to DC in 2010 before moving to Columbia Heights in 2011.
When it comes to moving to a gentrifying area, I'm of the opinion that people should move to places they can afford that have amenities that are important to them (public transportation, parks, etc) and once they've moved there to just not be jerks to black and/or lower income people who already lived there. There are a bunch of articles called "how not to be a gentrifier" that are ludicrous and 90% of them can be safely ignored. If the concern is that moving to a gentrifying neighborhood could displace lower income residents, the best thing to do is support local policies that can prevent displacement like rent control, fully funding section 8 vouchers, and increasing the supply of permanently affordable housing.

 

[Ambulance Chaser]

I live in Adams Morgan and love it. It splits the difference between Dupont (now dead for the most part) and U Street (lots of bars full of drunk millennials) with a better mix of amenities (bars, restaurants, grocery stores, green space) than either. Mount Pleasant is nice as well, although considerably quieter.

 

[Idesofmarch17]

Sorry, no. But largely because Union Market is just too far from me to visit more than a couple of times a year.

Any of you familiar with Mount Vernon Triangle as a potential option to live? I've spent some time in the area (Convention Center, Blagden Alley, etc.) for nightlife but not sure about living there - especially since COVID dilutes the nightlife consideration. The condo I'm looking at is pretty much surrounded by public housing and appears to have a high volume of crime (according to DC crime map). When I did take a look there appeared to a be a number of nicer homes (rowhouses) and condos in the immediate area so maybe I'm just being a chicken? Any thoughts some of you have on considering "gentrifying" neighborhoods would be welcome as I am moving from the exact opposite - FYI I have/am considering some places in Dupont/U St, AdMo, Mt. PLeasant, Cleveland Park under consideration too. I'm giving this unit some serious thought as it's nearly perfect (updated, move-in ready) while another option in Dupont/U st. is much cheaper but could use some work (not necessarily immediate).

I literally just moved from the area in the past few months. For my reasons set out below, I actually think that area is getting much worse as far as crime and safety than it has been and would strongly suggest not moving there. My fiance and I lived in one of the new luxury buildings since 2018 on 4th and K, primarily because my former office was in Chinatown and it would cut down the commute. When we moved in 2018 from NE, it was rapidly improving, though the blocks around New York AVE as you go east towards North Cap were still bad.

There had always been some crime, I mean its right next to Chinatown and there are a lot of affordable housing units/buildings around K, but it was not worse than anywhere else in D.C. we had lived. We felt safe walking home at night from work, going out in Chinatown and walking home, etc. But right around January of this year, a new 7/11 opened up on K and 5th, and I swear to you, that one thing started making the neighborhood significantly worse. Almost immediately, a huge spike in robberies, some armed, and other crimes immediately started happening. Plus, my fiance was being made really uncomfortable by some of the people hanging out there, much more so then the upcoming neighborhood in NE we were in previously. That was strike one for us. Once COVID started, the area got worse. In the middle of the day early COVID times, I think April, I was attacked by two men in broad daylight outside the Safeway on 5th and L. I myself am not a small gentleman and I actually fought my way away while one flashed a knife. Strike 2. The final strike was that due to COVID, all the younger, wealthier folks making up the new building units either got laid off or started working from home, so the buildings became ghost towns. Why pay extremely high rents for small apartments if you cant enjoy being close to work and the crime was starting to get worse? We started looking for a townhouse in NE and moved back to a more "developing" area than Mount Vernon Triangle and we feel 10000% safer than we did on K a few months ago. With COVID changing the landscape of real estate for the short and medium term future, I also don't think Mount Vernon will have the gentrification it was experiencing around 2018/2019.

I have lived in the area for a while, and my fiance longer, and genuinely would say the two places we would not live in NW would be Chinatown/Mount Vernon Triangle and Columbia Heights (speaking as folks who moved to NE and not Capitol Hill). I do think Mount Vernon is much better around Blagden Alley than east of the Convention center, especially around K. If you want more bang for your buck real estate wise but want a diverse neighborhood, certainly look at Noma around Union Market. Just my thoughts. Happy to answer questions.

Edit: To just clarify one thing - when I speak about the "strike one", it wasn't because Ms. Ides was feeling weird about the sorts of people hanging out in front of 7/11 on the way home from work, it was because a number of individuals attempted to either assault or grope her. It was multiple attempts in a few-week window, versus 0 the previous 2 years. Just to clarify because my writing did not make that clear earlier.

 

[Ambulance Chaser]

+1 on avoiding Columbia Heights. People think it's a good neighborhood because of DCUSA. Popville is constantly reporting on shootings in the area, including the one last night behind DCUSA.

 

[TheSuitBurnsBetter]

Got my DC ballot in the mail yesterday, going to drop it in one of the ballot drop boxes later today. They even give you an "I voted" sticker in the envelope!

 

[Easily Amused]

Got my DC ballot in the mail yesterday, going to drop it in one of the ballot drop boxes later today. They even give you an "I voted" sticker in the envelope!

If you're lucky, you may even get to pick up another "I voted" sticker at the ballot drop box. Picked up my extra sticker for souvenir purposes...

 

[TheSuitBurnsBetter]

If you're lucky, you may even get to pick up another "I voted" sticker at the ballot drop box. Picked up my extra sticker for souvenir purposes...

I wouldn't want Trump to see my two stickers and think I voted twice!

 

[TheSuitBurnsBetter]

Thwarted! Turns out the DC ballot drop boxes don't open until October 5.