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The Official-ish DC Thread

OldTown

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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.
"Gentrifying" is classism terminology.
 

OldTown

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+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.
I literally was called out last week for telling someone to avoid the area on here by @TheSuitBurnsBetter. Columbia Heights has gone to **** the last few years and it's only gotten worse the last year with shootings and rowdy teenagers committing crimes and robberies.
 

TheSuitBurnsBetter

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"Gentrifying" is classism terminology.
I actually hate the term gentrifying (and I hate "gentrifier" even more) and try not to use it because it obscures more than it explains. But it was in the op so I went with it.
I literally was called out last week for telling someone to avoid the area on here by @TheSuitBurnsBetter. Columbia Heights has gone to **** the last few years and it's only gotten worse the last year with shootings and rowdy teenagers committing crimes and robberies.
And there are thousands of people who live in this neighborhood. I dont think it's fair to call anyone's home "****."
 

Joffrey

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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.


Thanks for the comments (including those I didn't quote). I have decided to give up on the MVT location - it's just not a neighborhood I am excited about particularly with proximity to work and nightlife no longer a factor. The unit was great, though.

I was pretty close to biting on a Dupont/U St location that needs some work but is priced aggressively until I came across a great unit in... CoHo just a block or two from DCUSA (thankfully not on 14th street). The unit is great and the surrounding homes are also nice. Surprised I'm contemplating putting an offer as I'm also generally opposed to living in the neighborhood. I would at least be walking distance to the 11th and Park strip.
 

smittycl

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hpreston

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Man, it seems like all the stuff I mentioned in the Drake’s thread as being suspect is available in all sizes. Kind of sucks as I like Drake’s but they must be hurting.

I don’t think this is a sign of hurting business for drakes, they are closing their factory store permantly, they have said they planned to liquidate the factory store inventory rather than find a place to store it.

of course, I’ve been known to be wrong in the past. On occasion.
 

Ambulance Chaser

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If you want more bang for your buck real estate wise but want a diverse neighborhood, certainly look at Noma around Union Market.
A few months ago, I visited Union Market for the first time in awhile and was shocked at the development, both residential and businesses, that had sprung up there. Seemed like a cool place to live. I'm not sure how comfortable I would be walking home from the NoMa metro station at night, however. I'm risk averse and would pick somewhere in NW if I was looking for an apartment rental.
 

Rumpelstiltskin

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I literally was called out last week for telling someone to avoid the area on here by @TheSuitBurnsBetter. Columbia Heights has gone to **** the last few years and it's only gotten worse the last year with shootings and rowdy teenagers committing crimes and robberies.

Columbia Heights has gone to **** the last few years? How long have you lived in this area? I remember what the area looked like before the Metro was put in. It was atrocious. Columbia Heights is the best it has ever been
 

smittycl

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Hmmm some good finds. But surprised that their sport coats are only half canvas.
I tried some of their tailoring at the NYC store last year and it seemed okay but nothing special. They’ve gone in some strange directions seemingly trying to differentiate themselves.

Seems like a lot of their stuff is overpriced and uninteresting (at least to me).
 
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dc_slicker

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interesting discussion on where to live in DC.... we moved out due to our son being born so we did it for good school in a nice suburb of Fairfax
but looks like i will be moving out of our house at some point as mrs filed for divorce. sigh... covid takes lives or breaks marriages :(

so i might consider moving back (though, i would prefer to be close to our son), but it is an option.
Would be nice to walk places...
 

smittycl

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Hmmm some good finds. But surprised that their sport coats are only half canvas.
I guess I shouldn’t be too hard on them. They make some outstanding stuff but I find I need to cherry pick closely now.

Looking at the olive cardigan. I have a bunch of those but not in that color. They work well under a suit here in the winter.
 

Ambulance Chaser

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Sorry to hear the bad news, @dc_slicker. Clarendon would be a good compromise between plenty of amenities and proximity to your son.
 

dc_slicker

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Sorry to hear the bad news, @dc_slicker. Clarendon would be a good compromise between plenty of amenities and proximity to your son.
That's a nice location and compromise in terms of distance.

I am thinking two bedroom place... one for me and one for my son when I have him over. We are yet to start the conversation of how it all falls into place, but I certainly hope she won't fight me on joint custody.
 

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