May 12, 2008
Would You Still Move to Columbia Heights?
After almost a decade of economic revival and gentrification in many areas of D.C., I wonder what will happen now in the wonderfully diverse Mount Pleasant area, including Columbia Heights and Park View, just north of it. This is the type of place where you can buy a 4-bedroom renovated townhouse for over a million dollars, or a 4-bedroom fixer-upper for under $300,000, just 12 blocks apart.
This historic area suffered a big set-back after the riots related to Martin Luther King’s assassination — so many years ago and yet so recent in memory for this city. Since the real estate boom, and slowly, block by block moving east and north, the number of seriously neglected houses compared to fixed-up and cared-for homes has changed the face of Mount Pleasant. When the Columbia Heights Metro station opened on 14th St., NW near Irving Place, that was a real boon. Then Target and other major stores decided to take a stand next to the Metro. I don’t even recognize 14th St. anymore. But now that the real estate boom is over, what’s the situation?
Well, for a clue, take a look at the Redfin map showing houses for sale there. The distribution of “for sale” signs is heavily skewed to the streets east of 13th St. NW, around Sherman Ave. NW, and across the eastern side of Georgia Ave., NW, in the direction of the Washington Hospital Center where Children’s is located. A lot of them are fixer-uppers, some with half-started jobs waiting for completion. At least 3 are foreclosure sales. Most have been on the market for a long time (average 90 days) and most have had price reductions.
In other words, the locations that were on the frontier of gentrification seem to be suffering the most as the risk/reward equation changes for new owners. No surprise there, it’s just hard to see it actually happening. Look at the sales map for Ledroit Park and you see the same thing, with quite a few more foreclosures.
How far will this go? I don’t know. But in Columbia Heights I would hope that the Metro and 14th St. shopping will continue to positively affect the whole area over time. If you have thick skin, deep pockets, and can wait this out, there may be some bargains out there now as people try to off-load. If you already rent in the neighborhood and have been hoping to buy a home, this may be the breathing space you need to get into the owner’s market before it goes up again.
Things like crime and general living atmosphere are different from block to block, like in New York. So if you don’t already live there you need local intelligence, like this community discussion thread advising someone moving to the area. Other discussion threads talk about fun stuff like roof-crawlers (people, not animals, although you can get lots of raccoons in D.C. too!)
Other relevant blogs:
http://newcolumbiaheights.blogspot.com
http://theheightslife.blogspot.com
http://parkand14th.blogspot.com
Final note: Never write off a local public school until you visit it. Bell Multicultural High School on Highland Place is a gem - and I am not talking about the sparkling new building. I don’t know what the stats say with respect to meeting No Child Left Behind measures, but the principal, staff, students and programs there are amazing, despite enormous challenges. The real stats - like graduation (over 90%) and college-qualification rates (over 80%) are outstanding for a D.C. public school. It is supported by a public-private partnership called MCIP, which was instrumental in getting D.C. to build the new school building a few years back.
Cheers,
Allison
Photo credit via Creative Commons
DCBlogs » DC Blogs Noted said:
[…] Would You Still Move to Columbia Heights? Washington DC Sweet Digs. Excerpt: The distribution of “for sale” signs is heavily skewed to the streets east of 13th St. NW, around Sherman Ave. NW, and across the eastern side of Georgia Ave., NW, in the direction of the Washington Hospital Center where Children’s is located. A lot of them are fixer-uppers, some with half-started jobs waiting for completion. At least 3 are foreclosure sales. Most have been on the market for a long time (average 90 days) and most have had price reductions. […]
May 13, 2008 1:24 AM
Mari said:
Well 12 blocks is a good distance. Even on a nice sunny day. And the blocks over in CH are huge. The funny thing about DC is that each block has its own different personality or vibe. A house on a block near Sherman would have a totally different feel than a house or condo near 14th.
May 13, 2008 1:14 PM
allison said:
Mari, you’re right - and that’s exactly what makes the place so cool (in my view.) My comment was more for potential newcomers who hail from lands of homogeneity, where 12 blocks are typically filled with the same people, same houses, same cars ….
May 13, 2008 2:16 PM
Angelo De La Vega said:
Columbia Heights has come so far… I’d hate to see a shift in momentum now.
May 13, 2008 2:31 PM
Lonnie Bruner said:
“economic revival and gentrification” - Isn’t that a redundant statement?
May 13, 2008 2:33 PM
allison said:
Re Lonnie’s comment above - are economic revival and gentrification necessarily the same thing? I see economic revival as a broader term for the community - for example the creation of more employment and corporate tax revenue through new stores and businesses. This is connected to gentrification, which in my mind at least is more specific to private property turnover and rapid increase in value. Please give me your views ….
May 13, 2008 5:04 PM
Andrew said:
Columbia Heights is an interesting beast. I write for New Columbia Heights, the first blog you linked there, and I’d say most of it is pretty good for houses, especially 11th to 13th from about Belmont to Monroe. The lower part of 14th and 15th can be a little sketchy, but I’d say in general it’s fine, just use your common sense. There’s all kinds of new development too, stores, restaurants, etc. We also wrote about crime on New Columbia Heights - it’s down almost across the board since last year, aside from robbery with gun.
May 13, 2008 7:08 PM
allison said:
Thanks very much Andrew. How about the schools? I always have people asking about that and, as I wrote regarding Bell, you really cannot know the schools from the official statistics. Any ideas on how to get some good local knowledge on that?
May 13, 2008 8:28 PM
Andrew said:
Hey Allison, to be honest I don’t know much about DC public schools. Maybe DCPSWatch? I think Wilson, Banneker and Ellington have the best reputations for DC public high schools, and I believe Bell is up there also. Not too sure though. I know the Washington Post does a series on best high schools in the area too.
http://www.dcpswatch.com/
May 30, 2008 1:36 PM
Barry& Shari said:
We just visited our kids which bought in columbia heights and have lived their for quite awhile to see the growing changes and community thathas grown in this area. We were so impressed and are relocating to the DC/Va area and are interested ourselves in this area.Hopefully it will generate some wonderful positive energy, culture and variety of stores and cafe’s and restaurants to aline the community and let it thrive with energy. It has a very similar feeling to Brooklyn Heights NY. which is so alive right now and happening and evolving. May Columbia Heights evolve the same way, Artisitc energy and others alike.Bring heart into that area and new earth
May 31, 2008 12:44 AM
allison.scuriatti said:
Andrew - thanks for the comments and link on the schools.
May 31, 2008 10:53 AM
allison.scuriatti said:
Barry & Shari: I agree that it feels like Brooklyn, and it already has generated a lot of positive energy. There are a lot of active blogs about this area, which tells you something too.
There are other parts of DC too that have come alive in the last decade. If you like Columbia Heights, Check out Shaw and all along 14th Street NW closer to downtown.
May 31, 2008 10:56 AM