Penn Quarter (Washington: real estate, renting, condos)

[Patrick77]

Hey all,

I'm thinking of renting a place in/near Penn Quarter, what can you tell me about the area? What areas are good? bad? Who are the typical/average residents of Penn Quarter?

Thanks!

[SectumSempra]

That's one of the areas in DC that's experienced major gentrification. Lots of shopping, bars, restaurants and condos have come up in the past couple years. If you can take the noise of the nightlife on Friday and Saturday nights, you will be fine. It's pretty safe as it comprises the eastern part of downtown, Chinatown and the Convention Center area....

[saganista]

That would be the Verizon Center, not the Convention Center, and Penn Quarter/Gallery Place is one very top in-town areas to consider. Museums, shops, galleries, gyms, theaters, restaurants, Metro...the whole nine yards. If you can find a nice spot at a decent price, you'd have to have no interests at all in order not to find it a fascinating place. There aren't any bad areas actually in Penn Quarter...but this is still in the center of the downtown area of a major city. Let's be careful out there. The resident population of PQ is youngish...late 20's/early to mid 30's would be typical. Mostly upper middle class...some leanings toward the artsy/cultured/bookish side might be noted here and there. Rowdy and possibly drunken Caps and Wizards fans might be noted from time to time also. All in all, vibrant, sometimes eclectic, urban living. What's not to like...

[smakawhat]

I dig Penn, it's probably got some of my favorite places to eat out at.

[HomerBrink]

Keep in mind there was never a real neighborhood called Penn Quarter in the District.
It was a name created by real estate developers to give their new builds some cachet.

[saganista]

Plenty of DC neighborhoods got their names from real estate developers, particularly those that were outside the original L'Enfant drawings for the city center...

[Patrick77]

what are the boundaries of penn quarter where most people would say, "I wouldn't live in that area"?

[DC's Finest]

About Penn Quarter

Penn Quarter, Washington, D.C - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

[saganista]

You could also check the Penn Quarter blog and see what people who already live there talk about...things they liked, things they didn't...

[saganista]

Originally Posted by Patrick77

what are the boundaries of penn quarter where most people would say, "I wouldn't live in that area"?

You'd have to head north to find any actually shaky stuff. Above New York Ave along North Capitol is the Truxton Circle neighborhood, which not too long ago would have been maybe the worst in the area. It's doing much better these days, but it's still a little raggedy. Across the way to the east toward Gallaudet University and from there down to at least H Street NE would also not be on the 'must visit' list. But the NoMa development north and west of Union Station is putting big dollars into that area, and Capitol Hill keeps pushing north from East Capitol Street toward H Street NE and Gallaudet beyond, so as long as the whole US economy doesn't crumble or something, it'll probably be the case that these areas keep moving on up...but for now, well, not so hot...