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hi everybody! my husband and i are relocating to dc from chicago in a few months, and we are at a loss regarding our housing search. we'd like to rent for the first year or so and would love some insight into neighborhoods.
we are in our mid-30's with no children, one dog and a car. proximity to restaurants and boutiques are important, but we prefer a relatively sedate neighborhood over something with lots of young post-grads and loud bars. we currently live in a very "artsy" area of chicago with lots of galleries and eclectic people, which we love. we don't want / need to be surrounded by people who look and talk exactly like us (upper-middle income professionals), so we're very comfortable with "up and coming" areas if appropriate (as long as they are safe).
architecture and design is important to us, as we'd ideally love to be in an area with interesting architecture, row houses, history, etc. as opposed to all new developments.
any insights would be so appreciated! many thanks in advance!
Where do you live now? I moved Hyde Park > Ukrainian Village > WP/Bucktown > Logan Square over the course of 13 years in Chicago (and I still haven't left the Chicago forum here completely behind). Although most of the urban energy and density in DC is in DuPont-Logan-U Street area north of downtown, it still somehow feels lacking in "neighborhoody" feel to me. I'd expect that a neighborhood with that retail mix and with those demographics should have boutiques, but 14th Street has just a few furniture stores and a few vintage shops amongst all the small-plates wine bars.
I've been in Columbia Heights for a few months and it's certainly active, but it's similarly kind of hollow -- the restaurants are just okay, the indie coffee places close at 6 and 8PM (although a 24-hour one is coming). Sometimes, I wonder if people are just less entrepreneurial or less creative here; there really aren't hipsters anywhere, which is pretty striking considering that every American city of half a million residents seems to have a resident bunch.
Overall, Capitol Hill seems like the most eclectic urban neighborhood in the area. Parts of it are rather twee, parts of it are sometimes sketchy, but it's a good mix.
Del Ray, Takoma, DC/ Tokoma Park, College Park, Shaw, Mt. Pleasant, Cleveland Park, Silver Spring....maybe even far reaching cities like Annapolis or Frederick would be something to consider.
Seems DC's "artiness" skews less towards hipsters and their monied patrons and more towards the institutional, the nerdy and regularly employed (Smithsonian, Library of Congress, NEA, NPR, PBS, Discovery, National Geographic, Univ. Md, etc.). I even know a handful of actors who somehow manage to eek out a living off of DC's theatre scene. I kind of find it refreshing in comparison to overly-hip and trend-chasing scenes in places like NY, LA or Miami. Folks in DC are quietly doing lots and lots of fascinating artsy things without having to plaster "I am artsy" on their forehead.
Halfway kidding. I agree with RozCat, there are plenty of people in DC who are artists as in "people who create art" but who don't necessarily come across as eclectic, at least not in appearance/dress. I also agree with RozCat's suggested locations.
thanks, everybody! my search is leading me towards capitol hill and u street / shaw. we're desperate for a reasonably-priced row house rental.
to clarify, we aren't hipsters and are definitely not hoping to surround ourselves with hipsters. we just don't want to be surrounded by a bunch of lawyers, capitol staffers, etc. and are hoping to find an eclectic and creative group of friends who can we relate to. we appreciate art and design and would love to find people who share our interests... that's all.
paytonc, nice to virtually meet a windy city transplant! i hope you are enjoying dc. we live in andersonville (after stints in old town, lakeview, river north and gold coast) and absolutely love our neighborhood. it's going to be hard for us to leave it, it feels like a real community up there and is very tight knit. lots of indie shops, restaurants, etc., which is important to us to recreate in dc (if at all possible). the thought of living in a sterile enviornment with lots of chain shops and restaurants makes me want to cry!
I don't think you can go wrong with U street or the Hill. Yeah there are lot of lawyers and staffers in DC but you can avoid them. I mean I certainly have. I went out with one lawyer who was actually pretty cool just a couple dates and hookups nothing fancy but he was nice. Not stuffy at all.
I'd say that U street is going to be rowdier than Capitol Hill. Going out with someone on the Hill so I'm about as familiar as someone who lives in Virginia can be. Its really neat and fairly quiet. If you still want excitement then go for U street. He used to live off U street and complained about the noise and constant stream of party goers.
Adams Morgan is cool and eclectic. I've heard mixed reviews regarding crime though. I'm guessing that has to do with so many partiers patronizing the bars on 18th street.
Sounds like you got it together regarding what you want. Normally I'd recommend my own neck of the woods Arlington but that so doesn't sound like what you're looking for. My own neighborhood is super residential with nothing really in walking distance but a corner store and a Tex Mex restaurant. I like it just hate my commute to the burbs. If I was going to recommend anything in VA that's kinda artsy would be the little neighborhood of Del Ray in Alexandria. Its pretty cool with nothing but independent shops and restaurants on Commonwealth Avenue.
I don't think you can go wrong with U street or the Hill. Yeah there are lot of lawyers and staffers in DC but you can avoid them. I mean I certainly have. I went out with one lawyer who was actually pretty cool just a couple dates and hookups nothing fancy but he was nice. Not stuffy at all.
I'd say that U street is going to be rowdier than Capitol Hill. Going out with someone on the Hill so I'm about as familiar as someone who lives in Virginia can be. Its really neat and fairly quiet. If you still want excitement then go for U street. He used to live off U street and complained about the noise and constant stream of party goers.
Adams Morgan is cool and eclectic. I've heard mixed reviews regarding crime though. I'm guessing that has to do with so many partiers patronizing the bars on 18th street.
Sounds like you got it together regarding what you want. Normally I'd recommend my own neck of the woods Arlington but that so doesn't sound like what you're looking for. My own neighborhood is super residential with nothing really in walking distance but a corner store and a Tex Mex restaurant. I like it just hate my commute to the burbs. If I was going to recommend anything in VA that's kinda artsy would be the little neighborhood of Del Ray in Alexandria. Its pretty cool with nothing but independent shops and restaurants on Commonwealth Avenue.
...and along Mt. Vernon Av.
Del Ray has a "small town" feel. Other recommended neighborhoods are more urban.
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