Gold Coast?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had never heard of DC's gold coast, only the one in Chain Bridge- that name always stuck with me because it's high on the bluff along the coast of the Potomac and made sense as far as the name.

Rivers don't have 'coasts'. They have banks, bluffs, even shores. Not coasts. In English, at least in America.

The usage for real estate (as opposed to African places that export gold) is very loose (even for Chicago) and need not be associated with a body of water, which is why I think the gold coast in DC is called that. Though I don't here that name much anymore either - but never for the Chain Bridge area in Va - but I live in Alexandria. Maybe this is something only used in the area itself? Or only by realtors?

Or maybe it gets used by realtors, and then picked up by journalists writing about real estate, and then repeated by people who read what the journalists write...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/where-we-live/wp/2015/06/08/former-home-of-alexander-haig-returns-to-the-market/?utm_term=.a1605bd33544

https://www.washingtonian.com/2008/07/31/luxury-homes-august-2008/

http://washingtonlife.com/2007/06/01/the-2007-wealth-list/2/

evidently.

Three citations, of which two are from 2008 or earlier. Two of the three are real estate columns. The third is from a mag I've never heard of that focuses on the wealthy.

Which might explain why did not see them when googling on "gold coast virgina" In fact references to colonial era virginia and the african gold coast come up earlier. In contrast to googling on gold coast DC, which brings up lots of links to stories about the 16th street area.

So its a really obscure usage, mostly in high end real estate circles, versus a fairly widespread, if somewhat old fashioned usage.

Fair enough, but what's your point? The question has been all along whether another usage exists at all, and whether therefore the person who thought OP meant the area just across the river should be embarrassed or not. I think that is all PP was trying to prove.

The person who responded to OP said flat out that Gold Coast means the Chain Bridge area. No qualifications that it MIGHT mean something else. Being 100% certain of something, that turns out to be incorrect (IE Gold Coast, though occasionally used by a few RE pros in that area to mean McLean and N arlington, is WIDELY used for the 16th street area of DC) would embarrass me if I did it. Plus its likely the user is a RE pro themselves, given that is who primarily uses it that way - and for a real estate pro in the area to be that wrong about a widespread usage of the term in DC, would seem even more embarrassing.

TLDR - before you make a definitive, even slightly insulting statement, maybe google to make sure you are using terms correctly?

NP here. As a PP stated: " It's a fixed term deeply rooted in native DC/black terminology. It's as common as saying you live by the big chair. "

I'm not from here and I'm not black. This is why I'm not embarrassed to not have known what either of these refer too. I heard of Chain Bridge as the gold coast when we first moved here, on Potomac Ave NW. We stood there on the bluff as a neighbor pointed at the homes across the river and listed who lived there. No one in that conversation was a realtor, but I can state that if they were, they probably wouldn't have been familiar with those term either (being white, I assume).

FWIW that area along Potomac Ave is in DC Palisades. Sometimes when I would name my neighborhood, people would think I was referring to some place up in MD. I never got in a tizzy, just acknowledged that there must be more than one. I think the consensus here is also "ok, there's more than one". It's really not that deep. If a friend had asked me about moving to the gold coast, I also would have assumed "OK, you are willing/able to buy in the double digit millions?? Are you sure you can afford that??" Not meaning to be insulting, but thinking someone was funning them by suggesting it.

[Anonymous]

There may be a "gold coast" in VA but because the OP asked about "DC", she/he was likely asking about the described areas off of 16th Street. If they wanted to know about the gold coast of VA, OP would have asked about VA, not DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A couple years ago, I was chatting with a coworker about our recent decision to buy in DC. He asked what neighborhood, and when I replied Shepherd Park, he smiled and said, "Oh, that's the Gold Coast." That was the first time I'd heard of it, although I'm AA (new to the area). My coworker is an AA older gentlemen--who lives in McLean.

It doesn't denigrate AA history in DC that other areas, including part of NoVa, are referred to as the "Gold Coast."

It's not exactly a unique term, and people who use the term may travel in different circles.

Exactly. Good luck getting that point across to the angry PP though.[/quote

As a native Washingtonian, its not that other areas are referred to a the Gold Coast that I find denigrating. It is the suggestion by some on this thread that just because they have not heard of DC's gold coast it does not exist. Or worse, why would a historically AA area of the city have an area that could be described as "Gold Coast". Insulting and racist.

[Anonymous]

FWIW that area along Potomac Ave is in DC Palisades. Sometimes when I would name my neighborhood, people would think I was referring to some place up in MD. I never got in a tizzy, just acknowledged that there must be more than one.

There is more than one! There's a big high rise in downtown Bethesda called the Palisades, and also a neighborhood off MacArthur just before Persimmon Tree known as the Palisades. But they are much lesser known than the DC neighborhood, in the same way that the McLean/North Arlington Gold Coast is much lesser known than the neighborhood in DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

FWIW that area along Potomac Ave is in DC Palisades. Sometimes when I would name my neighborhood, people would think I was referring to some place up in MD. I never got in a tizzy, just acknowledged that there must be more than one.

There is more than one! There's a big high rise in downtown Bethesda called the Palisades, and also a neighborhood off MacArthur just before Persimmon Tree known as the Palisades. But they are much lesser known than the DC neighborhood, in the same way that the McLean/North Arlington Gold Coast is much lesser known than the neighborhood in DC.

The Gold Coast of McLean is not lesser know and let's not act like it is out by ashburn, the Gold Coast touches DC on its western boarder. It is closer to many of the nicer areas of DC like Georgetown, spring valley and the whole river valley such as the mall. I don't find it surprising that the one small pocket of legacy upper middle class African Americans in the city up by Silver Spring might not resonate with most residents where the strip of some of the finest homes in the city in DC's most geographically stunning location might.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

FWIW that area along Potomac Ave is in DC Palisades. Sometimes when I would name my neighborhood, people would think I was referring to some place up in MD. I never got in a tizzy, just acknowledged that there must be more than one.

There is more than one! There's a big high rise in downtown Bethesda called the Palisades, and also a neighborhood off MacArthur just before Persimmon Tree known as the Palisades. But they are much lesser known than the DC neighborhood, in the same way that the McLean/North Arlington Gold Coast is much lesser known than the neighborhood in DC.

The Gold Coast of McLean is not lesser know and let's not act like it is out by ashburn, the Gold Coast touches DC on its western boarder. It is closer to many of the nicer areas of DC like Georgetown, spring valley and the whole river valley such as the mall. I don't find it surprising that the one small pocket of legacy upper middle class African Americans in the city up by Silver Spring might not resonate with most residents where the strip of some of the finest homes in the city in DC's most geographically stunning location might.

Again, different circles.

If you are black, grew up in segregated DC, and remember being awed to learn that there were affluent AAs who could afford those nice houses on or off upper 16th Street, the DC "Gold Coast" really means something to you.

On the other hand, if you're a wealthy C-suite executive with a $5-10 million budget looking for a showcase home in the best geographic location, you aren't thinking about Crestwood or 16th Street Heights, and any number of realtors would be happy to tell you about the "Gold Coast" in Arlington/McLean.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There may be a "gold coast" in VA but because the OP asked about "DC", she/he was likely asking about the described areas off of 16th Street. If they wanted to know about the gold coast of VA, OP would have asked about VA, not DC.

This. Exactly this. But everyone in this forum thinks they should give advice on VA when someone asks about DC. I can see if someone says DC area but when someone says D.C., take them for their word and assume they mean DC proper and not VA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There may be a "gold coast" in VA but because the OP asked about "DC", she/he was likely asking about the described areas off of 16th Street. If they wanted to know about the gold coast of VA, OP would have asked about VA, not DC.

This. Exactly this. But everyone in this forum thinks they should give advice on VA when someone asks about DC. I can see if someone says DC area but when someone says D.C., take them for their word and assume they mean DC proper and not VA.

Except OP said they were moving to DC, not looking in DC, so reasonably could have been understood as referring to the DC area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There may be a "gold coast" in VA but because the OP asked about "DC", she/he was likely asking about the described areas off of 16th Street. If they wanted to know about the gold coast of VA, OP would have asked about VA, not DC.

This. Exactly this. But everyone in this forum thinks they should give advice on VA when someone asks about DC. I can see if someone says DC area but when someone says D.C., take them for their word and assume they mean DC proper and not VA.

While technically correct your argument is trite and really only serves to try and add significance do your argument. When people move here from out of town they say they are moving to DC, more often than not they don't actually move into the limited political boundaries that are DC proper on a city that actually stretches deep into two different states. If you are going to be narrowly minded and literally, people are more likely than not actually referring to the district when they state they are moving in from out of town.

[Anonymous]

gold

[Anonymous]

gold coast when i was growing up (1980s and 1990s) meant areas around 16th st where middle class or well off african american tended to live

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:gold coast when i was growing up (1980s and 1990s) meant areas around 16th st where middle class or well off african american tended to live

LOL. It's like Morton's. If you grew up black and middle class in DC in the 1970s you probably think it's a discount department store, but if you had a different upbringing you might think someone was talking about the steak house.

The DC Gold Coast is like the department store, the VA Gold Coast is like the fancy steak house.

[Anonymous]

Well, maybe Hunt can still afford something on the DC Gold Coast. He can't handle the other one.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/man-who-built-a-24-million-mansion-along-potomac-river-loses-his-battle-to-keep-it/2016/12/20/2f7966a6-bcaa-11e6-91ee-1adddfe36cbe_story.html?hpid=hp_local-news_hunteviction-640pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.951922064a19

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There may be a "gold coast" in VA but because the OP asked about "DC", she/he was likely asking about the described areas off of 16th Street. If they wanted to know about the gold coast of VA, OP would have asked about VA, not DC.

"DC" in common discourse includes MD and VA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

FWIW that area along Potomac Ave is in DC Palisades. Sometimes when I would name my neighborhood, people would think I was referring to some place up in MD. I never got in a tizzy, just acknowledged that there must be more than one.

There is more than one! There's a big high rise in downtown Bethesda called the Palisades, and also a neighborhood off MacArthur just before Persimmon Tree known as the Palisades. But they are much lesser known than the DC neighborhood, in the same way that the McLean/North Arlington Gold Coast is much lesser known than the neighborhood in DC.

The Gold Coast of McLean is not lesser know and let's not act like it is out by ashburn, the Gold Coast touches DC on its western boarder. It is closer to many of the nicer areas of DC like Georgetown, spring valley and the whole river valley such as the mall. I don't find it surprising that the one small pocket of legacy upper middle class African Americans in the city up by Silver Spring might not resonate with most residents where the strip of some of the finest homes in the city in DC's most geographically stunning location might.

I am not black. I am white skinned (dark hair though) and all my grandparents came from Europe. I have lived in NoVa since I moved to this area. However I do not live in the so-called NoVa Gold Coast, and I do spend a fair amount of time in DC, and I have an interest in local history and geography. And I have lived in this area over 20 years.

I have never heard of the Chain Bridge area being called the Gold Coast any time before reading this thread.

I am at least vaguely aware of the 16th street area being called the gold coast.

And again, googling, shows many references to the DC area. Almost none for the NoVa area.

Not every area that has elite homes is called a gold coast.

Part of it may be that the last major discussion of the "gold coast" in the main stream media was when Ron Brown, Secretary of Commerce under Clinton, and quite affluent black man, lived there. Newcomers since have not seen it in the media. So they go by whatever someone tells them (I once heard someone claim that St Michaels was on the Western Shore - he got shore and coast confused - bays have shores, land bodies have coasts - its the eastern shore of the chesapeake, western coast of the Delmarva - not everything some uninformed person says is correct).

But again, the problem with the first response to OP was not that she thought there was another gold coast - it was how definitive they were.

"its not what you don't know that makes you a fool, its what you know that isn't so"