Crime in and near DCPS and Charter schools

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:
i think there is one poster posting all of those articles and stories. and if you look, many of those stories are dated years and years ago. this poster strikes me as kind of alarmist, frankly. i am not sure what her motivation is, but i do not share her impressions of this area.

This appears to be a correct assumption. There is a poster who has been all over the school threads with posts about crime. Those posts include 10 consecutive posts in this thread alone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What about Cap City or Haynes? I know that Haynes is on a pretty seedy stretch of Georgia but think I heard that they are moving? What about Two Rivers? It's kind of way off by itself on Florida.

Two Rivers is much closer to Capitol Hill (not surprising as it was founded by some Hill parents who were not happy with the quality of the schools in their neighborhood). It follow the Expeditionary Learning/Outward Bound model like Capital City. That area isn't really a particular neighborhood of its own, but borders several communities, not all of which are residential. The closest residential neighborhoods are Capitol Hill and Trinidad, but there's also Gallaudet, the DC Farmer's Market, and now the new ATF Building and metro stop (and all the development on 1st NE). It's not the most attractive strip of an avenue, but I doubt it's very dangerous. There's not a gang presence because it's quasi-industrial. Nice building though and has a nice enclosed playground. I have friends there who speak highly of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cap City - the lower school is in a super busy area with another charter, a middle school and a high school all close together. I work, so I don't know what it is like after school but I'd check it out then. The playground is on the roof, so a non-issue. I don't know that I'd plan to commute by metro, a lot of crime in Columbia Heights seems to take place around the metro station. Great school, go and see for yourself.

i am starting to feel like a real renegade on this board! i take the bus home from cap city at 6pm every night with my young daughter (42 line). have never had a problem or felt unsafe. i also frequently use the CH metro day and night and walk home from the washington sports club at around 9pm, from CH into AM. never had a problem. don't feel nervous or unsafe. and the funny part is--i am the nervous type!

i have to admit, i am really taken aback by this safety conversation. i mean, yes, these neighborhoods are urban and you should take precautions. and i am aware of the gang issues in these areas, past and present. i just hope these discussions don't give people the wrong impression about what i think is a really vibrant, fun, diverse area of the city. but it IS THE CITY folks.

We can be renegades together. I bring my toddlers home from daycare most nights on the metro to Columbia Heights. Then walk on the streets in the dark. And, I'm considering sending them to a neighborhood school.

[Anonymous]

I have to weigh in too. I am also a nervous nelly about safety. And every time there is an incident I have a few panicked days thinking about our schedule and routine. My child - along with several others in the neighborhood - was on Mt Pleasant street last summer with their nannies when there was a flare up with the document group and guns were brandished. This incident didn't seem to make the news (I haven't looked at the endless links that one flame throwing poster is going crazy on), but freaked out many parents in the neighborhood. But ultimately, life went on. We thought about avoiding COlumbia when there were 4 armed robberies in two days at the local businesses (the coffee shop was hit), but again, life went on. Maybe life just should not just go on, maybe we should do - what? Move? Demand more police presence? I don't know. I've lived in Mt P for more than ten years. There are ups and downs. But the over all trend seems mostly ok. Our rowhouse is great. Our neighbors are friendly and supportive. We like living here. And we mostly, nearly all of the time, feel perfectly safe, and we walk on Columbia, shop on Mt P street, walk to Target, and generally live our life in a way that one poster seems to think is insane.

[Anonymous]

PP, The links were about the immediate area of 17th & Euclid, where Cooke is located.

You seem really aware of crime in the nabe, a lot of people are not. What is your source? Things don't seem to always make the news and the Adams Morgan list seems to mostly list art openings.

What do you think would tip the balance for you in terms of leaving DC?

[Anonymous]

Crime is a frequent topic of discussion on the Adams Morgan listserv. There is also a listserv for the MPD 3rd District, which puts out regular crime reports: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MPD-3d/

[Anonymous]

I'm the 10:11 poster from yesterday. When we first moved to MT P, before kids, we attended some of the PSA meetings and ANC meetings in Mt P - a good wake up call for staying alert in the neighborhood. You can track PSA reports various places. There is a Mt P message board that can be insane when there are issues, but it's also a decent source of info. There's a dying Columbia Heights forum that yields some info. I've never gotten into DCist or Price of Petworth. We also watch local TV news. The Sat and Sun morning news (NBC4) offers good info, too - they did long reports on the Sunday morning shooting along Columbia about a year ago.

Tipping the balance to leave. Good question. I don't know the answer, though we talk about it. We like city living and the trade offs work for us (short commute means more time at home - but we miss having a yard). We don't have the money to move, really - locked into our house and mortgage without the cash to trade up, and wouldn't want to take on a larger mortgage. While housing values went up in Mt P tremendously, we'd only want to move to equally desirable places - Lyon Park, Clarendon, upper northwest, 20816 (forgetting name of neighborhoods just across DC line from Friendship Heights), etc. If there were prolonged periods of violence that affected us closely (and drove down property values screwing us even more!) we'd be making plans, I guess. It hurts my head to think about it. I've seen the digs at rich homeowners in AM and Mt P, and you know what? We're not rich. Our house is a work in progress. We're doing the best we can with what we've got, and all I want is a decent neighborhood school, walkability to attractive, useful, and fun amenities, very easy and fast commutes, and warm and friendly neighbors.

[Anonymous]

@10:54. HUG!! You are not alone, neighbor. And there are a lot of us here in AM, Col. Ht. MtP, Petworth who feel the same way and who are not going anywhere.

Let's focus on making our neighborhoods schools (and our neighborhoods generally) into what we want.

[Anonymous]

I hear ya, PP, I really do. I kind of wish we had moved earlier before we felt less rooted and before we were so locked in financially.

We had just left the coffee place about 5 min before it was held up that Sunday, kind of punctured my bubble, but here we still are. Only go to Starbucks now but the thing that gets me is that there could be a lot of crime or attempts there too and I might just not have heard about it. And for all the digs at JKLMO parents, a lot that I know are also financially pushed, but trying to do their best for their kids. The thing that makes my head hurt is the middle school piece, with little kids you are bringng them and picking them up but as they get older it changes. Not sure I'd be willing to roll the dice on Bancroft or Cooke and have my kids end up at whatever they call Lincoln now. At least 10 years ago DC was a lot cheaper and you could console yourself with that...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:@10:54. HUG!! You are not alone, neighbor. And there are a lot of us here in AM, Col. Ht. MtP, Petworth who feel the same way and who are not going anywhere.

Let's focus on making our neighborhoods schools (and our neighborhoods generally) into what we want.

word

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What about Cap City or Haynes? I know that Haynes is on a pretty seedy stretch of Georgia but think I heard that they are moving? What about Two Rivers? It's kind of way off by itself on Florida.

We live down the street from Cap City, and we were nearly jumped 5 years ago right in front of the school. That block used to be scary. But, now I walk down that block all the time on my way to Target (in the dark too) and I feel fine. EL Haynes is supposed to be kind of funny - there's a liquor store right next door, which my friend appreciates when she picks up her daughter. Apple Tree is right next to the Dunkin' Doughnuts that had the murder in August 2009.

[Anonymous]

I worked in the neighborhood (Columbia Heights/Mt. Pleasant) for many years and it is impossible for me -as much as I love an urban setting--to pass through without thinking about the drug/gang related executions that used to go down in the parks and the gang shootings that affected (and sometimes hit) random passersby. Yes, by ALL MEANS, demand more police presence. Get involved in the schools--like Lincoln and Bell--where kids are recruited from. Be adult mentor examples and volunteers in all the area schools there--public and charter. Contribute to neighborhood beautification. And demand of Jim Graham and other Councilmembers or police officials that they implement the anti-gang initiatives that are always getting shot down because they are 'not PC'. I worked in the neighborhood and it is CRAWLING with gang activity. Gangs are bad for kids; yours, mine, and the ones recruited or jumped in.