Cleveland Park?

[Anonymous]

I've lways liked Cleveland Park but never lived there. Do people recommend it? Is it a friendly neighborhood? What are the drawbacks (aside from real estate prices)? What about schools? Also, what are the neighborhood's so-called "boundaries"? -- a realtor told me a house on Yuma St. was in Cleveland Park, but I wasn't sure. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Very family friendly, gorgeous homes (if you can afford it), can be close to metro, easy access to both Connecticut and Wisconsin, decent commercial activity (restaurants, coffee, small stores).

Drawbacks: most families seem to send their kids to private (Eaton, e.g., has a lot of OOB families), parking can be a nightmare (unless you can afford a home with parking), traffic IMO seems to either fly down Reno/34th or clogs up near the schools.

Boundaries: Yuma is considered to be "North Cleveland Park," by some realtors, but but residents find themselves more often in Tenley.

[Anonymous]

We are also in Cleveland Park and love it. Yuma is close to CP, but as PP said would really be considered Tenleytown (sometimes called North Cleveland Park) Don't think anything north of Tilden really counts as CP.

It is a friendly neighborhood and there are lots of kids with families, mixed in with the older homeowners. As PP said, most kids do tend to go to private schools, although there is a contingent of Eaton kids as well. Kids tend to get to know each other from pool, summer camp, and other neighborhood activities.

Parking depends entirely on the specific location. If you are very near Wisconsin or Connecticut, parking is a challenge whereas we are in the middle near 34th and never have parking issues in front of our house. Lots of houses have access to off street parking, particularly those that are in the more congested areas.

It is a strong neighborhood with lots of long term residents and that does create a significant amount of NIMBY pressure and disputes within the neighborhood. But in terms of day to day life, we enjoy it, love the commute and the easy access to DC sights, love seeing and hearing the Cathedral, and enjoy our old one-of-a-kind house.

[Anonymous]

We moved to DC - and Cleveland Park - last year. Totally love it. It's close in enough to be a part of the city, but we still have trees and yards and a real neighborhood feel as well. I have one kid at Eaton and another about to start there this fall, and the school has worked out just great. Great shops and restaurants and such around - plus easy access to Rock Creek and the zoo and metro. Lots of families, not as many family friendly places as I was expecting (no easy family breakfast place, for example) - but so many good people and friendly spots. Places like the Cleveland Park Club and Rosedale really add to the community and demonstrate the strength of this neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Advantages: Very family friendly. Historic District with interesting old (many renovated) homes and leafy streets. Low-key Cleveland Park Club for pool, kids camp. Diversity of school age families, young professionals (mostly along Conn. and Wisconsin) and older residents, many of whom have lived there for decades. The kind of neighborhood where kids grow up and want to come back to raise families. Eaton and several independent schools are in CP. Rosedale Conservancy on Newark is the "village green." Tregaron, on the side of Cleveland Park, is another land conservancy with wooded trails open to the public. Old timers call CP a "village in the city" and it feels like it. Metro, stores, restaurants, zoo, Cathedral are walkable.

Disadvantages: Housing, especially single family homes in CP Historic District, can be pricey. Changes to houses require historic preservation review (actually an advantage). Some side streets get a lot of traffic crossing between the major avenues. Parking can be tough near Conn. and Wisconsin Aves. Development can be controversial, particularly over traffic and parking issues.

[Anonymous]

Perspective of someone who lived there for ten years, but has moved out of the District:

I agree with most of the pros. We lived walking distance to the metro, Rosedale, and across the street from the Cleveland Park Club, and I loved all of those amenities.

However, while I lived there, and at a house nearby in Woodley Park, my house was burgled three times. Once while we went to a movie, and one time the burglar went out a back window, as we came in the front. The other came while we were out of town, and made up for it by being particularly destructive. You have to deal with the District government. Don't even get me started on that.

Despite what people tell you, if you work East of the White House, and don't take metro, the commute is not that great. Fighting your way down Connecticut and across town can be a pain. We had neighbors who sent their kids to Eaton, and they seemed pleased enough, but they all went private after elementary.

[Anonymous]

Love the old houses, but for a place in the city it is one boring neighborhood. The retail on that stretch of Connecticut is really moribund.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Love the old houses, but for a place in the city it is one boring neighborhood. The retail on that stretch of Connecticut is really moribund.

It's our hell. The powerful old fogies that live in CP have ruined the retail. From their mafia like control of the ANC to the war on Giant on the other side they have fought any new business that comes our way. There was even a Post article about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Love the old houses, but for a place in the city it is one boring neighborhood. The retail on that stretch of Connecticut is really moribund.

It's our hell. The powerful old fogies that live in CP have ruined the retail. From their mafia like control of the ANC to the war on Giant on the other side they have fought any new business that comes our way. There was even a Post article about it.

Here is the article. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/09/AR2009090902566.html

[Anonymous]

And this..

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/rawfisher/2009/05/the_iron_fist_of_cleveland_par.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Love the old houses, but for a place in the city it is one boring neighborhood. The retail on that stretch of Connecticut is really moribund.

This.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Love the old houses, but for a place in the city it is one boring neighborhood. The retail on that stretch of Connecticut is really moribund.

It's our hell. The powerful old fogies that live in CP have ruined the retail. From their mafia like control of the ANC to the war on Giant on the other side they have fought any new business that comes our way. There was even a Post article about it.

Yes, but they have lost. The new Giant and mixed use retail on Wisconsin is on the way. Even CT Ave is having a resurgence of good restaurants - Hook, Medium Rare, Palena's expanded cafe and shop, Weygandt Wines, the new Ardeo/Bardeo. And they're thinking of making it even more cafe friendly on the east side of CT by taking out that driving lane. The Uptown is a great theater too. So Starbucks and McDonald's didn't make it - no big deal, in came Cacao (much better), and there are others as well (and will be more when the Wisc Ave side is done).

I've been here for 2.5 years now with a young toddler and another on the way. I was surprised to find how many kids are on our block, partially because we seem to so rarely see them. It can be a real mixture of busy professional families and families who have had houses for a long time, plus the condos closer to the main thoroughfares. So there's a real mix of ages in that sense, though it seem like for a lot of the residents, they're gone in the summers (to their summer homes). Not true for everyone of course, but it's' a different feel than Dupont.

Things are quite walkable though b/t Ct and Wisconsin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Love the old houses, but for a place in the city it is one boring neighborhood. The retail on that stretch of Connecticut is really moribund.

It's our hell. The powerful old fogies that live in CP have ruined the retail. From their mafia like control of the ANC to the war on Giant on the other side they have fought any new business that comes our way. There was even a Post article about it.

Yes, but they have lost. The new Giant and mixed use retail on Wisconsin is on the way. Even CT Ave is having a resurgence of good restaurants - Hook, Medium Rare, Palena's expanded cafe and shop, Weygandt Wines, the new Ardeo/Bardeo. And they're thinking of making it even more cafe friendly on the east side of CT by taking out that driving lane. The Uptown is a great theater too. So Starbucks and McDonald's didn't make it - no big deal, in came Cacao (much better), and there are others as well (and will be more when the Wisc Ave side is done).

I've been here for 2.5 years now with a young toddler and another on the way. I was surprised to find how many kids are on our block, partially because we seem to so rarely see them. It can be a real mixture of busy professional families and families who have had houses for a long time, plus the condos closer to the main thoroughfares. So there's a real mix of ages in that sense, though it seem like for a lot of the residents, they're gone in the summers (to their summer homes). Not true for everyone of course, but it's' a different feel than Dupont.

Things are quite walkable though b/t Ct and Wisconsin.

It may be that it will finally happen, but that new Giant has been "on the way" since I moved out of Cleveland Park in 1993. No lie.

The thing about never seeing the kids sounds like the neighborhood hasn't changed very much in other ways, either. We lived there for ten years, and we knew very few of our neighbors. We barely knew the names of the people next door.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Love the old houses, but for a place in the city it is one boring neighborhood. The retail on that stretch of Connecticut is really moribund.

It's our hell. The powerful old fogies that live in CP have ruined the retail. From their mafia like control of the ANC to the war on Giant on the other side they have fought any new business that comes our way. There was even a Post article about it.

Yes, but they have lost. The new Giant and mixed use retail on Wisconsin is on the way. Even CT Ave is having a resurgence of good restaurants - Hook, Medium Rare, Palena's expanded cafe and shop, Weygandt Wines, the new Ardeo/Bardeo. And they're thinking of making it even more cafe friendly on the east side of CT by taking out that driving lane. The Uptown is a great theater too. So Starbucks and McDonald's didn't make it - no big deal, in came Cacao (much better), and there are others as well (and will be more when the Wisc Ave side is done).

I've been here for 2.5 years now with a young toddler and another on the way. I was surprised to find how many kids are on our block, partially because we seem to so rarely see them. It can be a real mixture of busy professional families and families who have had houses for a long time, plus the condos closer to the main thoroughfares. So there's a real mix of ages in that sense, though it seem like for a lot of the residents, they're gone in the summers (to their summer homes). Not true for everyone of course, but it's' a different feel than Dupont.

Things are quite walkable though b/t Ct and Wisconsin.

It may be that it will finally happen, but that new Giant has been "on the way" since I moved out of Cleveland Park in 1993. No lie.

The thing about never seeing the kids sounds like the neighborhood hasn't changed very much in other ways, either. We lived there for ten years, and we knew very few of our neighbors. We barely knew the names of the people next
door.

There are tons of kids in CP. The reason you don't see your neighbors is because they're too busy working at Orrick or Arnold & Porter and the wives are too busy playing tennis at Kenwood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
There are tons of kids in CP. The reason you don't see your neighbors is because they're too busy working at Orrick or Arnold & Porter and the wives are too busy playing tennis at Kenwood.

Yep. The parents are networking at work all hours, and want their kids networking at their private schools, summer camps, and summer homes. It's a particular style of life and, while it may have many benefits, no one should pretend Cleveland Park is a traditional type of neighborhood with a community feel, even if the big houses might suggest otherwise.