Brookland -- anyone live there?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I get tired of these out of date anectdotal stories that supposedly prove how awful various east side neighborhoods are. My husband was held up at gunpoint in Glover Park-so what? Point is that Brookland, H St, and various neighborhoods have changed so much in the last 10 years. It is really apples to oranges.

OP, I wanted to recommend Eckington to you-which is my neighborhood. it is not quite as cheap as it was 2 yrs ago, but an easy commute to the hill (where i work). In the 650k range I think you can still get a giant victorian row house that should appraise better than H St, which unfortunately has better location but the quality of construction is not as good (H st area has lots of foundation issues and houses w/o basements built directly on the dirt, from what i have seen). Good luck!

HI, thanks! OP here, though the new OP seems to be the one who reenergized the thread. Eckington seems like a really neat neighborhood too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm obviously concerned with safety but I've already visited the crime sites and feel pretty good about that. So i'm also talking about the neighborhood / sense of community aspect. Second question is to do with appraisal. I wonder if I should be nervous that Brookland houses are going to remain VERY flat or even drop further due to the market volatility while Hill East and Atlas District are expected to do better w/in 8-10 years? We are not looking to make money off of this home, but we don't want to be glued in a home and be so upside down that we couldn't sell for the next two decades without taking a steep haircut.

I don't live in Brookland, but I am a native of the area, I have looked in Brookland in the past, and my DH went to grad school at CUA for about 10 years.

As long as I can remember, Brookland has been "up and coming." From my perspective, the problem is that it has never really gotten there. That's cool if you don't want to live in Chevy Chase or whatever, but I think you need to be totally realistic about the schools and the safety in the neighborhood, as well as the property values over the long haul. Periodically people get lulled into a sense of security and then something like the shooting at Colonel Brooks' Tavern a few years back happens. It will never be Bethesda.

Some friends of ours lived in the neighborhood when they were both in grad school at CUA and when they would take their small child to the park, there were needles there.

So just bear that all in mind, ride the metro in the area, and walk the neighborhood before you make a decision.

OP here. You probably didn't see that this thread is old. I can't criticize because I did the same thing - ha ha. I can say that now that I've been living in the area for 2 years, I've NEVER seen any needles in any area parks (but plenty of really nice families are plentiful) and I also can't believe you're referring to the Col Brooks shooting (basically an employee on employee crime that happened over 8 years ago) and then saying it will never be *Bethesda* (hello, lululemon not vicious and scary enough for you?)

I didn't move to the Brookland area because it is up and coming (although there is development happening, for those who value that). I moved here for what it is right now, which is an amazingly family friendly, affordable patch of DC where you get a decent lawn, a nice big and well-constructed house, a sense of community, and a DC zip code. There are plenty of things brookland is not (extremely walkable, a place where you'll find a starbucks on every third block - or at all) but of all the things it's not, I'm probably gladdest that it's not Bethesda.

No offense to Bethesda or anything but I don't think you'll find many Brooklanders who think "gee, this is almost as good as my top choice, bethesda." LOL

[Anonymous]

Great response, OP. As a Brooklander I completely agree.

[Anonymous]

"There are plenty of things brookland is not (extremely walkable, a place where you'll find a starbucks on every third block - or at all) but of all the things it's not, I'm probably gladdest that it's not Bethesda.

No offense to Bethesda or anything but I don't think you'll find many Brooklanders who think "gee, this is almost as good as my top choice, bethesda." LOL"

I LOVE this. I have nothing against Bethesda, but I have no desire to live there. I live near downtown Silver Spring, and especially over in the schools board, it sometimes gets bashed as having people who move there who "can't afford Bethesda, so do the best they can." Ugh, no. I love that we can be a one car family in SS because we can walk to the metro so I can get to my job in downtown DC, and my husband can commute his 10 minutes to his job, one of many large organizations where people can work in Silver Spring.

The houses and neighborhoods have so much charm, we have a big yard and a large, sunny eat-in kitchen, and a three bedroom home. There are good schools, and we can walk to two parks and walk to the bike trails at Sligo Creek. I walk to ALL my doctor's appointments, (primary care, obgyn, eye dr., and dentist) something I couldn't even do the in the district! (We do drive to the pediatrician). It is walkable, there are cute restaurants, and it's a fantastic place to raise a family. It's not Bethesda, and I promise, I'm fine with that.