Columbia Heights with Kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're in Columbia Heights with a one year old and one on the way and we LOVE it. You can't throw a rock without hitting a playground - the Girard St playground in particular we really love, but there are literally three others just a few blocks from our house. There's also Meridian Hill Park, which doesn't have a playground, but is such a great scene - always tons of people out in nice weather, musicians, picnics, a real community vibe. Plenty of grocery stores, I think, but we're lazy so we just get our groceries delivered. It's very walkable - we don't have a car and it's great - tons of bus lines and the metro is right here, plus really everything you need is in walking distance. It's also one of the few truly diverse parts of DC - racially and economically. Yes, crime is a bit higher here than in the rest of NW DC, but we feel perfectly safe walking around, with or without our kid, after dark (although now that it's summer he's in bed before dark!) People are friendly.

And, while certainly, people are free to make their own determinations about safety and their own comfort level, I would keep in mind that while this website is called "DC Urban Moms" it has a large suburban contingent, and skews rather wealthy, and that may impact the responses you get on threads like these.

This website also has a lot of people who have lived in Columbia Heights and then moved from Columbia Heights, sometimes to the suburbs but often also to other parts of DC (not just UNW), once they have kids.

Maybe. But they mostly moved away because they think the schools are too brown for their kids, not because of "crime."

Why is it so impossible for some people to believe that white folks are concerned about crime and academics but NOT race? Do you really think wealthy white folks would happily keep their kids in a school filled with violent white trash meth heads?

Because I’ve heard enough other parents get concerned about “the demographics of the upper elementary grades”. I’m sure that’s of course not you - I don’t even know who you are. But it’s a theme here in DC.

I lived in DC for quite some time and never heard that. The concerns were always about test scores. If reading, math, and science scores went down as grades went on, parents looked for a way out. Not once did I ever hear a parent complain about the racial makeup of any school. I'm sure it happens, but that's not my experience and I think it's warped that this is just an assumed motivation for all white parents.

NP - people probably don't complain about it, but they make decisions based on it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP---look at Adams Morgan (the area south of Calvert and north of Columbia road has some lovely quiet streets but is two blocks from lots of shopping/retail. Also look at Mt. Pleasant. I live in MtP and while I walk to Columbia Heights frequently, I would not want to live there. It has really declined in feel in the last 5 years. The 14th Street "big box" area is fairly soul-less with Target and other chains, there is a large swath of high crime public housing to the south, and while 11th Street restaurants are nice, there aren't a huge number. I agree with posters who also suggested to look further east--there is a lot more retail in Petworth along Georgia.

I am a PP who lived in CH for 11 years, and I agree with this. It's very different that it was 2013-14, and not in a positive way.

I also love Mt. Pleasant - check out Hobart Street, if you're not staying long-term and are concerned about schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you are only to rent for short time, CH should be okay. But I wouldn't plan on staying long-term if you have kids. We have lived in the area for nearly a decade. When we first moved here the area was nicer. We enjoyed walking to Target and the playgrounds and the area felt safe. That is not the case anymore. The number of daytime shootings has increased. The plaza near Target is really gross. It is dirty and during the day filled with drunk men. There are empty storefronts. My children hate going there now. They are old enough to use the metro but don't want to because of the atmosphere near the metro.

There seems little interest in trying to reduce crime or clean up the area. Maybe if some new businesses move into the area things might improve

Was crime in CH going up pre-COVID? If so, any particular reasons why?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're in Columbia Heights with a one year old and one on the way and we LOVE it. You can't throw a rock without hitting a playground - the Girard St playground in particular we really love, but there are literally three others just a few blocks from our house. There's also Meridian Hill Park, which doesn't have a playground, but is such a great scene - always tons of people out in nice weather, musicians, picnics, a real community vibe. Plenty of grocery stores, I think, but we're lazy so we just get our groceries delivered. It's very walkable - we don't have a car and it's great - tons of bus lines and the metro is right here, plus really everything you need is in walking distance. It's also one of the few truly diverse parts of DC - racially and economically. Yes, crime is a bit higher here than in the rest of NW DC, but we feel perfectly safe walking around, with or without our kid, after dark (although now that it's summer he's in bed before dark!) People are friendly.

And, while certainly, people are free to make their own determinations about safety and their own comfort level, I would keep in mind that while this website is called "DC Urban Moms" it has a large suburban contingent, and skews rather wealthy, and that may impact the responses you get on threads like these.

This website also has a lot of people who have lived in Columbia Heights and then moved from Columbia Heights, sometimes to the suburbs but often also to other parts of DC (not just UNW), once they have kids.

Maybe. But they mostly moved away because they think the schools are too brown for their kids, not because of "crime."

Why is it so impossible for some people to believe that white folks are concerned about crime and academics but NOT race? Do you really think wealthy white folks would happily keep their kids in a school filled with violent white trash meth heads?

Because I’ve heard enough other parents get concerned about “the demographics of the upper elementary grades”. I’m sure that’s of course not you - I don’t even know who you are. But it’s a theme here in DC.

I lived in DC for quite some time and never heard that. The concerns were always about test scores. If reading, math, and science scores went down as grades went on, parents looked for a way out. Not once did I ever hear a parent complain about the racial makeup of any school. I'm sure it happens, but that's not my experience and I think it's warped that this is just an assumed motivation for all white parents.

NP - people probably don't complain about it, but they make decisions based on it.

Some people will question a school based on test scores even if it has a lot of white kids. Many more will question a school based on “test scores” when it’s majority Black/Hispanic. This isn’t a clear either or, and I’m not jumping on any individual. But you can see quite a bit at the macro level and it’s pretty ugly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hey OP - you should ask this question on PoPville too (local blog). The community there usually has better insight into hyper-local DC.

https://www.popville.com/

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA no it doesn't. It's a place for scared white gentrifiers to feed their casual racism and general cluelessness about urban life, goaded along by the Pied Piper of shoddy reporting and dog-whistling, Dan Silverman.

OP, whatever you do, never ever go to that awful site, unless you want to be misinformed about everything in DC.

You are crazy - it's a great blog and Dan is awesome. Many, many DC folks read and appreciate that blog. Don't listen to this person.

It's such a great blog that he had to shut down comments on his crime posts (so like 75 percent of his content) because the commenters were being too racist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hey OP - you should ask this question on PoPville too (local blog). The community there usually has better insight into hyper-local DC.

https://www.popville.com/

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA no it doesn't. It's a place for scared white gentrifiers to feed their casual racism and general cluelessness about urban life, goaded along by the Pied Piper of shoddy reporting and dog-whistling, Dan Silverman.

OP, whatever you do, never ever go to that awful site, unless you want to be misinformed about everything in DC.

And DCUM is better in this regard?!?!?

I don't think anyone said it was, but telling people to go read Popville is bad advice. It offers only the most lazy, superficial reporting on DC issues and its comments section is as much of a cesspool as this place is (though I think the posters here are infinitely better informed than the cretins who comment there).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hey OP - you should ask this question on PoPville too (local blog). The community there usually has better insight into hyper-local DC.

https://www.popville.com/

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA no it doesn't. It's a place for scared white gentrifiers to feed their casual racism and general cluelessness about urban life, goaded along by the Pied Piper of shoddy reporting and dog-whistling, Dan Silverman.

OP, whatever you do, never ever go to that awful site, unless you want to be misinformed about everything in DC.

And DCUM is better in this regard?!?!?

I don't think anyone said it was, but telling people to go read Popville is bad advice. It offers only the most lazy, superficial reporting on DC issues and its comments section is as much of a cesspool as this place is (though I think the posters here are infinitely better informed than the cretins who comment there).

Whatever - you are just wrong. Must have it out personally for Dan Silverman. Weird to have so much hate for this blog. It's not that serious and what you describe about the comments is not true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, thanks for the comments. We're coming from New York City so we're used to city living, my main concern is proximity to shops and space for kids to play. We'll plan a trip to check out the neighborhood in person.

op, i moved from Brooklyn a few years ago. live in Adams Morgan now and really like it (one child). check out adams morgan and the denser section of woodley park, too.

OP I live in Brooklyn, NYC now and am moving DC. If you have lived in NYC Columbia Heights will be fine! I understand what you mean about proximity and parks. In NYC playgrounds are like our living rooms, we spend so much time there. I am also looking for that feeling in DC!

[Anonymous]

Yeah definitely don’t feel safe bringing my kids to playgrounds in Columbia Heights.

[Anonymous]

NYC is a big place. Park Slope, Brooklyn and Brownsville, Brooklyn are on different ends of the scale when it comes to safety. Signed, Queens native.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NYC is a big place. Park Slope, Brooklyn and Brownsville, Brooklyn are on different ends of the scale when it comes to safety. Signed, Queens native.

This. NYC is one of the safest big cities on the East Coast. It is much safer than DC, Philly, and Baltimore. Apples and oranges.

[Anonymous]

There are several playgrounds in/near CH. There is the trolley park on Monroe, Raymond rec center off spring, the playground at Harriet tubman and meridan park is not to far away. Also near two libraries.

[Anonymous]

CH resident here. I posted earlier but wanted to stress again that the area has really declined over the past several years. The plaza around the Columbia heights metro is dirty and run down. Every day there are drunk men sitting around. Although the men have never bothered me, they are clearly drunk, sometimes even passed out. The porta-potty has become a permanent fixture. There are so many empty storefronts. I don't expect anything to improve. All the cute shops and restaurants are on Upshur which is getting really nice.

[Anonymous]

CH resident here. I posted earlier but wanted to stress again that the area has really declined over the past several years. The plaza around the Columbia heights metro is dirty and run down. Every day there are drunk men sitting around. Although the men have never bothered me, they are clearly drunk, sometimes even passed out. The porta-potty has become a permanent fixture. There are so many empty storefronts. I don't expect anything to improve. All the cute shops and restaurants are on Upshur which is getting really nice.

Agreed. Although DC USA did recently get a Krispy Kreme, which is a huge guilty pleasure for my household.
The worst was when they got rid of Pete's Pizza and Five Guys to put in a WaWa.
And Logan Heights restaurant going out of business really hurt the feel of the plaza, which has just become a gathering area for seedy drunks. It is a shame because by pursuing the short term gain of higher rents from convenience store chains like WaWa, the building owners are actually hurting their long term interests.

[Anonymous]

So true. I really miss Pete's! And no restaurant has managed to stay in business at the old Logan Tavern site. It is a vicious cycle of increasing crime and trash which leads to reduced foot traffic then empty storefronts. I would love Brianne Nadeau to address the problem but her sole focus is on increasing affordable housing.