Shepherd Park is a lovely neighborhood and always has been. The closer you are to Georgia Avenue, the more petty crime there is, but overall it's a very stable area with nice homes. Colonial Village is north and west of Shepherd Park and the houses are generally bigger and more expensive. I believe it feeds into Lafayette, not Shepherd Elementary, but most of the kids who live there (and there aren't many) go to private school. Lots of retired folks in both neighborhoods, as well as many Jewish families who belong to the synagogues nearby. Both neighborhoods are full of "cave dwellers" who a PP very accurately described. They've lived here for generations, and don't care if their neighborhood is "hot" or not.

I drive through/by Shepherd Park everyday on my way from work. I think it's really beautiful & I'm actually looking into it. FWIW we're an interracial couple w/ children.

Anonymous wrote:10:22 again. Urban pioneer is the wrong term here.

10:31 is close to the mark.

It's just as intimidating being (among) the first Whites moving into 16th Street Heights/Shepherd Park as it is being (among) the first Blacks moving into Avenel or some other lily-white enclave. Some of the already-there residents are just going to be assholes about it -- in both cases -- and it has to be factored in.

But I do find it odd that neighborhoods such as Brightwood, Columbia Heights, etc., which seem worse in terms of crime and schools are getting boosted on here and Shepherd Park seems largely ignored. Hell, I've even seen more boosters for Trinidad than for 16th Street Heights/Shepherd Park.

Well, Columbia Heights is really a different sort of creature, since it offers urban amenities Shepherd Park just doesn't have.

Be careful about crime stats when you look colonial village vs shepard park. I forget which one is better but I have a number of close friends who live there and have been dealing with serious crime issues. 3 car jackings (at gunpoint), lots of car break-ins, some muggings at gun point, house break ins, etc. I know this crime in DC is generally up but the side that is on the other side of 16th street (closer to 14th) I think is worse.
That said, they are happy living there (although send their kids to private school so I am not sure about the schools). But they are extremely concerned about crime.
We also live in NW DC in a more urban area closer in so I'm not a nervous nelly either

I think of Shepherd Park as a somewhat sleepy Ground Zero for affluent AAs who've lived in DC for generations. They know who they are, they aren't looking for affirmation of their neighborhood on message boards like DCUM, and they don't care if there neighborhood is the next great thing for white yuppies. If some whites want to move in, fine; if they don't, fine as well.

I think this is the best answer of the group, although many PPs have made good points.

the AA, 50 y.o+ men that I meet when I golf or play tennis WITHIN the District all seem to live in Shepherd Park or Crestwood, for what that's worth. And they all clearly know each other and have a lot of affection for each other and many seem to go way back.

Anonymous wrote:10:22 again. Urban pioneer is the wrong term here.

10:31 is close to the mark.

It's just as intimidating being (among) the first Whites moving into 16th Street Heights/Shepherd Park as it is being (among) the first Blacks moving into Avenel or some other lily-white enclave. Some of the already-there residents are just going to be assholes about it -- in both cases -- and it has to be factored in.

But I do find it odd that neighborhoods such as Brightwood, Columbia Heights, etc., which seem worse in terms of crime and schools are getting boosted on here and Shepherd Park seems largely ignored. Hell, I've even seen more boosters for Trinidad than for 16th Street Heights/Shepherd Park.

All of Colonial Village has been a predominantly jewish enclave since the mid -1960's or even earlier--that's when my family moved there. Prior to that it was all irish -catholic.

ES is quite good, especially compared to many others EOTP. Feeds into Deal and then Wilson which is awesome. Beautiful neighborhood. A good bargain for what you get all around (and hardly urban pioneering).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:While we are on the subject, could someone please explain the boundaries/difference between Colonial Village and Shepherd Park? I also love this area--was surprised to learn from the other thread that one of these areas is in-boundaries for Deal and Wilson.

Colonial Village is stunning--basically it's Spring Valley east of the park. The boundary is West Beach and Grubb Road and Beach Drive. It does feed intoShepherd ES, Deal and Wilson. Houses start @900k though.

The other boundary is 16th Street. You can get into Colonial Village for $700, but those houses rarely go on the market.

Anonymous wrote:Wasn't there a strip club in SP?

There's a new-ish nightclub on Georgia and (I think) Dahlia, or thereabouts, that has a lot of the residents up in arms due to the late night activity, etc.

Anonymous wrote:It's one of the best kept little secret beautiful names--that and Crestwood. Shepherd Elementary is a pretty good school--Powell, not so much. The HS for this area is Coolige so pretty bad.

Actually, it's only Coolidge (which, you are right, is pretty bad) if you don't go to Deal for middle. If your kid goes to Deal (which SP feeds into) s/he can go to Wilson.

There was a thread on this topic last week at: http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/15/226895.page

I agree the houses and streets are beautiful in SP, but by all accounts (we have a couple of friends who've lived there over the past 10 years) and from what I've observed (we live not far away), the families w/ kids are few and far between. There are not a lot of kids out playing on the streets, etc. That's not important to everyone though, of course.

Wasn't there a strip club in SP?

14:20 describes it well. I grew up there. Went to Shepherd. Shepherd Park has always had a decent number of white families there, and in the past 10 years, that has seemed to grow. When we go to the playground, we are sometimes the only black family there.