Probably not.

-former resident of the 1300 block of Kenyon who is glad to no longer live there

https://www.popville.com/2019/03/suspects-shots-fired-columbia-heights/

Anonymous wrote:You don’t have to go much farther north to get peace and quiet while still being really close to things.

Check out 16th Street Heights or Petworth.

Petowrth is pretty shooty/stabby lately too.

You don’t have to go much farther north to get peace and quiet while still being really close to things.

Check out 16th Street Heights or Petworth.

We live closer to Spring on 13th street and haven't had any problems but I have worried about the recent uptick in daytime shootings. Not really near us but close enough that I am concerned. what block of 14th ?

We happily live EOTP and wouldn't live near the concentration of housing projects in CH and esp. anywhere near 14th and Columbia.

I left Columbia heights and moved to PG. Oh the joy of peace. I would never live there with a family. I also had a friend buy a 600k condo there...poor thing.

Look at the crime statistics, OP. I used to live in Columbia Heights and 14th and Columbia with my son and was driven out by the crime. My sister was assaulted by someone on the street when she was visiting - he was a serial sex offender and she testified against him and he went to jail, but a short sentence and I saw him again on the street a few months later. It was a horribly traumatic life-changing experience for her. A little boy in the building next door to us got killed by a stray bullet going through their apartment door. There are robberies and drugs going on constantly in broad daylight. I decided to trade that for a longer commute and a DC neighborhood that has almost no crime. (Barnaby Woods)

By and large the south side of Col Heights is much crappier than the "north side" up around Spring Road simply because of all the public housing. Even if I had the nicest, biggest apartment in the neighborhood for $1000, I wouldn't want to live near 14 and Columbia.

I lived at 13th and Harvard for several years. The area is walkable and fun. But you need to be alert, all the time. We moved because the quality of life issues were out of control - public urination, littering, always having to take every little thing out of your car, loitering on our steps, packages stolen several times per week, graffiti on our house, a dog fight club in the alley behind us, etc. We personally witnessed A LOT of violent crime - two stabbings, 1 shooting, and a kid throwing a brick at another kid during a fight. You WILL hear gunahots frequently. Lots of drug dealing all up and down 14th that sometimes turns violent. Get out of town for July 4, it is like Baghdad in CoHi. We moved because there is basically no help for any of these issues. You are on your own. Cops won’t help, city won’t help, elected officials won’t help.

So long as you don't mind falling asleep to the sound of gunshots on the Fourth of July, and other random Friday nights.

There are chicken bones and rodents everywhere.

The projects there are large shitty and not going away. Ton of crime (not murders but stabbing, robberies, breaking into cars, rudeness, crowds of tweens who are rude, trash, drugs, loitering) that comes largely from those projects. Sorry it’s true. Mt pleasant is much better in terms of family friendliness.

I lived in Columbia Heights from 2009 - 2014 and have lived in Mount Pleasant since. I loved living at 13th and Kenyon because the location was so convenient and because we had nice neighbors. We moved to Mount Pleasant when I was pregnant with my firstborn. I venture over to the main retail area in Columbia Heights as well as the CH Metro on a near-daily basis, though.

IMO, Columbia Heights today is worse than it was 5 years ago. Some have suggested it is due to the disbandment of MPD's vice squads, and others hold Brianne Nadeau responsible for her lack of meaningful solutions for the issues (petty/violent/property crime, poverty, prostitution) that plague the area. I like the ease of getting around as well as the diversity of the neighborhood, but I also feel uncomfortable stepping around drunks passed out with their penises hanging out of their pants as they pee on the sidewalk or swerving to avoid used condoms on the sidewalk when I'm running errands with my 4-year-old.

It comes down to your tolerance for quality-of-life issues and your budget for housing and alternative school options.

Col Heights will never fully “gentrify” because of the affordable housing. If you can deal with the litter, noise, and semi-frequent violent crime, and feel those trade offs are worth the walkability and being super close-in, go for it. But I would not expect the neighborhood to change substantially because it won’t.

Anonymous wrote:We’re at Columbia & 13th and have raised our middle/high school kids here. It’s great to be able to walk everywhere.

Please prepare for the onslaught of detractors.

I lived in CH for two years. The loitering, crime, and assaults have only gotten worse but sure its nice to walk to the Target.