Anonymous wrote:A different city. Seriously, you won't find that here.

I agree. DC is the opposite of hip in every way.

Anonymous wrote:Atlas area/H St NE

I lived there for 4 years and still own that property, and I don't agree that this area can be described as hipster-ish, unless you want to take three hours on Friday and Saturday nights each, when the bars on H Street are full of kids from the Hill, and use this six-hour span as an example of what life in this neighborhood is like all week long. H St/Trinidad may be gentrifying but it is still very, very gritty, and there are a whole lot of other vibes there in addition to the slight hipster flavor. I wouldn't live there with a young child.

Also, DC has some ethnic eateries but most of truly ethnic, weird, authentic restaurants are sadly located in the 'burbs. DC dining scene is great, but not for ethnic cuisine (unless for glamorised version of ethnic). There are SOME ethnic places but nowhere near what the burbs offer.

Anonymous wrote:A different city. Seriously, you won't find that here.

Ha! +1

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We moved from Adams Morgan to Baltimore a few years back. It may not be convenient, but Baltimore (Charles Village, Bolton Hill) is definitely worth looking at.

It's not worth it if you cherish a decent commute, unless you despise DC and love Baltimore for some reason. The retail/restaurant scene in DC is much more vibrant than anything Charles Village or Bolton Hill has to offer. In DC you can walk, bike, and take transit to dozens of different, "colorful" neighborhoods. Baltimore's Charles Village and Bolton Hill are beautiful, but not any more so than DC's historic neighborhoods.

I'm the poster you're quoting. You're right that the commute from Baltimore to DC sucks. I don't do it (I work from home), but I think the difference between Baltimore and DC is that because Baltimore has a lower cost of living, the population tends to be funkier/artsier. If OP is really looking for jerky artisans, she's more likely to find them in Baltimore, Hon (IMHO.)

I think the OP would like Baltimore's Hampden neighborhood the best. I'm surprised no one mentioned it. It reminds me of gentrifying but still funky Echo Park or Highland Park in LA, except that Hampden always had a white Southern, blue collar, working class vibe. Confederate flags were not all that uncommon a few years ago. Today it's a mix of the blue collar families and the very artsy. There are some great independent restaurants and stores, but not much in the way of ethnic food, except for an excellent Asian noodle place. When it comes to ethnic food options DC wins.

Hampden is the region's answer to Echo Park. Too bad the commute to DC would suck. Public transportation is terrible, and the light rail station is a long hike.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We moved from Adams Morgan to Baltimore a few years back. It may not be convenient, but Baltimore (Charles Village, Bolton Hill) is definitely worth looking at.

It's not worth it if you cherish a decent commute, unless you despise DC and love Baltimore for some reason. The retail/restaurant scene in DC is much more vibrant than anything Charles Village or Bolton Hill has to offer. In DC you can walk, bike, and take transit to dozens of different, "colorful" neighborhoods. Baltimore's Charles Village and Bolton Hill are beautiful, but not any more so than DC's historic neighborhoods.

I'm the poster you're quoting. You're right that the commute from Baltimore to DC sucks. I don't do it (I work from home), but I think the difference between Baltimore and DC is that because Baltimore has a lower cost of living, the population tends to be funkier/artsier. If OP is really looking for jerky artisans, she's more likely to find them in Baltimore, Hon (IMHO.)

Anonymous wrote:We moved from Adams Morgan to Baltimore a few years back. It may not be convenient, but Baltimore (Charles Village, Bolton Hill) is definitely worth looking at.

It's not worth it if you cherish a decent commute, unless you despise DC and love Baltimore for some reason. The retail/restaurant scene in DC is much more vibrant than anything Charles Village or Bolton Hill has to offer. In DC you can walk, bike, and take transit to dozens of different, "colorful" neighborhoods. Baltimore's Charles Village and Bolton Hill are beautiful, but not any more so than DC's historic neighborhoods.

We live in the Atlas District-H Street area. I think that or Columbia Heights might be the closest you'll find to what you are looking for. Row houses, families, parks, shopping, restaurants, lots of cyclists. And definitely a crunchy bent. I like it here a lot and am from California (Bay Area, not LA). California will always be home, though I will almost certainly never be able to move back.

We moved from Adams Morgan to Baltimore a few years back. It may not be convenient, but Baltimore (Charles Village, Bolton Hill) is definitely worth looking at.

Definitely Bloomingdale.

New poster here. Just want to say how nice and helpful the comments are on this thread. These things often devolve into fighting about suburbs vs. city, east of the park vs. west of the park and people trying to make points. This thread has been different. Nice going, guys!

Speaking from experience, moving from LA to DC --- you are in for a shock! Very different cultures.

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, there isn't really a Silver Lake equivalent in DC (unfortunately). Check out Mount Pleasant, Columbia Heights, Shaw, Logan Circle, houses near the 14th Street Corridor, Petworth, and Kalorama, see if any are close enough. Takoma Park is a decent suggestion, too.

If you have specific rental listings you want some opinions on, feel free to post them - we can let you know what the neighborhood's like.

This list is pretty good - I might add Bloomingdale in there. You can get a 2 BR 2 Bath for about $3k in all of these neighborhoods, but it's more likely that you'll find a high rise. In Columbia Heights, you could rent a 2 floor unit in a converted rowhouse for $3200-$3500 - hey, you can rent mine, if you want. (Seriously - if you're interested, post here and I'll set up an e-mail account.)

Schools in all though neighborhoods are iffy, but there are lots of charters around - it's nervewracking, but doable, if you wnt to live in the city.

And no, you won't find neighborhoods exactly like there are in other cities here - but I don't get the feeling you expect to. (Take the comments here with a grain of salt - for some reason, many posters love to have DC.) If sounds to me like you'd like Mt. Pleasant/Columbia Heights/Adams Morgan - for the proximity to restaurants.

Good luck.

Anonymous wrote:I would move to Baltimore tomorrow if one of us got a job there. Way cooler city than DC!

Unfortunately two thirds of Baltimore is a steaming pit. DC is a much more complete city. And Baltimore is not the walkers paradise that DC is.

Not many people would choose Baltimore over DC.

I always think of Mt. Rainier as the arty spot, but it's not in DC proper, and I've never been there, so that's hearsay.

But anyway, I hope you pick Columbia Heights, because that's where I live (and I love it) and you sound super fun. I've lived here for years and make new friends all the time. Hope to see you at the Trolley Park and the French bakery!

DH is from Brooklyn and we just returned from a holiday week communing with the hipsters of Williamsburg and Bushwick. I agree with pps that hipsters are fewer and farther between in these parts -- but they can be found! Look for them in Columbia Heights (east of the CH metro -- along 12th and 13th streets) and H St., NE. H St. is a huge hipster dining/bar destination.

One intriguing spot for very adventuresome hipsters is the area around Union Market near the Galludet metro stop. The market is cool by DC standards and a lot of new development is on the way. It's a bit shady now, however.

I also like Takoma Park, DC. It's quaint and is a mixture of hipster and granola as some pps mentioned.

Good luck!