Anonymous wrote:The houses are great but the majority of the neighborhood is a serious hike to metro. If u have a car it's an easy drive to Cleveland park. Bancroft still sucks and the white folks bail ASAP after kindergarten. The hordes of drunk Latinos peeing on the sidewalk is a bit much. The commercial strip is ok. But that new apt building beig reconstructed is going to bring another couple hundred low income Latinos back. It's very frustrating that a neighborhood of almost 1 million dollar homes doesn't get u a good school order than a bunch of pupiserias. I'm in Petworth which has its own issue but easy walk to metro very little low income housing.

What? It's literally a 5 minute walk from the Mt Pleasant Street strip to the Columbia Heights Metro. Google it.

I've lived in Mt. Pleasant for almost 20 years, first in a shared house, then as a homeowner. I bought a rowhouse back in the late 90s when housing prices were in a slump (for 180K--can you believe it?). I remember Columbia Heights when it was a wasteland of empty lots without a metro stop.

Now I'm still here, a Mt. Pleasant mom with young kids at Bancroft.

There's hardly a week that goes that I don't wonder if we should be moving somewhere else to better schools. I think about it when I talk to friends with kids at Eaton or Hearst; when I chat with work
colleagues with kids in gifted programs in Takoma Park and Fairfax; when I visit my brother with kids in a great public school in the Midwest.

Although my spouse and I are not in lucrative professionss and we're lower middle class by DC standards, as much as our house has appreciated, we could move across the park or probably even
Bethesda. But I ask myself, where would we go? What would we give up?

Some answers: A lovely, charming, historic, diverse, very walkable neighborhood. A 3 mile bike commute to work downtown. No nearby metro, but Park Road buses every 10 minutes in the morning that zip me over the Red or Green line on the days it's too cold or rainy to bike. A huge urban wilderness so close that I can step onto a hiking trail without crossing a busy street.

I do wish Mt. Pleasant had better restaurants. I have cringed in the last few years when a storefront came up for lease and instead of a Tryst or a Comet Pizza, we got another laundromat or a paint
store. One problem is that most of the retail space is too small for a restaurant of any reasonable size. On the other hand, there's no way I would trade Mt. Pleasant Street for Park Road and 14th with
its traffic and noise.

Then there's Bancroft. At least a few DCUM posters hate it for some reason and take every chance to dis it on this board. But I'm not sure they've even set foot in the place in the last few years. Our
kids love Bancroft; we love the two block walk to school. It's not perfect, but our kids are growing up learning a second language as part of an incredibly diverse community.The fact is, the school is
slowly gentrifying (80% low income 4 years ago; 70% last year). Demographically it's the closest thing in the city to Oyster; Powell, Marie Reed and Bruce Monroe are far behind. There is a small but
strong core of middle class families who stay through 5th. And they are nice. No snooty moms like the ones I hear about at Murch or Janney. The gentrificaton will probably pick up now that bright and
shiny Mundo Verde will no longer be nearby to suck them away.

But back to the original post, yes, house prices in Mt. P are insane! A pretty average row house down our street just went for $950,000. No way would I buy into this neighborhood now. I just feel lucky I bought here long before it became hot.

I never said you didn't live in DC. I assumed you did. What I did say is that it he things you cited could also be in the suburbs and are what I associate with suburban living. The fact that there are places in the city with good commutes that have a suburban feel is desirable to many people. What I took issue with is your assertion that actual parents couldn't like city living and living near amenities and the implication that parents who enjoy city living somehow don't care about their kids. You might believe these things, but there are real parents who think the opposite.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mt Pleasant has changed a lot over the last few years. There are lots of new restaurants, a coffee shop, and a lot of new families with young kids moving in. There is talk of zoning changes so the entire neighborhood will feed to Bancroft, deal, and Wilson. It remains one of the few places in the city that you can live in a reasonable 3 bedroom townhouse with little crime and also walk to work in 20 minutes. I expect prices will continue to rise, although perhaps more gradually.

Not really. There are a few new restaurants and most of them aren't good. Bancroft is just as bad as it's ever been. Obviously Mt. P. can get kicked out of Deal and Wilson and sent to Columbia Heights or Cardozo at some point. Very risky place to drop over $750K on a rowhouse, particularly if federal jobs dry up.

Here we are with the $&%% hip restaurants again. Both of you.

Which neighborhood has the best proximity not to hot "mixologists" but to rec centers, spray parks, soccer fields, safe places for new little bike riders to ride without cars, after school piano lessons and a walkable swimming pool with an option for summer swim team?

PP #1 Mt pleasant (not really) or eckington-truxton-shaw-NoMa-CH (26 year old childless poster #2)?


Every parent likes dining out sometimes or all the time but no actual parent with kids out of the Moby wrap chooses a home because it is steps from a scene. Pps like #2 should stick with PoP comment section instead of parenting site.

This will be news to all those people with kids I see walking around Capitol Hill. Not all parents are like you, no matter how forcefully you assert it. There are people with kids who live in all parts of the city who enjoy living near urban amenities and don't care about splash parks. None of the things you mention are unique to a city. You sound like you really want suburban living with a good commute, which is fine. But not every parent wants suburban living.

I live in DC, thanks. With children > 10 now.

This apparently will be news to you, but a lot of Capitol Hill isn't very urban or dense or close to amenities. Some surely is, and much of it is not. (SFH w yard Cleveland park is as close to the White House as a lot of the hill. ). But yours kind of making the point --far off and spread out Capitol Hill does have rec centers, fields, kid classes and tennis courts. That's why elementàry kids can remain there.

The number of 11 yr olds living at 9th & O however is infinitesimal.

True, but I think it will improve. That was a sad story and the people who did this need to be strung up.

Here's the link:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/colbert-king-in-petworth-a-robbery-and-death-tell-us-something-abut-ourselves/2014/07/11/468362de-085c-11e4-a0dd-f2b22a257353_story.html?hpid=z2

This happened a fair bit north of the area I was talking about, but I agree that the crime situation needs to be addressed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The houses are great but the majority of the neighborhood is a serious hike to metro. If u have a car it's an easy drive to Cleveland park. Bancroft still sucks and the white folks bail ASAP after kindergarten. The hordes of drunk Latinos peeing on the sidewalk is a bit much. The commercial strip is ok. But that new apt building beig reconstructed is going to bring another couple hundred low income Latinos back. It's very frustrating that a neighborhood of almost 1 million dollar homes doesn't get u a good school order than a bunch of pupiserias. I'm in Petworth which has its own issue but easy walk to metro very little low income housing.

I actually think the area near the Petworth metro will be a really good neighborhood very soon. It's clots to Metro and now a nice grocery, it doesn't have the public housing of Columbia Heights and the only thing that's really nearby is Park Morton complex and that is on the way to being closed. Add this to a really burgeoning retail and restaurant scene and walking distance to 11th St.
The last two pieces to the puzzle are the school (Powell) and the streetcar up Georgia Ave. The school is improving at a decent clip, but the jury is still out on whether it will improve to the point that gentrifiers will let their kids go there after kindergarten. And if that streetcar gets built (a big if), the place will explode with development. H street with a Metro stop.
And all for about 300K less that Mt. Pleasant.

This will be true once the area becomes safer. See Colbert King's column in today's paper about a recent murder of a store owner.

*close to Metro

Anonymous wrote:The houses are great but the majority of the neighborhood is a serious hike to metro. If u have a car it's an easy drive to Cleveland park. Bancroft still sucks and the white folks bail ASAP after kindergarten. The hordes of drunk Latinos peeing on the sidewalk is a bit much. The commercial strip is ok. But that new apt building beig reconstructed is going to bring another couple hundred low income Latinos back. It's very frustrating that a neighborhood of almost 1 million dollar homes doesn't get u a good school order than a bunch of pupiserias. I'm in Petworth which has its own issue but easy walk to metro very little low income housing.

I actually think the area near the Petworth metro will be a really good neighborhood very soon. It's clots to Metro and now a nice grocery, it doesn't have the public housing of Columbia Heights and the only thing that's really nearby is Park Morton complex and that is on the way to being closed. Add this to a really burgeoning retail and restaurant scene and walking distance to 11th St.
The last two pieces to the puzzle are the school (Powell) and the streetcar up Georgia Ave. The school is improving at a decent clip, but the jury is still out on whether it will improve to the point that gentrifiers will let their kids go there after kindergarten. And if that streetcar gets built (a big if), the place will explode with development. H street with a Metro stop.
And all for about 300K less that Mt. Pleasant.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mt Pleasant has changed a lot over the last few years. There are lots of new restaurants, a coffee shop, and a lot of new families with young kids moving in. There is talk of zoning changes so the entire neighborhood will feed to Bancroft, deal, and Wilson. It remains one of the few places in the city that you can live in a reasonable 3 bedroom townhouse with little crime and also walk to work in 20 minutes. I expect prices will continue to rise, although perhaps more gradually.

Not really. There are a few new restaurants and most of them aren't good. Bancroft is just as bad as it's ever been. Obviously Mt. P. can get kicked out of Deal and Wilson and sent to Columbia Heights or Cardozo at some point. Very risky place to drop over $750K on a rowhouse, particularly if federal jobs dry up.

Here we are with the $&%% hip restaurants again. Both of you.

Which neighborhood has the best proximity not to hot "mixologists" but to rec centers, spray parks, soccer fields, safe places for new little bike riders to ride without cars, after school piano lessons and a walkable swimming pool with an option for summer swim team?

PP #1 Mt pleasant (not really) or eckington-truxton-shaw-NoMa-CH (26 year old childless poster #2)?


Every parent likes dining out sometimes or all the time but no actual parent with kids out of the Moby wrap chooses a home because it is steps from a scene. Pps like #2 should stick with PoP comment section instead of parenting site.

This will be news to all those people with kids I see walking around Capitol Hill. Not all parents are like you, no matter how forcefully you assert it. There are people with kids who live in all parts of the city who enjoy living near urban amenities and don't care about splash parks. None of the things you mention are unique to a city. You sound like you really want suburban living with a good commute, which is fine. But not every parent wants suburban living.

Anonymous wrote:The houses are great but the majority of the neighborhood is a serious hike to metro. If u have a car it's an easy drive to Cleveland park. Bancroft still sucks and the white folks bail ASAP after kindergarten. The hordes of drunk Latinos peeing on the sidewalk is a bit much. The commercial strip is ok. But that new apt building beig reconstructed is going to bring another couple hundred low income Latinos back. It's very frustrating that a neighborhood of almost 1 million dollar homes doesn't get u a good school order than a bunch of pupiserias. I'm in Petworth which has its own issue but easy walk to metro very little low income housing.

It's true. If they could harvest all the ammonia and phosphates on the sidewalks and alleys near Mt. Pleasant Street, DC would be a manufacturing juggernaut.

The houses are great but the majority of the neighborhood is a serious hike to metro. If u have a car it's an easy drive to Cleveland park. Bancroft still sucks and the white folks bail ASAP after kindergarten. The hordes of drunk Latinos peeing on the sidewalk is a bit much. The commercial strip is ok. But that new apt building beig reconstructed is going to bring another couple hundred low income Latinos back. It's very frustrating that a neighborhood of almost 1 million dollar homes doesn't get u a good school order than a bunch of pupiserias. I'm in Petworth which has its own issue but easy walk to metro very little low income housing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mt Pleasant has changed a lot over the last few years. There are lots of new restaurants, a coffee shop, and a lot of new families with young kids moving in. There is talk of zoning changes so the entire neighborhood will feed to Bancroft, deal, and Wilson. It remains one of the few places in the city that you can live in a reasonable 3 bedroom townhouse with little crime and also walk to work in 20 minutes. I expect prices will continue to rise, although perhaps more gradually.

Not really. There are a few new restaurants and most of them aren't good. Bancroft is just as bad as it's ever been. Obviously Mt. P. can get kicked out of Deal and Wilson and sent to Columbia Heights or Cardozo at some point. Very risky place to drop over $750K on a rowhouse, particularly if federal jobs dry up.

Here we are with the $&%% hip restaurants again. Both of you.

Which neighborhood has the best proximity not to hot "mixologists" but to rec centers, spray parks, soccer fields, safe places for new little bike riders to ride without cars, after school piano lessons and a walkable swimming pool with an option for summer swim team?

PP #1 Mt pleasant (not really) or eckington-truxton-shaw-NoMa-CH (26 year old childless poster #2)?

Every parent likes dining out sometimes or all the time but no actual parent with kids out of the Moby wrap chooses a home because it is steps from a scene. Pps like #2 should stick with PoP comment section instead of parenting site.

Anonymous wrote:You all realize that the city is moving towards having a $1M minimum for single family and row houses. Many of the larger row houses are being converted to 2 and 3 'family" units. The laws of supply and demand, combined with being in, or near the center of the region make this possible.

10 years from now, $750,000 for a Mt Pleasant row house will seem like a good deal.

750K for a Mt. Pleasant townhouse is a great deal now. If you find one you should buy it.

Anonymous wrote:Mt Pleasant has changed a lot over the last few years. There are lots of new restaurants, a coffee shop, and a lot of new families with young kids moving in. There is talk of zoning changes so the entire neighborhood will feed to Bancroft, deal, and Wilson. It remains one of the few places in the city that you can live in a reasonable 3 bedroom townhouse with little crime and also walk to work in 20 minutes. I expect prices will continue to rise, although perhaps more gradually.

Not really. There are a few new restaurants and most of them aren't good. Bancroft is just as bad as it's ever been. Obviously Mt. P. can get kicked out of Deal and Wilson and sent to Columbia Heights or Cardozo at some point. Very risky place to drop over $750K on a rowhouse, particularly if federal jobs dry up.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone tell me why the neighborhood is so hot? It's not that metro accessible, and the amenities are better in other neighborhoods. As I have been house hunting, I don't understand how these houses command the same prices as those on Capitol Hill, which does amenities. I am genuinely curious as I currently don't live in the area.

Metro is a 10 minute walk and bus lines run right through it. Add to that, it's walkable to colhi, admo, dupont, logan, and most of NW. I don't live there, but hoped I would by now. It has a tight knit, active, and vibrant community. It's beautiful. It has diversity both in race and socioeconomic status. Capitol Hill is so isolated in this city. That's changing, but mt p is a fantastic neighborhood.

New transplants who use these sorts of cringeworthy terms for Columbia heights and Adams Morgan are exactly the kind of idiots I'd expect to pay inflated prices in mount pleasant.

Nice try but I grew up here and I used them bc I'm on my phone.

I never heard these made-up terms before.

I'm not the poster of the abbreviated words, but who feels like spelling out full words when your on your phone? Albeit made up, but you get the point.

Then use CH and AM. The other ones are weird.