Anonymous
05/05/2021 08:33
Subject: Columbia Heights with Kids?
Columbia Heights lacks sufficient green space which would make it what I would consider to be a "good neighborhood" for kids. As a former resident it is not really a good "kid neighborhood". It is moreso a good neighborhood for your 20-30 somethings. Some of these younger people have kids, but the vast majority do not or move out once their kids start walking.
Anonymous
05/05/2021 08:32
Subject: Columbia Heights with Kids?
Anonymous wrote:Let’s be clear - it’s varying degrees of shooty being discussed here op. Petworth still has a LOT of shootings - so many that we moved out once we had kids and many of our friends there are planning their exit. You need to be really comfort with gun crime if your living in Columbia heights or petworth.
This. We aren't talking about the occasional stolen package. It's shootings and harder crime.
Anonymous
05/05/2021 08:27
Subject: Re:Columbia Heights with Kids?
I truly loved living in Columbia Heights. It's so convenient, has a ton of amenities, and a great community feel. However, the crime has been going up. We moved out in 2019 because there was a shooting on our street in broad daylight and a bullet went through our front window. We just didn't feel safe living there anymore. Obviously, use your judgement but that was our experience.
Anonymous
05/05/2021 08:13
Subject: Columbia Heights with Kids?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Just do yourself a favor and search the sex offender map wherever you move. I'm not sure about all of DC but I had thought about moving to Columbia Heights and/or U Street area and the map is literally littered with rapists and molesters
The ones who got caught, you mean. Take a closer look at your friends and relatives -- that's who is more likely than a stranger to molest your kid.
The reason most people aren't molested by strangers is because most people don't live around a bunch of strangers who are molesters packed into a dense area - hence OP intelligently asking and skeptical about moving kids into that area.
You are hysterical.
Well I'm glad you were able to find humor in the topic of child molestation. Says a lot about you!
Anonymous
05/05/2021 07:36
Subject: Columbia Heights with Kids?
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
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
Anonymous
05/05/2021 00:24
Subject: Columbia Heights with Kids?
we just left north Columbia heights/west petworth. We loved many things about the neighborhood--lots of young kids, very walkable to not only commerce but amenities--public pool, public library, playgrounds.
That said, we had two brushes with shootings--one near the rec center and another near our charter school (which is not in petworth, it was in NE) where the school had to be placed on lockdown. We had our car broken into and packages stolen. We had people come into our backyard in the night and try to get into our house. We also had a super small yard. So we decamped for the burbs.
That said, we had two brushes with shootings--one near the rec center and another near our charter school (which is not in petworth, it was in NE) where the school had to be placed on lockdown. We had our car broken into and packages stolen. We had people come into our backyard in the night and try to get into our house. We also had a super small yard. So we decamped for the burbs.
Anonymous
05/04/2021 23:53
Subject: Columbia Heights with Kids?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:It’s fine when your kids are little and you accompany them everywhere, but once they are 8 or 9 you’ll want to be in an area where they can run about in a neighborhood with other kids. And definitely when they are a tween/young tween. If you want to stay in DC my picks are Chevy Chase DC, Crestwood, AU park, Shepard Park & Colonial Village. CCDC is my top pick because there are so many kids and they ride bikes around unaccompanied, hang out at Broad Branch Market, Lafayette Playground, etc. I wish we had moved there When kids were young.
You've picked every white neighborhood in the city. Says a lot about you.
DP. Is shepherd park a white neighborhood now? I must be getting old.
Anonymous
05/04/2021 20:56
Subject: Columbia Heights with Kids?
Anonymous wrote:It’s fine when your kids are little and you accompany them everywhere, but once they are 8 or 9 you’ll want to be in an area where they can run about in a neighborhood with other kids. And definitely when they are a tween/young tween. If you want to stay in DC my picks are Chevy Chase DC, Crestwood, AU park, Shepard Park & Colonial Village. CCDC is my top pick because there are so many kids and they ride bikes around unaccompanied, hang out at Broad Branch Market, Lafayette Playground, etc. I wish we had moved there When kids were young.
You've picked every white neighborhood in the city. Says a lot about you.
Anonymous
05/04/2021 20:53
Subject: Columbia Heights with Kids?
It’s fine when your kids are little and you accompany them everywhere, but once they are 8 or 9 you’ll want to be in an area where they can run about in a neighborhood with other kids. And definitely when they are a tween/young tween. If you want to stay in DC my picks are Chevy Chase DC, Crestwood, AU park, Shepard Park & Colonial Village. CCDC is my top pick because there are so many kids and they ride bikes around unaccompanied, hang out at Broad Branch Market, Lafayette Playground, etc. I wish we had moved there When kids were young.
Anonymous
05/04/2021 19:29
Subject: Re:Columbia Heights with Kids?
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.
Ah, it's always the parents of the one year olds who know so much...
Anonymous
05/04/2021 18:59
Subject: Re:Columbia Heights with Kids?
Anonymous wrote:I would rent in Columbia Heights if you had to and it was time-limited. It is dangerous though and there are many shootings in the 13th street / Columbia Rd / Fairmont area. Petworth is not better though. Kennedy has shootings almost weekly. Young, woke parents will try to convince themselves otherwise because they like being in the city and don't want to commute. We live in an area that many would say is "family-friendly" in DC. Houses are going for 1 million dollars and we hear gunshots many a night. Including one night being awoken by 15 gunshots right in front of our house.
This X100.
I'm a DC native born and raised here and don't see how folks are flocking to Petworth let alone Columbia heights, but that's just me. I live in Brightwood and while we may have an occasional shooting, it's no where near the other areas.
Anonymous
05/04/2021 17:39
Subject: Re:Columbia Heights with Kids?
I would rent in Columbia Heights if you had to and it was time-limited. It is dangerous though and there are many shootings in the 13th street / Columbia Rd / Fairmont area. Petworth is not better though. Kennedy has shootings almost weekly. Young, woke parents will try to convince themselves otherwise because they like being in the city and don't want to commute. We live in an area that many would say is "family-friendly" in DC. Houses are going for 1 million dollars and we hear gunshots many a night. Including one night being awoken by 15 gunshots right in front of our house.
Anonymous
05/04/2021 17:29
Subject: Columbia Heights with Kids?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Just do yourself a favor and search the sex offender map wherever you move. I'm not sure about all of DC but I had thought about moving to Columbia Heights and/or U Street area and the map is literally littered with rapists and molesters
The ones who got caught, you mean. Take a closer look at your friends and relatives -- that's who is more likely than a stranger to molest your kid.
The reason most people aren't molested by strangers is because most people don't live around a bunch of strangers who are molesters packed into a dense area - hence OP intelligently asking and skeptical about moving kids into that area.
You are hysterical.
Anonymous
05/04/2021 17:23
Subject: Columbia Heights with Kids?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Just do yourself a favor and search the sex offender map wherever you move. I'm not sure about all of DC but I had thought about moving to Columbia Heights and/or U Street area and the map is literally littered with rapists and molesters
The ones who got caught, you mean. Take a closer look at your friends and relatives -- that's who is more likely than a stranger to molest your kid.
The reason most people aren't molested by strangers is because most people don't live around a bunch of strangers who are molesters packed into a dense area - hence OP intelligently asking and skeptical about moving kids into that area.
Anonymous
05/04/2021 16:28
Subject: Columbia Heights with Kids?
Anonymous wrote:Just do yourself a favor and search the sex offender map wherever you move. I'm not sure about all of DC but I had thought about moving to Columbia Heights and/or U Street area and the map is literally littered with rapists and molesters
The ones who got caught, you mean. Take a closer look at your friends and relatives -- that's who is more likely than a stranger to molest your kid.