Brookland's Pastoral Peace

In the latest installment of its Neighborhood Profile series, UrbanTurf takes a look at DC's Brookland neighborhood. The authors defined its boundaries as "...8th Street to the west, Franklin Street and Rhode Island Avenue to the south, South Dakota Avenue to the east and Michigan Avenue to the north." Brookland, which the authors compare to a small Midwestern town, is characterized by "...wide, leafy residential streets, expansive front yards and minimal commercial presence." Combined with its wide variety of properties, its small town appeal makes Brookland popular among both renters and buyers.

But things may be changing in this sleepy corner of DC; in the next several years, three mixed-use developments--including one from Abdo Development--are scheduled to go up in Brookland. While some are excited about the arrival of new shopping outlets and other amenities, others are concerned that their neighborhood will lose its Midwest-like appeal, falling to "traffic, noise and trash.”

We won't get the final verdict on Brookland for a while, though. We'll have to check back in about five years when much of the new development is complete, suggests UrbanTurf.

Real Estate Expert Interview: UrbanTurf

UrbanTurf is increasingly the go-to publication for DC real estate watchers. From the best in newly listed properties to noteworthy market trends, co-founders Mark Wellborn and Will Smith are constantly revealing the pulse of DC’s real estate scene.

We chatted with Mark and Will about common apartment hunting mistakes, the no-smoking property trend, and neighborhoods they consider to be DC’s best kept secrets.

Thanks for joining us, Will and Mark. Tell us a little about UrbanTurf. When and why did you launch it? Who is your audience?

UrbanTurf is an online publication that covers residential real estate in the DC metro area. UrbanTurf was founded in late 2008 because we felt that a publication did not exist that provided the type of residential news that DC residents are really interested in. Every day we post four to five articles on a variety or real estate oriented topics that range from interesting trends going on in the area market to hand-picked properties that we think are great deals to profiles of specific neighborhoods or new condo and apartment projects. Our audience has grown from prospective home buyers and sellers, real estate agents and developers to include anyone that has an interest in what is going on in the DC residential real estate scene.

You recently wrote about the growing number of DC area apartment buildings that are banning smoking. What pros and cons should landlords take into account when considering a no-smoking policy?

Aside from the obvious con that you will immediately exclude smokers from renting in your building – which landlords may actually want – some prospective renters may object philosophically to the idea that they are prohibited from certain behavior within their own home, even if they themselves don’t smoke. Also, if a renter wants to have a party or has friends who smoke, they might feel that the rule could cramp their ability to play host.

All that said, I think the pros outweigh the cons. The amount of non-smokers who hate smoking and welcome a 100% smoke-free building is large. We’ve spoken with a fair amount of people who would even pay a premium to live in such a building.

One of UrbanTurf's regular features is "Neighborhood Profiles". Which neighborhoods do you consider to be DC's best kept secrets today?

Hillcrest in far Southeast near the Maryland border is a charming residential neighborhood with attractive single-family homes that are priced at levels almost unheard of within the city’s borders. It has a suburban feel, so having a car is necessary, but for a young family that wants a reasonable priced house in the city proper, Hillcrest is a hidden gem.

For a more urban option, the “neglected” quadrant of Southwest is affordable (by DC standards) and very well located. It doesn’t have much in the way of bar and restaurant options, but it has two Metro stops, a shiny new Safeway, and the waterfront, Nationals Park, and the Mall are all within walking distance. It’s a great neighborhood for people who like the idea of having the hustle and bustle a short ride away, but enjoy coming home to a quiet neighborhood. Also, there are very big plans afoot for redeveloping Southwest, though they will take years to come to fruition.

Which neighborhoods are you most interested in watching over the next 5 years?

Historic Anacostia, Brookland and Trinidad.

In your opinion, what are the biggest mistakes that renters make when apartment hunting?

Just like home buyers, renters are prone to think that regardless how good something is, something better is just around the corner. In today’s rental and home buying market, if something good comes along and you don’t jump on it, it will be gone before you have the chance to reconsider. The demand is just too high and the supply too low. So, if something that you really like comes along, don’t wait to sign on the dotted line.

Any noteworthy trends you're foreseeing in the DC rental market for the rest of 2010?

Assuming the economy continues to improve, rents are likely to increase a little over the next 12 to 24 months. A lot of the condo projects that converted to apartments when the real estate market hit the skids have spent the last couple years attracting tenants by offering aggressive incentives like a month or two of free rent. Many of those apartments have finally “leased up”, so landlords are no longer as desperate to find tenants. It’s not that rents will shoot up a lot, but the time for renters to get the very best deals has come and gone.

Read last month’s interview with Matt Rhoades and Luis Gomez of DC blog Borderstan.


Are you a local real estate expert interested in sharing insights and tips with thousands of renters, landlords, and other Urban Igloo followers? We’d love to interview for our blog and newsletter! Contact us today at info@urbanigloo.com.

Neighborhood Expert Interview: Borderstan

The first time you heard someone say “Borderstan,” chances are you were confused but also didn’t forget the name. Matt Rhoades and Luis Gomez coined the highly sticky term in 2008, and later launched a blog to cover this crossroads of several DC neighborhoods. Since then, Borderstan has evolved into a valuable community resource, addressing everything from crime to real estate developments to the area’s cultural events.

Thanks for joining us, Matt and Luis. First, let's get our geography straight. Your blog refers to Borderstan as the "crossroads of Dupont Circle, Logan Circle, and U Street neighborhoods." What are the actual borders of Borderstan?

We created the borders for our blog coverage -- they mean nothing in terms of official city boundaries for neighborhoods. The northern boundary is Florida Avenue, the western boundary a small stretch of Connecticut Avenue, Massachusetts Avenue is on the south and 9th Street NW is the eastern boundary. Here they are on a Google Map.

Borderstan is certainly catchier than most neighborhood names. When and how did you come up with it? And why did you start the blog?

Several of us were sitting in our living room about 2 years ago and we were talking about how 15th Street NW is the dividing line between two Police Districts, two ANCs and two official DC neighborhoods. For example, the west side of 15th is Dupont Circle and the east side is Logan Circle. I will take credit for the name! The blog started out as a public safety and crime blog and grew from there. I call it the "accidental blog."

What are the best things about living in Borderstan?

Walkability to anything you need or even desire on a daily basis -- grocery stores, restaurants, hardware stores, galleries, wine shops, dry cleaners, two dog parks, veterinarians. It is not unusual for us to leave the car parked all weekend. In turn, this means that we run into many people we know on the streets, so it is a great place to live for social interaction. And since we have a dog, we have met many more people that way. Lots of dogs in Borderstan.

What are the housing options for someone who wants to move to Borderstan?

Housing prices have gone up dramatically in 10 years and substantially in the last five years. For example, a one bedroom condo that would have gone for $150,000 or in 2000 will now go for $400,000 plus. However, in the past two to three years they have leveled off -- we never really had the declines that they did in the DC suburbs. There are many one-bedroom apartments for rent or purchase due to the high number of young single people. Single-family homes are untouchable for anything less than probably $800,000. In addition, there are lots of rental options in the area, both one- and two-bedroom units.

You cover neighborhood crime frequently on your blog. What crime trends have you seen over the last few years?

Crime is down, definitely. However, the newly revitalized commercial strips continue to be magnets for robbers and muggers. Overall, the situation is better. But, more people on the streets at all hours mean more targets. I think a lot of young people who grew up in the suburbs don't always understand the rules of downtown city living when they first come here. They tend to be a bit too carefree in terms of watching out for themselves, especially late at night.

You also have quite a few posts related to dogs. How pet-friendly is Borderstan?

Borderstan is a very pet friendly place. We have met many of our neighbors and made new friends from walking our dog. There are two dog parks -- one at 17th and S NW and another one at 11th and R NW.

What are the biggest changes or additions coming to Borderstan in the months or years ahead?

I think the big story is the continuing real estate development on 14th Street between P and W Streets. The entire west side of 14th Street between S and Swann is going to be demolished in September; new condos and first-floor retail is going in there. Room & Board will soon open at the southwest corner of 14th and T Streets, which will really change that intersection, I think. Of course, there is also the mega project at the southwest corner of 14th and U Streets -- that will be an amazing transformation of the entire intersection.

Please share some of your neighborhood favorites:

- Favorite bar or place to get a drink: Nellie's Sports Bar, Mova, Stoney's, Cafe Saint-Ex

- Favorite upscale restaurant: Rice

- Favorite cheap restaurant: El Paraiso at 14th and T NW, Pasha Bistro on 17th NW, Commissary, Stoney's (both on 1400 block of P Street NW)

- Favorite coffee shops: Java House at 17th and Q and Steam Cafe at 17th and R

- Favorite quick pizza: Manny and Olga's on 14th (it always arrives within 30 minutes)

- Favorite area to walk around: The entire 14th Street corridor from P up past U Street NW.

- Favorite (other) DC blog: 14th & You, City Paper City Desk blog, Free in DC, One Bite At A Time

Thanks Matt and Luis! And congrats on the just-completed redesign of your site. It looks great!

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Read last month’s interview on Southwest DC with William Rich of “Southwest…The Little Quadrant that Could” blog.

Are you a blogger or leader in your neighborhood? Share your expertise with thousands of DC area readers of our newsletter and blog. Contact us today at info@urbanigloo.com.

Washington Post on Southwest DC

Yesterday's Post covers the comeback of Southwest DC, picking up on a number of changes and themes SW blogger William Rich discussed in his Urban Igloo interview earlier this month. Developments mentioned by the Post include:

• The new 54,100-square-foot Safeway
• The return of CVS and Bank of America
• The reopening of Fourth Street
  
• Leases signed by Subway and another restaurant
• Three DC government agencies moving into office space
• A renovated 126-apartment building and similar size condo building
  
• Waterfront Station, a pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use project
  
• Two other major Waterfront developments awaiting financing
  

They quote neighborhood commission chair Andrew Litsky as saying "The bottom line is that Southwest is back. For everyone who was complaining there was a paucity of everything, they're wrong."

Neighborhood Expert Interview: Southwest DC

One of the city’s few waterfront areas, the Southwest neighborhood of DC lies along the Washington Channel of the Potomac River. The perks of living in this up-and-coming area are overlooked by many … but not by blogger William Rich of Southwest…The Little Quadrant that Could. We recently sat down to chat with William about his neighborhood.

Thanks for joining us, William. When and why did you start blogging about Southwest?

I started blogging about Southwest in June of 2008. The neighborhood was going through a lot of changes and I thought it would be a good idea to start chronicling it and bring attention to a largely forgotten part of the city. Slowly, but surely, we’ve been getting more exposure.

What are the best things about living in your neighborhood?

It’s a relatively quiet area of the city but close to the National Mall, downtown, and Capitol Hill. It’s also well-served by public transit, including Metro, Circulator, and Metrobus. There’s easy access to Northern Virginia, which is good for me since I work in Alexandria. We have a fish market on the waterfront, which gets busy on the weekends, but the odor sometimes gets a bit overwhelming. Southwest is an ethnically diverse, largely middle-class neighborhood, and civic engagement is very active here. Housing is more affordable than other areas of the city and there’s a variety of housing types to choose from - we have condos, co-ops, apartments, townhouses, duplexes, and houseboats!

According to the Washington Post, one problem with Southwest is that it's "void of the kind of natural urban fabric of corner stores, drycleaners and other neighborhood services that are common through much of the city." Is this really a problem and, if so, how do you get around it?

Yes, this has been a problem in our neighborhood, especially since the redevelopment of the old Waterside Mall began in 2007 and most of the stores were closed to make way for a new “town center” development called Waterfront Station. At the old Waterside Mall we used to have a convenience store, drycleaners, bakery, video rental store, bank, CVS, Safeway, and several restaurants, but only the bank, CVS, and Safeway remained once redevelopment began. In mid-April a new Safeway will open and over the summer we should start to see some restaurants open up at Waterfront Station. I stopped shopping at the old Safeway years ago because it was so dirty and instead get my groceries at the City Vista Safeway or Harris Teeter, which are pretty close by car. Once the new store opens, I won’t have to travel to those other grocery stores anymore. We do have some neighborhood services scattered about, but due to urban renewal efforts in the 1950s and 1960s, our main retail centers have been concentrated at Waterside Mall and L’Enfant Plaza Promenade.

Nationals Park opened two years ago just across South Capitol Street. What impact has it had so far on Southwest?

I would have to say for the most part it has been a positive impact. A viaduct near the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge was removed during the reconstruction and beautification of South Capitol Street before Nationals Park opened, so it helped to better connect Southwest and the Capitol Riverfront. I can walk or bike easily to baseball games and the fireworks show they put on every Friday evening when the team is home is visible from my condo building. The Nationals have done charitable works in SW and hold job fairs to hire local residents. Also, the bars and restaurants along the Southwest Waterfront have seen increased business from baseball fans since there aren’t many places to go near the ballpark yet in Capitol Riverfront. However, traffic has increased in the area on game days and neighbors have complained about littering by fans.

You recently blogged about your sneak peek of the new Southwest Safeway, which opens later this month and has been getting lots of buzz. What are the highlights of the new store? How big of a deal is this for the neighborhood?

The new Southwest Safeway will be 55,000 square feet, which is about 20,000 square feet larger than the old store. With the increased size, more features have been included, such as a food court area with prepared foods, a pizza oven, sushi bar, Starbucks, and “cheese world” counter. There’s a stone-walled lounge near the front of the store with a fireplace and several seating areas. An on-site bakery will serve warm bread all day and a fancy bread slicer uses lasers to cut bread as it comes out of the oven. Other upgrades include a pharmacy, an attended meat/seafood counter, and garage parking. The new store will also sell wine and beer. This new Safeway is a huge deal since it’s the only grocery store we have in Southwest. The old Safeway was not properly serving the needs of its customers and we hope this new store will be managed better to go with all the planned upgrades and niceties.

What are the other major recent developments or upcoming changes in Southwest?

There are a lot of developments going on in Southwest right now that keeps me pretty busy. As a part of the development of Waterfront Station, 4th Street has been reopened between I Street and M Street, which hasn’t been around since the 1960s. Last month, two office buildings opened at Waterfront Station that now house several District agencies. A couple of condo conversions are underway – Potomac Place Tower and Waterfront Tower. Arena Stage will be reopening in October after a two year renovation and expansion. The Consolidated Forensic Laboratory, which will be home to the city’s new crime lab, is under construction in the northern part of Southwest. L’Enfant Plaza Promenade is currently undergoing a $40 million renovation. Memorials to Martin Luther King Jr. and President Eisenhower are either under construction or in the design phase. The old Randall School building on I Street will be repurposed as a boutique hotel, museum, and residential complex. A new Washington Highlands branch library is under construction in Bellevue, which is located on the east side of the Anacostia River, but still in Southwest. However, the biggest upcoming change will be the redevelopment of the Southwest Waterfront itself, which will be transformed into a world-class waterfront destination, currently in the design phase.

Please share some of your neighborhood favorites:

- Favorite bar or place to get a drink: Cantina Marina, especially around sunset because the view is amazing and the margaritas are good! It feels like I’m not in DC when I go there.

- Favorite restaurant: Jenny’s Asian Fusion

- Favorite area to walk around: My new favorite area is to walk down the newly opened 4th Street, but I also like to run on the National Mall – seeing the Capitol dome, the Washington Monument, and the Lincoln Memorial all the time never gets old.

- Favorite thing about living near the water: Strangely enough, I like hearing the horn of the cruise ships as they leave their docks in the evenings (and sometimes in the mornings). Watching the annual parade of lighted boats in December, the fireworks show during the National Cherry Blossom Festival, and other events along the water are also a treat.

- Favorite (other) DC blog: DCMud, DCist, and JDLand (our neighborhood blogger to the east and inspiration for my blog)

(Photos courtesy of William Rich)

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Read last month’s interview on Penn Quarter with the author of the PQ Living blog.

Are you a blogger or leader in your neighborhood? Share your expertise with thousands of DC area readers of our newsletter and blog. Contact us today at info@urbanigloo.com.

Neighborhood Expert Interview: Penn Quarter

Pennsylvania Avenue is one of the most famous addresses in the world. And its surrounding neighborhood to the east is home to one of DC’s most popular blogs, Penn Quarter Living. We recently had the chance to talk to “gpliving,” the blog’s founder and one of its three editors.

Thanks for joining us, gpliving. First, where exactly is "Penn Quarter"? What other names do people use for this area?

Penn Quarter can be loosely defined as the Washington, DC neighborhood that resides between the White House and the Capitol building. It is officially defined as the area of downtown bounded by 3rd St NW to the east, 15th St NW to the west, Pennsylvania Ave NW to the south and Massachusetts Ave NW / New York Ave NW to the north. Several years ago, Penn Quarter only went as north as H St NW. But, as Chinatown has waned and new developments (like Gallery Place) have been completed, Penn Quarter expanded north up to Massachusetts Ave NW / New York Ave NW. Penn Quarter can be said to envelop Gallery Place and what is left of Chinatown. Other terms like Downtown and East End have been attributed to Penn Quarter.

How long have you lived in PQ? When and why did you start blogging about it?

I have lived in PQ for almost 5 years and I started blogging about the neighborhood in 2006. I started the blog because I was told that I needed a hobby. But, there were a host of other reasons to start the blog. Although, Penn Quarter had officially been a neighborhood prior to 2006, the northern part was expanding and undergoing a revitalization mostly due to the booming real estate market. That development boom brought many empty retail spaces that needed to be filled up and all of the PQ residents were gossiping about what stores would move in. The blog became a kind of public grape-vine where everyone could contribute information on retail developments and be up to date every day. I also felt compelled to share what was happening around me because the neighborhood had virtually no representation on the internet.

What types of people live in PQ today?

This is a great question because when you are walking on the sidewalks of PQ, you see a cross section of the entire DC demographic. PQ is a major transit hub with the Gallery Place and Metro Center metro stations being contained in the neighborhood. There are also several bus routes that pickup at the corner of 7th & H St NW alone. But, once you enter the various apartments and condominiums in the neighborhood, the demographic becomes skewed towards the direction of those who are most able to afford to live in this prime location. Thankfully, there have been affordable housing initiatives that have, for example, enabled artists to own condos in buildings like Mather Studios. But, in most buildings, you will find professionals, mostly single and almost no families. There is a pretty healthy range of ages, from the students attending Georgetown law to the empty-nesters who have downsized their abode.

What are the best things about living there?

The proximity to everything you could want in a neighborhood, both for work and play, and having the National Mall as a neighbor. For example, during the record setting snowstorm earlier this year, several restaurants and bars were still open and I even went to Long View Gallery for DC artists' Matt Sesow and Dana Ellyn's public wedding and to a "best of" showing of the 2009 DC Shorts festival. Meanwhile, others in suburbia were left with no power and nowhere to go.

Some people knock Penn Quarter for not having enough character or soul. On their way to a Caps game they see the chain restaurants and tourist crowds and say, 'I couldn't live here.' What do you tell these people to make them appreciate PQ more?

It would be hard to adequately discover PQ when walking the sidewalks with crowds of people 30 minutes before or after a Caps game, for sure. I am not much of a hockey fan, but one of the things that actually drew me to the neighborhood was all of the activity from events, including the Caps games. I can sit in my condo with the window open and tell you whether or not the Caps won or lost a game just by listening to the crowd as the game lets out. That kind of energy rubs off on you, and thankfully for the past few years, that has been a really positive energy when Caps games are involved!

But, the Verizon Center is just one very small piece of the puzzle that makes PQ great because PQ is the cultural center of Washington DC. The Shakespeare Theater and Smithsonian American Art and Portrait Gallery, which have been around longer than the Verizon Center, are two anchors for the cultural side of PQ. But, when combined with the 2nd Shakespeare theater (Sidney Harmon Hall), Woolly Mammoth, Goethe Institute, Spy Museum, and even the National Crime & Punishment Museum, the National Gallery of Art and all of the other museums on the National Mall, you can start to see that there is a lot more to the neighborhood than the restaurants that line one side of the 700 block of 7th Street NW or the Verizon Center which practically shuts down during the summer months.

PQ is also a transit hub as mentioned before. Not only are we living at the center of the metro system, but Union Station is just a few blocks down Massachusetts's Ave. That makes easy access to New York & Boston. You don't need to own a car around here.

Lastly, I cannot leave out PQ's popularity for non-chain and international restaurants. The list of non-chain restaurants starts with Jose Andres' three restaurants in the PQ. And PQ is also finding itself as the first neighborhood in the US that international restaurants want to explore. While those restaurants are considered chain restaurants in other countries, they are every bit as unique as an independent restaurant in the US.

What are the hot topics on your blog these days? What are your neighbors most passionate about?

The hottest topics these days are ones that affect quality of life. The retail scene (openings and closings) is a hot topic, but that scene is starting to level out because almost all of the vacant retail spaces are occupied or are spoken for.

Where do you go grocery shopping? Is a major supermarket likely to open in PQ anytime soon?

We go to the Safeway at 5th & K St NW for groceries. I think the general consensus is that PQ will not be getting a grocery store in the foreseeable future, mostly because there isn't a suitable retail space for one to open up. Factors such as loading dock size and dedicated parking were some of the more unusual requirements that grocery stores have that one doesn't normally consider. The would-be Balducci's retail space on 7th St between D & E was a very specific size and layout for Balducci's and does not work well for more traditional grocery stores like Whole Foods and Trader Joe's. But, the longer that I have lived here, the mental roadblock of having to take the metro to go farther than 5 blocks has disappeared. Now, a 7 block walk is no big deal and I've even found myself walking from PQ to other neighborhoods like Dupont Circle and Adams Morgan.

Please share some of your favorites:

- Favorite bar: Poste (courtyard - during the summer), Iron Horse (during the winter)

- Favorite Chinatown restaurant: Vapiano

- Favorite hole-in-the-wall restaurant: Burma

- Favorite restaurant if someone else is paying: while not the most pricey, I'll say that Jaleo is my old favorite, especially with a pitcher of Sangria

- Favorite museum: Smithsonian American Art Museum, 3rd floor

- Favorite (other) DC blog: The Triangle (our neighbors to the north!)

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Read last month’s interview on Logan Circle with community leader Tim Christensen. Are you a blogger or leader in your neighborhood? Share your expertise with thousands of DC area readers of our newsletter and blog. Contact us today at info@urbanigloo.com.

WP on H Street NE

Yesterday's Post has a story on H Street northeast, focusing on the frustrations and hopes of the street's small business owners. A number of businesses have opened on H St. over the last few years, including bars, sandwich shops, coffee shops, gyms, and yoga studios -- "the same sort of attractions that drew young people to Adams Morgan when Georgetown grew too expensive for many of them." But prolonged, massive construction up and down the street has created major traffic and parking problems, hurting many businesses.

According to the Post, within a year "a proper boulevard is to emerge from the construction cocoon, with wide sidewalks, granite curbs, freshly paved traffic lanes and new landscaping. Tracks are being laid for six trolleys, expected to arrive in 2012, that will run from near Union Station to Benning Road and Oklahoma Avenue, in the shadow of RFK Stadium." Until that happens, most business owners seem optimistic:

There seems to be a consensus among the merchants of H Street that if they can weather the disruption, they will emerge with something a bit closer to an urban utopia than recent history has allowed.

They see the best of upscale Capitol Hill to the south merging with the middle-class sensibilities of the Trinidad neighborhood to the north, blending in the ethnic and cultural diversity of Adams Morgan but with the fabric of community woven in a tighter knit.

If that seems a rose-colored hope, there is abundant evidence that it is more than a possibility. Plans to revitalize H Street from Third to 14th streets have been discussed for years, and city planners long ago envisioned that the Capitol Hill populace would creep north to H Street. The new businesses, wedged between empty storefronts and carryout joints where a wall of protective plexiglass separates patrons from workers, reflect that the anticipated migration has occurred. So does a short stroll south on any of the numbered streets that intersect with H.

Read the full article here.

Neighborhood Expert Interview: Logan Circle

Few DC neighborhoods have transformed as much in recent decades as Logan Circle. Tim Christensen has not only lived through Logan's biggest changes, he's played an active role in them. Tim is a long-time member, and current vice president, of the Logan Circle Community Association (LCCA). He features prominently in a recent Washington Post story on Logan Circle ("Trendy now, but not by accident"), which covers the LCCA's role in ridding the neighborhood of prostitution and drug dealing. Tim was kind enough to talk with Urban Igloo about his ever-changing neighborhood.

Thanks for joining us, Tim. Please tell us a little about yourself. How long have you lived in Logan Circle?

Walter and I bought our first house together, on the 1300 block of Corcoran Street, in 1989. Prior to that, Walter owned a unit in the Iowa at 13th and O, and I was living in a group house up by the National Cathedral. We didn’t know at the time whether the neighborhood trajectory was headed up or down; we just knew we could afford to live here.

The first few years in Logan were tough. D.C. was battered by the crack cocaine epidemic, safety was a huge concern, and our property lost value over the first few years. Man, did that ever change. When we sold our property on Corcoran Street in 2003 to move into the new Icon building at 13th and O, it went for three times the original purchase price. Even though we had put in a couple hundred thousand in upgrades, we made out very well.

What are the biggest changes you've seen in the neighborhood over the last 20 years?

The issues that concern us have changed dramatically. During the 90s (and for many years prior to that), the big issues were street crime, drug dealing, and prostitution. While public safety will always be an issue, the neighborhood has largely regained control through the efforts of the Advisory Neighborhood Commission, the Metropolitan Police Department, the Logan Circle Community Association (LCCA), and lots of concerned, committed residents. The issues today include promoting the arts and small businesses in the fragile economy, historic preservation and zoning, and—you could ask the mayor about this—parking! When Mayor Fenty visited with the LCCA membership last fall, the majority of questions were around parking issues.

What are the best things about living in Logan today?

The neighborhood has evolved into a village where neighbors greet one another on the street, watch out for each other, and hang out at all the great retail destinations, art galleries, theatres, bars, restaurants—and the Whole Foods Market at 14th and P Street. We would be stuck without our Whole Foods. But you can also walk from this urban Oasis to downtown, the Mall, Dupont, and U Street in a matter of minutes and hop on the Red, Green, Yellow, Orange, and Blue lines to get anywhere else.

What types of people live in Logan Circle?

All types! In Logan Circle we celebrate diversity in all of its manifestations. We are racially, ethnically, and culturally rich and varied. The neighborhood is full of places of worship of all beliefs and we also have lots of room for non-believers. And like our neighbor to the west, Dupont Circle, we are supportive of all sexual orientations and gender identities—gay, lesbian, bi, trans, and every other variation. One of our coolest points of diversity is age. I’m sort of in the middle—well, getting a little up there at 53—and while some of my neighbors and friends are still growing into their mid 20s, two of my best friends are octogenarians: Bob is 84 and Paulette is 87!

What if any trends are you seeing in the neighborhood's rental market?

The most noticeable trend is the availability of condos as rentals. We’ve known a number of owners who’ve taken new jobs in other cities and don’t want to try to sell because the market has been so low. So they rent their units instead. We have four rentals in our 19-unit building right now.

You told the Post that you "want people to come here for the arts, and have the dining scene serve as an extension of that visit." What are you doing to make the area more of an arts district?

We want to do everything we can to brand Logan Circle as an arts district. Much as we love U Street and Adams Morgan, we do not want to imitate them. The 14th Street corridor is a designated arts overlay district, which is officialese meaning that a percentage of all development (or redevelopment) is given over to spaces housing the arts, as broadly defined. Unfortunately, we’ve not been very successful getting the D.C. Office of Planning to enforce the existing statute, so while the concentration of arts venues peaked around 2000 and has declined somewhat since, the number of bars and restaurants continues to grow. We’ve lost one prominent gallery, G Fine Art, already, and others are rumored to be on their way out. At the same time, it seems hardly a month goes by when we don’t see a new bar/restaurant going in.

Last year a small group of committed locals affiliated with the Mid City Residents Association, which is concentrated in the 1400 block of Q Street, was charged by the Advisory Neighborhood Commission to review the status of the arts overlay and develop recommendations for the District Office of Planning. They held a series of public hearings during the summer. The final report was adopted by the ANC and LCCA and submitted to the OP in the fall. While the report recommends some revisions to the arts overlay provision that community members felt would boost the arts presence in the neighborhood, the group also recognized that the “25 percent rule,” which theoretically limits the amount of bar/restaurant/entertainment frontage on a given block to 25 percent of the total, had not been reinforced and really did not need to be reinforced. After all, theatergoers and gallery patrons do need to eat and deserve a variety of choices. So while we’re redoubling efforts to support the arts, we’re also supportive of the food venues coming into the neighborhood. But in my mind, the arts should come first and the rest viewed as support services. That’s why I made that statement in the Post.

Please share some of your favorites:

- Favorite bar: We adore Cork Wine Bar. It’s great any night for a glass of wine or a flight of three tastings, and the small plates are delicious. I like the lounge at the Washington Plaza for a quiet drink with colleagues or friends. You can get a glass of fine wine there and the atmosphere is both international and serene. 1409 Playbill and Stoneys are favorite neighborhood destinations. And I understand Church Key (above Birch and Barley) is really great, especially for beer lovers, but we haven’t been yet.

- Favorite upscale restaurant: We go to Posto, little sister of downtown’s Tosca, a lot. The salads, pasta, and pizzas are all great. It’s often full during prime dining hours, but you can usually squeeze in at the bar. It’s also really convenient for dinner before an evening at Studio Theatre. There’s a bunch of new upscale restaurants on 14th but I haven’t had a chance to try all of them yet.

- Favorite cheap restaurant: Stoneys! The super grilled cheese, barbeque beef, chilidogs, crab cakes, and meatloaf sandwich are all excellent. On the (somewhat) healthier side, the Caesar and Greek salads are delicious. And the fries are great.

- Favorite place to shop: Universal Gear has great menswear, especially casual stuff. Timothy Paul Carpets and Timothy Paul Bedding and Home have meant we don’t need to go to New York anymore for fine rugs, fabric, and linens. Is there a limit on favorites? We love Home Rule for kitchen stuff (and the greatest window displays) and Pitango for superb gelato and coffee. All the art galleries are great. Finally, the Written Word is as good as it gets in terms of fine stationers.

- Favorite coffee shop: Caribou. It has great outdoor space for people watching.

- Favorite area to walk around: Logan Circle Park and the 1300 blocks of Rhode Island and Vermont Avenues. Logan Circle Park was rededicated a few years ago and is now a destination for picnics, badminton, croquet, and lazy afternoons on a blanket with a book in the shadow of General John Logan (a great guy, by the way, and the father of the federal Memorial Day holiday). Logan Circle itself and the grand avenues are home to the most stunning examples of 19th century Victorian residential architecture in all of D.C. That stretch of Vermont Avenue also includes the Mary McLeod Bethune house, former home of the great educator and civil rights leader and former headquarters of the National Council of Negro Women. Add to that the fact that there used to be a home for aged Confederate army vets just a few doors up that flew the Confederate flag out front and you’ve got a potent example of American history right here in Logan Circle!

- Favorite DC blog: There are so many! I rely on the big ones like DCist and Bisnow for events and “high society” info, but I like the little ones even better, particularly 14th and You, Prince of Petworth, Borderstan, and Philippa Hughes’s Pinkline Project. And Mark Wellborn’s UrbanTurf DC is a good one for those interested in real estate.

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Read last month’s interview with blogger Andrew Wiseman of Columbia Heights.

Are you a blogger or leader in your neighborhood? Share your expertise with thousands of DC area readers of our newsletter and blog. Contact us today at info@urbanigloo.com.

Mount Vernon on the Rise

Referred to as what used to be an "urban wasteland," Mount Vernon Triangle has undergone massive changes and continues to do so. In its recent article "From seedy to sought-after: D.C.'s Mount Vernon Triangle becoming urban village," the Washington Post notes the following:

- In the past six years, "the housing inventory in Mount Vernon Triangle has grown from about 500 residential units to 2,000, effectively quadrupling the population of the neighborhood."

- Safety has become a priority. Police officers patrol Mount Vernon Triangle's streets Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, monitoring for any suspicious activity.

- Restaurants that already have locations in other DC neighborhoods, such as Buddha Bar and Henry's Soul Cafe, are opening up branches in Mount Vernon Triangle.

- The DC streetcar--a project still in the planning stages for K Street and already in the construction phase on H Street--is coming to Mount Vernon Triangle.

Like many other areas, Mount Vernon Triangle is not immune to the effects of the recession on development. "There are still seven large empty parcels that are all spoken for, but plans for them have been put on hold [...] The lack of new inventory and continued demand will result in higher [housing] prices in the coming months."

Neighborhood Expert Interview: Columbia Heights

As part of an ongoing effort to share valuable information on DC’s neighborhoods, Urban Igloo is launching a series of interviews with local experts – bloggers, community association leaders, listserv moderators, and others who have unique, on-the-ground insights and tips. For our inaugural interview, we are excited to chat with Andrew Wiseman, author of the New Columbia Heights blog.

Thanks for joining us, Andrew, for our first neighborhood interview. Tell us a little about yourself. How did you get into blogging about Columbia Heights?

I've been in DC about 12 years, staying here after finishing college at GW. I read a lot of local blogs and wrote one about GW basketball, but there wasn't one about Columbia Heights, despite the fact that so many new things were going on. So I decided to start one!

Briefly describe Columbia Heights to someone moving to DC who's looking for the right neighborhood fit.

It's a rapidly gentrifying (or maybe already gentrified) urban neighborhood with lots of nice older townhouses, brand new condo buildings, and a lot of new restaurants, bars, and retail, plus Latin American food and shops. Really almost a brand new mini-downtown in an older and diverse neighborhood. Very close to downtown also.

What are the people like who live there?

There's a real mix -- families who've been in the area for generations, young people looking for less expensive townhouses to rent, urban professionals in new condos and renovated homes.

What are the best things about living in Columbia Heights?

Everything I need is within walking distance -- groceries, bars, Target, restaurants, the Metro, friends, U Street, and Adams Morgan. I always run into people I know on the street or going out.

What impact has the opening of the big-box stores (Target, Best Buy, etc.) had on the neighborhood?

Huge! It's a real magnet -- all your needs are basically there. Much easier to walk over to Target and Best Buy than to take the Metro or drive to Virginia, as I used to have to do.

What other trends are you seeing in the area?

Other than the new big boxes, there have been a few new yoga places, chains like Chipotle, and great ethnic restaurants like Pho places and Latin American chicken.

Please share some of your favorites:

- Favorite bar: tough one. Red Derby is a cool dive with lots of beer, Wonderland is a neighborhood watering hole, and Room 11 has great food and a great and very knowledgeable bartender, Dan Searing.

- Favorite nice restaurant: CommonWealth -- hearty English pub food -- meat, cheese, Scotch eggs. Good happy hour deals too.

- Favorite cheap restaurant: El Rinconcito II, a traditional Latin American place across from the Giant. Great pupusas and other Central American food. Taqueria Distrito Federal is also really good.

- Favorite place to shop: Got to be DCUSA, with the Best Buy, Target, Marshall's, Linens and Things, etc.

- Favorite coffee shop: Columbia Heights Coffee. Laid back vibe and good drinks.

- Favorite area to walk around: Meridian Hill Park, a beautiful park with great views and a big fountain.

- Favorite (other) DC neighborhood blog: DCist.com is a good site, covering a lot of the city. Also like pqliving for Penn Quarter and Borderstan for the area between Logan Circle and Dupont.

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Are you a blogger or leader in your neighborhood? Share your expertise with thousands of DC area readers of our newsletter and blog. Contact us today at info@urbanigloo.com.