Would You Still Move to Columbia Heights?

After almost a decade of economic revival and gentrification in many areas of D.C., I wonder what will happen now in the wonderfully diverse Mount Pleasant area, including Columbia Heights and Park View, just north of it.  This is the type of place where you can buy a 4-bedroom renovated townhouse for over a million dollars, or a 4-bedroom fixer-upper for under $300,000, just 12 blocks apart.

This historic area suffered a big set-back after the riots related to Martin Luther King’s assassination — so many years ago and yet so recent in memory for this city. Since the real estate boom, and slowly, block by block moving east and north, the number of seriously neglected houses compared to fixed-up and cared-for homes has changed the face of Mount Pleasant. When the Columbia Heights Metro station opened on 14th St., NW near Irving Place, that was a real boon. Then Target and other major stores decided to take a stand next to the Metro. I don’t even recognize 14th St. anymore. But now that the real estate boom is over, what’s the situation?

Well, for a clue, take a look at the Redfin map showing houses for sale there. The distribution of “for sale” signs is heavily skewed to the streets east of 13th St. NW, around Sherman Ave. NW, and across the eastern side of Georgia Ave., NW, in the direction of the Washington Hospital Center where Children’s is located. A lot of them are fixer-uppers, some with half-started jobs waiting for completion. At least 3 are foreclosure sales. Most have been on the market for a long time (average 90 days) and most have had price reductions.

In other words, the locations that were on the frontier of gentrification seem to be suffering the most as the risk/reward equation changes for new owners. No surprise there, it’s just hard to see it actually happening. Look at the sales map for Ledroit Park and you see the same thing, with quite a few more foreclosures.

How far will this go? I don’t know. But in Columbia Heights I would hope that the Metro and 14th St. shopping will continue to positively affect the whole area over time. If you have thick skin, deep pockets, and can wait this out, there may be some bargains out there now as people try to off-load. If you already rent in the neighborhood and have been hoping to buy a home, this may be the breathing space you need to get into the owner’s market before it goes up again.    

Things like crime and general living atmosphere are different from block to block, like in New York. So if you don’t already live there you need local intelligence, like this community discussion thread advising someone moving to the area. Other discussion threads talk about fun stuff like roof-crawlers (people, not animals, although you can get lots of raccoons in D.C. too!)  

Other relevant blogs:

http://newcolumbiaheights.blogspot.com
http://theheightslife.blogspot.com
http://parkand14th.blogspot.com

Final note: Never write off a local public school until you visit it. Bell Multicultural High School on Highland Place is a gem – and I am not talking about the sparkling new building. I don’t know what the stats say with respect to meeting No Child Left Behind measures, but the principal, staff, students and programs there are amazing, despite enormous challenges. The real stats – like graduation (over 90%) and college-qualification rates (over 80%) are outstanding for a D.C. public school. It is supported by a public-private partnership called MCIP, which was instrumental in getting D.C. to build the new school building a few years back.

Cheers,
Allison

Photo credit via Creative Commons