Washington City Paper: D.C. Neighborhood Guide - Woodley Park, Cleveland Park, Forest Hills, North Cleveland Park

Connecticut, D.C.

Demographics

Population: 27,259
Percent Black: 7.3
Percent White: 79.5
Percent Hispanic: 6.8
Percent Foreign-Born: 18.6
Percent Children: 10.3
Poverty Rate: 5.5 percent
2005 Median Home Sale Price: $1,116,347
2007 Violent Crimes Per 1,000 Residents: 2.4
2007 Property Crimes Per 1,000 Residents: 23.7

Sources

Touchstone

Connecticut, D.C., has a glut of the District’s grand-old-dame apartment buildings. Among them, it’s the art deco Kennedy-Warren at 3133 Connecticut Ave. NW that stands out. Conceived in the early ’30s, the luxe nine-story complex wasn’t finished until the early aughts; the planned second wing finally opened in 2004 to a new class of renters, some of whom pay up to $8,000 a month to live there. What’s not open to new renters is the old wing, the one that’s rent-controlled, and it’s gotten rather sticky. The ’30s half of the K-W has electricity and plumbing dating back to when it was built and the owners want to bring everything up to modern codes and, it must be said, market rents. To do that, they were hoping the tenants of about 100 still-occupied apartments would leave or, perhaps, relocate. Deals have been worked out and fallen through. There are “holdouts” (the management’s term. The residents prefer something along the lines of “informed tenants”). Several have entered a rent strike. Even more have protested two rent surcharges added for improvements like new windows and elevator rehabilitation. Through all of it, one resident of the historic part of the building still loves it. “I’d like to have a dishwasher,” he says, “but I love the charm of the old wing and would hate to see that sacrificed.”

More Touchstones

D.C. Neighborhoods Flickr Pool

Woodley Park, Cleveland Park, Forest Hills, North Cleveland Park

They have it all: retro space-age architecture, solid housing stock, exemplary schools, the National Zoo, good and even wonderful restaurants, accessible public transportation, friendly neighbors, movies at the Uptown, and a library not housed (temporarily, of course) in a construction trailer.

Read Jule Banville's Full Essay

Photograph by Darrow Montgomery

Arbitrary Rankings

Kid-Friendliness: 9

You think Episcopalia caters to kids? Two words: Tai Shan. And that revamped playground on Macomb Street? Dan Snyder wishes he could build something this cool. Crime is low, neighborliness is high, strollers are welcome.

Housing: 7

Affordia this ain’t, but if you don’t mind living in one room with a sink and a doorman, you can score a studio condo in Connecticut for under $250,000. An average-price 3-bedroom house nudges up to a cool mil. Rents clock in around $2,000.

Eats: 8

Come to Connecticut hungry. The city’s major cuisines all have solid representation here.: French (Lavandou), Italian (Dino), Asian Fusion (Spices), Indian (Indique), Thai (Siam House), Irish (just have a Guinness at Nanny O’Brien’s, it’s a meal in a glass), American (Open City), Chinese (Mr. Chen’s Organic), Vietnamese (Nam Viet, Pho 79 will do in a pinch), pizza (Vace), fine dining (Palena). About all that’s missing is a Cosi in the old Blockbuster Video (warning: inside NIMBY joke).

Consumer Goods: 9

A grocery lover could find more to love. The sad, basement Giant in North Cleveland Park is the area’s only major purveyor, so it’s either that or cashing in stocks to shop at Magruder’s or Yes! Organic. Eccentric gift shops up the ante: Wake Up Little Suzie’s is one of the city’s greatest spots for baby gifts.

Nightlife and Culture: 3

Once past the badge brigade of Woodley hotels, nightlife picks up. Good times start at the Zoo Bar, with live music nightly, and continue on up to the land of Bedrock Bars (the company, owned by native Cleveland Parkers, runs Nanny O’Brien’s, Aroma, and Atomic Billiards, all within a block of one another). But this ain’t G-town, ladies, so leave the heels at home.

Intangibles: 4

The husband-and-wife owners of the Cleveland Park Listserv have an intercom and Keurig coffee machine in their house. This is not seen as strange.

Connecticut, D.C. in the City Paper Archives

Who'll Stop the Drain?
If you notice a foul stench while you’re walking along Rock Creek, you may be part of the problem.

A Road Ran Through It
Klingle Valley: Is it a road or a park? Up next, with Tim Russert and Tom Diaz

Grave Concerns
The National Zoo is playing dead on proposals to commemorate a burial site on its property.

Tail End
Schoolteacher and her Volvo help foil serial burglar.

Woodley Park

The Long Haul
District bureaucracy swallows a Jeep.

School’s Out, Offices In

Cleveland Park

Coming Home to Roast
Go ahead, count your chickens: Kenny Rogers' Roasters is coming back to town.

Comments

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Tony Bayne Jun. 19, 2008
5:12 pm

I wouldn't call the newly renovated Giant miserable. And have you used the bathrooms in there? My God, they're made for kings! (with 2-ply quilted aloe-enhanced toilet paper to boot.)
sara.h Jun. 19, 2008
5:15 pm

i have a keurig. and i live in laptopia. or liquorridor. or laptopidor.
Maia M Jun. 22, 2008
3:20 pm

Not quite NIMBY? Are you kidding? The GC Murphy and abutting Giant stand as a monument to the kings and queens of NIMBYism.
L Jun. 24, 2008
9:35 pm

The old GIANT was miserable, but the renovated version's great. Did you not go in when writing this article?
Tanya Jun. 26, 2008
3:47 pm

Ditto on the Giant. I was there before and after the renovation. In no way would I call the current version sad. It's perfectly fine and twice the size of the previous version. I shop there all the time. It's a good example of incorporating a supermarket into a dense, mixed-use, transit-oriented area--and it has free parking. You want to gripe, you should visit the Giant on Wisconsin Ave--now that one...