Neighborhood Index > Mild, Mild West

Palisades, Spring Valley, Wesley Heights, Senate Heights, Foxhall, Foxhall Village

There's a July 4th parade every year along MacArthur that rivals any small town's. It's enough to make you forget you're in the District. Which, frankly, is the point of living here.

Arbitrary Rankings

Kid-Friendliness: 8

Low crime, friendly neighbors, an elementary school (Francis Scott Key Elementary) so good that east-of-the-park gentrifiers could only dream of having their kids waitlisted there.

Housing: 6

If you have to ask… 1-bedroom condos in the less-desirable “toe” of Palisades, down by the Georgetown Reservoir, will run you mid-$300s or so. Houses in the rest of the region? Pick any single- or double-digit number you like and write six zeros after it. Play your cards right and you’ll be living near someone really powerful, or at least Starland Vocal Band mastermind Bill Danoff.

Eats: 4

There’s BlackSalt, Jeff and Barbara Black’s sustainable seafood restaurant on MacArthur; Makoto, home to some of the most expensive sushi in town; and Kotobuki, home to some of the cheapest, just upstairs. Mediocre (though above-average for D.C.) pizza at Palisades Pizzeria & Clam Bar and Listrani’s.

Consumer Goods: 4

Well, there’s a Safeway, and a kickass wine shop (Addy Bassin’s, which also trades in Bordeaux futures). More intriguing, though, is Ann Hand, jeweler to the famous-for-Washington, perhaps the only remaining place in the country that boasts about having Phyllis George as a customer. This is one place west of Rock Creek Park that has a legitimate gripe about being commercially underserved.

Nightlife and Culture: 1

You want nightlife? Go to Georgetown.

Intangibles: 5

Neighbors wave when driving down the street. You can sled in Battery Kemble (if it ever snows enough). At Dalecarlia Reservoir, hikers and cyclists can hop on the Capital Crescent Trail. And this year, Teddy Roosevelt will get the respect he is denied at Nationals Park, when he serves as grand marshal of the Palisades Parade.

Mild, Mild West in the City Paper Archives

Palisades

Spring Valley

Wesley Heights

Foxhall

Foxhall Village