News and Features Columns Food Movies Music Theater Arts and Events Classifieds CP Stuff Personals

Neighborhood Index > Nats Flats

Southwest, Navy Yard, Buzzard Point

Southwest is getting more visitors than it can handle, and they come bearing credit cards and $20 bills instead of vehicle papers and singles. The new ballpark's neighbors, however, aren't doing much to help separate subway tourists from their disposable income.

Arbitrary Rankings

Kid-Friendliness: 5

Not only does Nats Flats have a nature center, a brand new, state-of-the-art rec center, and a ballpark, but most of the apartment and condo complexes have their own “backyards”: green spaces with grass, and sometimes even playgrounds and swimming pools.

Housing: 4

While the new ballpark and attendant development has the potential to kill all remaining affordable housing in the area, if you’re looking to live near the water, it’s still a lot cheaper than Georgetown. Condo prices range from the mid $200’s to the mid $600’s. There are still rentals to be had in the $800 to $1,000 range, too.

Eats: 4

The conventional wisdom that a restaurant with good views usually serves bad food holds true in Southwest, for the most part. Still, the quadrant gets major points for housing one of the best fine restaurants in Washington: CityZen, inside of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. The variety of eats available at the ballpark raises the Flats’ culinary profile somewhat, too.

Consumer Goods: 2

Apart from the stadium and the slim pickings inside of the federal employment area and L’Enfant Plaza, which isn’t really considered part of the Waterfront/Navy Yard area, there is not much retail to be found in Southwest or the M Street section of Southeast.

Nightlife and Culture: 7

Well, again, you’ve got the stadium. And, although most of the museums are on the Northwest side of the National Mall, the Hirshhorn, Sackler, and Freer galleries, Air and Space, African Art, and American Indian museums are all technically on the Southwest side of the mall. Plus, there is Hains Point and the East Potomac Golf Course. On the nightlife front, there are mega-clubs H20 and Zanzibar, but the Waterfront after hours is best known for cruises on the Odyssey, which isn’t that cool of an outing, unless it’s prom night.

Intangibles: 4

There’s WATER. And you don’t have to climb over the crowd at Sequoia to get to it.

Nats Flats in the City Paper Archives