OPINION OF CRESTWOOD in DC? (middle-class, lease, crime)

[twinbull]

Hello All,
Thank you for all the valuable information you've provided. Can a few of you comment on your opinion of the Crestwood area east of Rock Creek Park? Good place to live? Safe for family with 12 year old? or any information would be helpful?

Thank you!!

[claremarie]

All I know about Crestwood is that it is popular with black professional families. For example, the current mayor of DC lives in Crestwood with his family. Like the mayor, many probably send their children to private schools.

[twinbull]

Thank you claremarie

[NativeWashingtonienne]

Are you looking to move only to Crestwood, or are you open-minded about where to move? There are a lot of nice areas around here.

[dullnboring]

I'm afraid I can't provide much more specific information either. I've only driven through a handful of times, but it certainly seems to me to be a perfectly nice, well-kept, quiet and safe, middle-class community.

[twinbull]

We have signed a lease to rent a house there...but have never been there. We currently live in San Diego, Ca. Seemed like a good deal...and an nice neighborhood, but wanted some opinions. Thank you for your comments.

[saganista]

Crestwood is sort of the old-line up-scale predominantly black neighborhood. It has one of the highest median household incomes of any neighborhood in the District, and it can boast of all the things -- such as safety, stability, education, culture, and so on -- that most other high income communities can boast of. The most unfortunate thing about it may be that the only major way to get from Crestwood to anyplace else is 16th Street, and it's a major commuter artery that may be challenging to travel during rush hour.

[Blake2502]

While it's true that Crestwood has been historically dominated by upscale black families, there are more and more white families moving there as well. It's a nice area, not the very safest part of DC, but not considered a dangerous neighborhood either. The downside I see is that it's not near many restaurants and shopping. You'd have to go to the other side of Rock Creek Park for that, or more downtown DC, or further north to Silver Spring MD. If house prices are cheaper as a result, that would make it worth it, but otherwise I'm not sure why Crestwood would be a better option than Northwest DC off Connecticut Ave. or Wisconsin Ave.

[rlchurch]

I've lived in Crestwood for almost 20 years. In 20 years we've had two break-in and the cops caught one guy in the house. Crime in DC is more a matter of fear and ignorance than reality. Maryland and Virginia suburbs have comparable burglary rates. You should just observe simple precautions like in any urban environment.

If you work downtown, it's hard to beat Crestwood for commuting time. Whether you use 16th St., 14th St, or Beech Drive, a rush hour commute is about 20 minutes.

Three sides of Crestwood are Rock Creek Park, http://www.nps.gov/rocr/ a wonderful resource. A lot of the streets in the park are closed to traffic on weekends and there are great biking, rollerskating, jogging or walking options. In the summer there are plays and music concerts every weekend at Cater Baron Amphitheater, located on the northern edge of the neighborhood. There's also an annual professional tennis tournament.

The neighborhood is about 50% African American, 40% Caucasian, 10% other. It's been stable since the 40s and 50s. The neighborhood is residential and there really isn't any retail within walking distance. We do the bulk of our shopping over on Connecticut Ave, which is about a 1/2 mile west. Plenty of good private schools in the area, but good public schools are not plentiful.

If you have a family, work in downtown DC and don't want to live in your car, Crestwood is a very comfortable place to live.

[smakawhat]

Crestwood is very nice. The only thing detrimental I would say is that it's not metro accessible. But it's very close to downtown so who cares.

http://www.crestwood-dc.org/