Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I will be starting at the Catholic University of America in August, and have heard mixed reports about the neighborhood. Some say it's relatively safe and getting better, others say it's actually getting worse. Anyone have any insights?
Brookland is having a hard time attracting the retail options it deserves. But as a quiet place to live it's quite nice, and improving. Suria's coffee shop is a little neighborhood gem, and a new TexMex restaurant just opened along 12th Street. I would stay well north of Rhode Island Ave to avoid the grimmer parts of the neighborhood.
I would agree with Mickey. I live to the North of Brookland, by Fort Totten. Both Brookland by CUA, and areas northward are very quiet, safe, nice places to live. But, there is really nothing here. We are what one might call "underserved" in terms of amenities. But, its nice here. I also agree that the closer you get to Rhode Island Ave to the south, the sketchier it gets...
Yes I agree as well. I live in Brookland right behind CUA. It is relatively safe and quiet. Sureia is a wonderful coffee shop and Yes Organic is a nice grocery store. Other than that there is nothing els around as it is a very residential neighborhood but it is very close via metro and car to other exciting areas. Driving it is 10 minutes to downtown and china town and about 15 minutes to downtown Silver Spring, Md which is an u and coming area.
I went to CUA and find that the campus is really quite segregated from the neighborhood. Besides for a couple of places (Col.Brook's, CVS, and of course chinese food and liquor stores ), there is not much of significance in Brookland to CUA students. But overall, the neighborhood is not terrible, but it's also not a 100% safe place to be walking around, especially at night, as a college student. There is some riff-raff that spills over onto campus sometimes (often around the Metro, though they've vamped up security and things overall have gotten better since I started 4 years ago) but campus itself is generally safe for being in the city. Most students, it seems, don't spend much time in the neighborhood but Metro elsewhere.
I'd second what others have said. Brookland is a largely safe neighborhood--to the extent that it has a bad reputation, it's because it has a ",NE" after its name. The problem with Brookland is that there's just not much going on. 12th street has a couple of bars and restaurants, a grocer, hardware store, CVS etc. but that's hardly what anyone would consider a "thriving" commercial corridor. But most peple don't move to Brookland for the nightlife...there are some nice homes that are largely affordable, and its proximity to other central DC destination neighborhoods makes it attractive.
Brookland is a great neighborhood for families and students who respect they are in a community. It does not have a ton of amenities. We've raised our kids here and have felt quite safe, or as safe as we've felt in any of the other urban areas we've lived such as NYC and Oakland, CA.
Feeling safe is a relative thing. I walk around my neighborhood in the dark, but I"m careful and try to use the city smarts I've gained in life.
Brookland is diverse in every way and you feel like you are really living in a garden of urban life. It's not too gritty and it's not too clean. It's a nice mix.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
), there is not much of significance in Brookland to CUA students. But overall, the neighborhood is not terrible, but it's also not a 100% safe place to be walking around, especially at night, as a college student. There is some riff-raff that spills over onto campus sometimes (often around the Metro, though they've vamped up security and things overall have gotten better since I started 4 years ago) but campus itself is generally safe for being in the city. Most students, it seems, don't spend much time in the neighborhood but Metro elsewhere.
