Comments on: Wed. Afternoon Rental Option – SW Waterfront

By: spookiness

spookiness — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 03:41:44 +0000

“I’ve often wondered what poor souls lived there as I’ve driven by on the SW freeway because of how blah the outside looks. Now, that I see the pics, I’m surprised to see it’s not so bad.”

That pretty much describes all of Southwest.

By: logan_girl

logan_girl — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 00:08:18 +0000

Great price, just not familiar that much of area and safety. I know not as much to offer of restaurants and night life from what I remember. Do your research and see if right I guess for you.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 19:44:49 +0000

As far as Capital Park Plaza.. I would steer clear. I looked at an apartment here about a year ago and it was incredibly sketchy. Halls reeked of cigarette smoke, staff was unprofessional, unsavory types around, guard at the door that wanted your ID before you even got to the office, etc.

As far as Southwest goes, I’ve lived here for a little over a year and never had any problems. I pretty much stay in the area between L’Enfant Plaza and Waterfront metro stops, but I’ve never felt unsafe. It’s a great location – you’re near the waterfront, the National Mall and all the monuments, Chinatown, and obviously anywhere you can get via metro. From what I’ve heard, this area used to be not so great but has gotten a lot better in the past few years – I have really enjoyed living here and would definitely recommend it!

By: Sydney

Sydney — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 14:19:05 +0000

Other features of Capitol Park Plaza and its sister buildings on G Street SW:

Freeway views (of the Md.-Va. traffic you won’t have to participate in).

Rooftop parties that run way past midnight, with speakers blasting rap music so loud that neighbors can hear from a mile away, no exaggeration.

Regular evictions, which makes trash-picking easy and fun, just outside your front door.

Rude staff.

Laughable “security.”

Cars and loud motorcycles in the garage there can be registered in any state you want – no need to mess with with regulations of the city where you live.

Kids (under age 60) in the projects next door, setting off illegal fireworks from May to August.

As with Waterside Towers, if you go onto Craigslist looking for apartments SW, you’ll find dozens of ads posted every day for the same units in those buildings – each with a slightly different font and photographs, in order to get around the rule about not posting more than once a day.

All that said, there are some great housing options in Southwest, where you can find quiet, pay reasonable rents, and easily live car-free (walk/bike to much of the city, and have three Metro stations in a few blocks’ radius). Safeway, CVS, a couple of restaurants, the Waterfront, the National Mall, Hains Point and the seafood market are all nearby.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 13:36:41 +0000

Lead and asbestos waivers are pretty standard in old buildings, aren’t they? As long as you’re not tearing down walls it’s not a health threat.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 13:32:51 +0000

Bwah ha ha. Exactly.

By: monkeyrotica

monkeyrotica — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 12:43:44 +0000

This neighborhood is for people who want the quiet of the suburbs, but still want a walkable community. And, yeah, not everyone wants to live in the most vibrantly stabby area where everyone pees off their porch.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 03:25:01 +0000

I used to live in SW and went in the building briefly while looking for a place….just visiting the office alone made me want to run.

On a side note, I loved living in SW…it was quiet and had everything I needed in under a block radius. Sure, nightlife IS non-existant, but if I was looking for a night out, I could walk to Penn Quarter or just take a two-stop ride on the metro.

By: sb

sb — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 22:00:16 +0000

I live down the street from here. I did a lot of checking the dc crime map and reading the police listserv before I chose a neighborhood. SW has a ton less crime than places like Shaw or Columbia Heights (where I work and spend a lot of my free time, respectively). Of course, it also has fewer people walking by, shops to rob, etc. I feel safe walking home from the metro any time, though there are parts of SW that I wouldn’t feel as comfortable in alone at night since they are more desolate. There are occasional muggings, shoplifting, and thefts from cars/homes. Every few months there are gunshots (usually no one is hit but that doesn’t make me feel better!). It seems that there is more violent crime in the south and east parts of SW.

So it’s not Chevy Chase. But it’s by no mean a war zone.

By: Pedro

Pedro — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 21:34:32 +0000

My friend lived here and referred to it as Moscow towers and had to sign lead and asbestos waivers prior to moving in. Also pretty sure the walls were concrete so hanging things was nearly impossible but if you work on Capitol Hill I guess the location is decent.