A List of the Top 13 DC Neighborhoods Where Some Residents Could Go Berserk if You Get their “Borders” Wrong

Columns

by Prince Of Petworth January 31, 2014 at 4:00 pm 105 Comments

I have spent many a white night deliberating over this list:

13. Congress Heights
12. Crestwood
11. 16th Street Heights
10. Bloomingdale/Ledroit Park
9. Kingman Park
8. Capitol Hill
7. Manor Park
6. Michigan Park
5. Eckington
4. Edgewood
3. Parkview/Pleasant Plains
2. Mt. Vernon Squangle
1. Swampoodle

squish

#14. Takoma. Heaven forbid you group them in with Takoma Park!
- Prince Of Petworth
  
  And vice/versa – good point!
  - Petworth dude
    
    On that note, Chevy Chase, MD and Chevy Chase, DC might be another good one.
    - Rich
      
      There was a time when anything above Van Ness was called Chevy Chase. Somehow, Forest Hills has emerged as a “place”, but there’s still ambiguity along Connecticut.
- Anonymous
  
  That’s kind of legit, as Takoma Park is actually its own city and is not even in DC.
- PewPew
  
  I think Takoma should replace Manor Park. There are so many maps that mess up our borders, or mislabel us on maps. It’s a flipping triangle, it’s not shepherd park, and neither Manor Park, or Brightwood is part of our neighborhood.
Anonymous

LOL at Squangle (but so true though)
- Beth
  
  +1
Ben

Hillcrest should definitely be on this list. Many claim Hillcrest is only south of Penn Ave, but the city thinks otherwise.
STICKLER

BLOOMINGDALE AND LEDROIT PARK AS ONE ENTRY?

PARKVIEW AND PLEASANT PLAINS AS ONE ENTRY?

HAVE YOU NO RESPECT FOR OUR BOUNDARIES, YOU HERETIC??!?!?
- textdoc
  
  Ditto. :)
- Anonymous
  
  easy easy, give the dude a break…. all the neighborhoods are next to each other dumb dumd
  - wylie coyote
    
    I think the username “stickler”, the use of all caps and the use of the word “heretic” all add up to sarcasm.
    
    Also, please avoid typos when insulting the intelligence of others on the Internet. The D isn’t near the B on any keyboard I’ve seen, so typing “d-u-m-d” to insult someone’s intelligence is hysterical. LOL.
Anonymous

Where’s the list of neighborhoods that will go berserk if you leave them off a neighborhood list?
- Prince Of Petworth
  
  Thanks for ruining next week!!
aaa

Swampoodle? Really. A long-dead neighborhood. I’m bullshit on anyone who says they live in Swampoodle.
- Anonymous
  
  Sursum Corda
- Prince Of Petworth
  
  There may or may not be some facetiousness intended towards these random lists. Sadly I can neither confirm nor deny the claim!
- ontarioroader
  
  I’m just fine with folks starting to use Swampoodle again, as long as they also bring back Murder Bay and Bloodfield.
  - austindc
    
    Don’t let the name fool you. It’s not really a field.
  - anonymous
    
    Those are fantastic names.
- annonny
  
  It’s a neighborhood on Redfin. Wish the local real estate agents would start referring to listings there.
anon

Thank you. We may only cover a few streets, but we are Michigan Park, not Woodridge or North Michigan Park.
jeslett

I’ve grown to love the random Friday lists. They, and especially their comments and twitter commentary, make the last dredges of the work week funnier.
epric002

And after all that columbia heights/petworth hullabaloo we don’t even make the list?!
- Prince Of Petworth
  
  We were 14 I swear!!
  - epric002
    
    Tis fair I suppose, according to at least a few commenters, I don’t live in either. I’m neighborhood-less!!!
    - Brandy
      
      Same here! It seems that neither neighborhood will claim us!
Truxton Thomas

What about neighborhood names imported by gentrifiers and without any legitimacy among longtime residents? I thought I lived in Shaw until I found on the Internet that I actually live in Truxton Circle. Suddenly I couldn’t relate to THOSE people who live on the west side of New Jersey Ave. And the Ledroit Park and Bloomingdale people—forget it.
- anon
  
  True. Our realtor took us to “North Capitol Hill” aka Trinidad (before it was the Atlas District).
  - Anonymous
    
    Interestingly, there IS a Capitol Hill North neighborhood association, but it encompasses “the area bounded by Florida Avenue NE, G Street NE, 8th Street NE, and the railroad tracks (west).” Trinidad is definitely not part of that.
    - MetMet
      
      In the spirit of this list, I believe what you are describing is the Near Northeast neighborhood.
  - Anony
    
    Really? Wow these realtors are out of control
  - justinbc
    
    I hope it wasn’t to see the Capitol Hill Oasis rowhomes, which are neither in Capitol Hill, or an oasis.
anon

Is Eckington anywhere near North NoMa, aka NoNoMa?
artemis

Is it bad that I couldn’t name the borders for any of these neighborhoods?
wdc

Been scratching my head now for a few weeks over these lists. Then I JUST remembered that the Prince has a new(ish) baby at home. Let me guess… random listing of things is one of the few activities you can do while swaying at that *perfect* speed and humming at that *perfect* pitch.
saf

Dude. You forgot us. PETWORTH!!!
- Anonymous
  
  My beloved 16th Street Heights is being eaten by Petworth. Help!
dittle

How about the spelling of those names? It’s Park View, not Parkview. Thank you very much! :-)
JPK

I’m surprised Mt Pleasant isn’t on there. I’m tired of having to deal with people who live on Harvard and try to tell me they live in MtP. NICE TRY!
- Truxton Thomas
  
  Yeah, you probably shouldn’t treat them like human beings if they try to pull that.
  - sfp
    
    haahahaha. Harvard IS in Mt P as far as everyone else is concerned.
    - JPK
      
      don’t you start
      - Anonymous
        
        Only the North side is Mt.P! Duh. The south side is Lanier Heights! Or if your old school north Widows Mite.
      - Anonymous
        
        +1
Anonymous

Kingman Park doesn’t even exist in the real estate game. It’s either Capitol Hill or Hill East. Those new apartments on East Capitol has leasing signs that say “Are You Hill Enough?” Hmmmm.
- jeslett
  
  Much of reality doesn’t exist in the real estate game.
  - textdoc
    
    Too true!
  - justinbc
    
    +1
Anonymous

Dang, is there really a neighborhood named Swampoodle?? That’s fantastic!
- Truxton Thomas
  
  It got replaced by a new development called Union Station.
  - bens
    
    There’s a few houses on the south side of K St NW between Capitol and 1st NW that could still claim to be in Swampoodle. As well as a new development on H and 1st NW. Otherwise, the “neighborhood” is entirely commercial plus Union Station.
    - Anonymous
      
      also Gonzaga.
      - T
        
        + the church at the NE corner of N.Cap & K
        
        Yep, not much left!
BH

Capitol Hill is one of those weird meta-neighborhoods. You could live in Stanton Park, Eastern Market, Cap South, or even near Potomac Ave or H St. and still correctly claim to live in Capitol Hill. If someone asks me where in DC I live, the specificity my answer depends on how familiar he/she is with the city.
- Linc Park SE
  
  +1
  
  And Ive had a few laughs when travelling when and I someone who tells me they are also from DC – and I say where – and they reply ” Bethesda!”
- justinbc
  
  No, you live IN Capitol Hill if you live NEAR those things. The neighborhood is not called Eastern Market, or any of those other things. That would be like someone who lives in Logan Circle saying they live in the Whole Foods.
  - Anonymous
    
    Does Whole Foods have a metro station named after it such as Eastern Market?
    - justinbc
      
      It does not. Not that it matters, as Metro stations do not signify neighborhood designations. Nobody goes around saying they live at Navy Memorial.
      - wylie coyote
        
        Zing!
- Derek
  
  I agree. looking at all the areas in which people refer to their own neighborhood as Capitol Hill, it’s too big to be one neighborhood. I wonder how the size of the historic district alone compares to other neighborhoods on this list.
Myles G Smith

I live in Manor Park, and let me tell you, many of my neighbors don’t even know that we do. Most folks use the Brightwood catch-call so that non-locals can find us on a map.
austindc

How about every bouncer at every bar I go to who thinks Washington DC is Washington State (excluding those bars in our area and Washington State).
- Linc Park SE
  
  Are you drinking in Virginia?
- jumpingjack
  
  Or one I encountered who insisted that, because DC is not a state, it cannot issue drivers’ licenses and therefore mine must have been fake.
  - dno
    
    Calling BS.
    - Sarah
      
      Nope, this has happened to me too. Unreal.
      - ontarioroader
        
        This happened to me too about 20 years ago when I was pulled over for speeding in rural Georgia by a hillbilly local cop. After checking with his dispatcher he told me “huh, thought y’all were part of Maryland”.
    - Anonymous
      
      Happened to me too about 17 years ago.
Anonymous

This list is highly suspect! Obviously, numbers 8 and 7 should be switched.
Boozehound

I’d add Logan Circle, and for a very good reason. I’ve seen many listings for apartments over the last few years that were nowhere near Logan but priced themselves at the Logan Circle level, and announced in the listing (often at the very start) as being in the heart of Logan Circle. I hate the fact that its become a not uncommon practice of piggy-backing on a trendy neighborhood even if you’re technically nowhere near being part of that neighborhood.
- RL
  
  Waterside Towers has craigslist ads that claim it’s “near Chinatown.” It’s at 6th and I, sure – Southwest. I think we can all agree 1.5 miles is beyond the “near” zone within DC proper.
- Anonymous
  
  thats always happened. its not a new trend by any stretch.
- Anonymous
  
  Right, much of Logan is really DuPont East, or U St corridor.
- justinbc
  
  At least it’s better than the ads that say they’re in “the heart of DC”, wherever the Hell that may be.
Q-Street

The neighbor that I know who would go the most nuts over getting Swampoodle’s borders wrong, would also probably forgive you for just for calling it Swampoodle.
MBG

Neighborhood boundaries have no meaning or utility in DC, really. Your ANC SMD, your citizens’/civic/neighborhood group boundaries do mean something. Of course, the only real utility ever is to distinguish “us” from “them”. No one lives in “Swampoodle”. Name is a historical curiousity.
- Kevin
  
  “No meaning” in DC? The 50+ comments on this post might suggest that’s not entirely true.
- Anonymous
  
  i don’t understand your point.
early-byrd

Hahaha, Pop! Just got back from the happy hour and read through these! I will now and forevermore proudly declare that I live(d) in Mount Vernon Squangle :-) Can’t wait to see your next list!
Anonymous

Reminds me of the ANC (?) that wanted the area south of Adams Morgan (around Florida) to be called SoMo. That of course went over well in the community
Rich

No mention of Kalorama? The kalorama Triangle area likes to think it isn’t in Adams Morgan.
- dno
  
  True. We don’t but we are.
  - identified
    
    You are… now. But it wasn’t always so. Adams Morgan ended at Columbia Rd. Now, everyone calls Kalorama Triangle and Lanier Heights “Adams Morgan”…. KT tried hard to keep separate from Adams Morgan. And is failing completely.
    - Anonymous
      
      I would argue that locals differentiate Kalorama Triangle from Kalorama Circle, as well as Adams Morgan and Lanier Heights. No one however mentions Happy Hallow these days.
      - justinbc
        
        Trircle?
Bloomingdale, Eckington Resident

If you are going to lump Bloomingdale in with Ledroit Park you need to include Eckington too. Bloomingdale is a thin narrow strip between North Capitol and Second NW. The northern part of Bloomingdale – north of Rhode Island avenue, is also in Ledroit Park.

The southern part of Bloomingdale is also in Eckington, because as small portion of Eckington is actually in NORTHWEST, even though it’s widely considered to be in NE.

er… I guess I just proved your point.
- Anonymous
  
  thats not really true.
- Sarah
  
  No way. I’ve lived on Adams street for 3 years and my landlords have lived here for over 20. I have never heard a soul refer to this part of the neighborhood as Ledroit.
  - Anonymous
    
    YOU’RE ALL WRONG! :)
Slappy J

I honestly don’t know if I’m technically in Georgetown, Foxhall Village, or Palisades. It all kinda looks the same on the west side of the creek.
E in Rosedale

I get pretty bent when people lump Rosedale in with Kingman Park. The borders are 15th to 17th and Benning to C St, plus the Rosedale Rec Center.
lmm

Stronghold. Although the house across the street was mistakenly listed on redfin as Bloomingdale and I told the realtor who never fixed it and sold it for $695,000.
Anonymous

What about the boundaries for the Hilltopp neighborhood?
brookland_rez

Brookland. Don’t you dare lump Brentwood or Edgewood in with us. Michigan Park, Woodridge, not as big of a deal.
One More?

Any room for the assuming anything East of the River = Anacostia?
NE_resident

Only gentrifiers go by a lot of these names……I tell a long time local I live in Brightwood Park or some other lesser known name theyll be like “huh???” But If I tell them I live uptown, Southside, 21st St (NE), 4th and Rhode Island, Saratoga, 640 area, Georgia and Crittenden, upshur St, KDY, Rittenhouse, Simple City, names like that, they’ll INSTANTLY know where im talking about……
- Kam
  
  Exactly!
- Prince Of Petworth
  
  I bet you “gentrifiers” would also know exactly where 4th and Rhode Island and Georgia and Crittenden were…
  - wylie coyote
    
    I know plenty of gentrifiers who would have to consult a map to find Crittenden. LOL.
  - NE_Resident
    
    of course they would, when the gentrifiers are ready to “save” the area from itself *rolls eyes*…..and then theyll either bring back some name that hasnt been used in god knows how long OR some real estate people just create a new name….NoMA didnt exist as a neighborhood 12-15 years ago……and NoMA station will ALWAYS be NY Ave station to a local longtime resident…..heck anyone who lived in DC before 2010….
frickorfrack

Map of the old neighborhood names

http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/14141/meet-me-down-in-pipetown-dcs-neighborhoods-in-1877/
MetMet

If I live in Kingman Park but get the Hill Rag delivered without asking for it, can I claim to live in Capitol Hill?
Anonymous

Glover Park should get some love, since realtors and merchants try to call it Upper Georgetown.

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