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Crestwood Community Guide Real Estate A wonderful, diverse, treed oasis for families

Updated 6/1/2023

History and Flavor

Variety is the name of the game in the Crestwood neighborhood. This treed oasis off 16th St NW offers a diverse blend of people and architecture. Here you’ll find Colonials and Tudors mixed with ramblers and 20th-century moderns. Most houses have additions and lovely landscaping. 

1688 marked the beginning of Crestwood when Henry Darnell settled here with a claim to 6,000 acres in Rock Creek Valley. When Alexandria and Georgetown became important ports, ships would sail up Rock Creek all the way to P Street.  

The oldest homes in the area date to about 1910, when building started on three hundred acres of rolling hills. Around 1940, developers Paul Stone and Avon Shockley named Crestwood when they purchased land in the southern part of the area. They advertised Crestwood as “Wooded country in the downtown residential district, only ten minutes from the White House.” 

It wasn’t long before the entire area became associated with the name Crestwood. Rock Creek Park surrounds the site on three sides.  Many area residents say they are attracted here by the park’s proximity. 

Everyone is welcome in this neighborhood, and there is a wonderfully diverse population. We  agree with British Ambassador Lord James Bryce, who described the area in 1913:

“To Rock Creek, there is nothing comparable in any capital city in Europe. What city in the world is there where a man living in a house like that in which we are meeting, in 18th Street, can within…a quarter of an hour on his own feet get into a beautiful rocky glen, such as you would find in the woods of Maine or Scotland…with a broad stream foaming over its stony bed and wild, leafy woods looking down on each side?”

Entertainment

Music & Parks

  • 9:30 Club– The 9:30 Club is a nightclub and concert venue in Washington, D.C. In 2018 the 9:30 Club was named one of the ten best live music venues in America by Rolling Stone, and in 2019 the club was named “Venue of the Decade” by VenuesNow.
  • Black Cat– Multilevel spot serves as a bar & cafe with vegan options & indie/rock/alternative live-music venue.
  • DC9 Nightclub– Tri-level hipster hangout with a snug basement bar, music stage with dance parties & rooftop deck.
  • Flash– International tunes & American bites at a small dance club with a photo booth & edgy design.
  • Rock Creek Park– A large urban park that bisects the Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. The park was created by an Act of Congress in 1890 and today is administered by the National Park Service.
  • Rabaut Park– Stone-paved pocket sanctuary for strolling & sitting amid landscaped greenery.
  • Upshur Park– Neighborhood green space with a baseball field & basketball courts, plus open, grassy areas.
  • Girard Street Park– Petite urban park featuring a playground and splash fountain, a basketball court, and game tables.

Shopping/Restaurants 

Popular Shopping and Eats

  • DC USA– DC USA is an 890,000-square-foot retail development in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of Washington, D.C. A Washington City Paper poll named DC USA the “Best Designed Retail Space” of 2009. The development is adjacent to the Columbia Heights station on the Yellow and Green Lines of the Washington Metro.
  • City Center DC – CityCenterDC is a mixed-use development consisting of two condominium buildings, two rental apartment buildings, two office buildings, a luxury hotel, and a public park in downtown Washington, D.C. It encompasses 2,000,000 square feet and covers more than five city blocks.
  • Urban Dwell– An independent, veteran-owned, boutique gift shop featuring carefully curated merchandise following the latest trends in home decor, women’s and men’s accessories, books and stationery, kitchen items, baby gifts, and more.
  • Chevy Chase Pavillion– This chic and polished shopping complex with big-name retailers shares space with offices and a hotel.
  • Chicatana– Fine Mexican dining in a chic modern, and fun atmosphere.
  • Anafre-Mexican cuisine, pulling inspiration from traditionally prepared dishes of Baja California, The Yucatán Peninsula, Acapulco, and beyond.
  • Taqueria Habanero – Taqueria Habanero has established itself as one of DC’s favorite spots for the best tacos and Mexican food. They bring you authentic Mexican cuisine with ingredients from the streets of Puebla, Mexico.

Schools

Best Public High Schools

Best Public Elementary Schools

Public Transportation

Buses/Trains

Park Rd & 19th St– Bus stop

16th St & Allison St– Bus stop

16th St & Upshur St– Bus stop

16th St & Decatur St– Bus stop

16th St & Spring Rd– Bus stop

16th St & Allison St– Bus stop

Columbia Heights– Subway station

Cleveland Park– Subway station

Georgia Ave-Petworth– Subway station

Median Home Value

$1,000,000 as of 2023

Renters: 33%

Owners: 67%

Demographics

Population  2,652

Median household income –  $169,059

Median age: 36

Families with children – 24%

High school diploma or equivalent – 8%

College Degree: 90%

42% White

30% African American

18% Hispanic

6% Asian

4% Other

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