By
Amanda Abrams, Friday, June 7, 10:05 AM
You
could say the Bloomingdale rowhouse struck a chord with Amy Beth Horman.
The
violin soloist and Catholic University music professor was house-hunting back
in 2008, searching for a place that could accommodate her growing family as
well as her thriving violin studio. But she and her fiance were on a budget. A
friend of a friend tipped them off to the Northwest Washington neighborhood,
which was just barely within their range.
The
rowhouse she liked, though, was too expensive. “I was trying to tell myself not
to keep looking at it,” said Horman, 39, “but I kept checking [online] every
morning, and every time I looked, the price was going down.” When it dropped by
a full $100,000 in one weekend, she pounced, making an offer on the same day she
finally toured the home’s interior.
It
has turned out even better than she expected. “I love the house — and that’s
especially important because I work here,” she said. The front room, where she
teaches violin to roughly 25 students (including several from the
neighborhood), holds a grand piano; the rest is spacious enough for her three
kids, two of whom were born after the family moved to Bloomingdale.
But
according to Suzanne Des Marais, an associate broker with Keller Williams
Capital Properties, that kind of good deal is becoming increasingly rare in the
small community. In five years, Bloomingdale has vaulted from barely known
neighborhood to a destination in itself. “In the past six months, prices and
demand have been higher than they’ve ever been, with many listings going
quickly with multiple offers,” said Des Marais. “Now I have buyers who want to
be in Bloomingdale but are getting priced out.”
Working
to get along: Ten years ago, Bloomingdale was a largely middle-class African
American neighborhood filled with families and older adults. But these days,
more people of other backgrounds, including many singles, are in the
neighborhood. Streets and sidewalks are filled with hipsters on bikes,
20-somethings toting yoga mats and couples pushing strollers. “There are so
many babies on the block — I see more every time I turn around,” Horman said.
But it’s more diverse than it looks, she said. “I like the different kinds of
people, the different age groups here,” she said, adding that while there is
some tension between new neighbors and long-timers, “there’s a good amount of
us getting along.”
Amenities:
It’s easy to see why young families such as Horman’s are drawn to Bloomingdale.
There’s a busy coffee shop, Big Bear Cafe, that frequently hosts community
events; a farmers market selling vegetables, meat, cheeses and bread; the lush
community-run Crispus Attucks Park; and an active neighborhood blog and
family-oriented e-mail list.
Des
Marais attributes the population growth partly to a growing restaurant scene.
Bloomingdale didn’t have a table-service restaurant until Rustik Tavern, a
pizza place, set up shop in 2010. Several others have opened since, and more
are on the way. The newest addition is the Red Hen, a white-tablecloth
establishment run by veterans of the city’s fine-dining scene.
Schools:
The local elementary schools are Seaton, Garrison and Langley. Pupils move on
to Cardozo Middle School and Dunbar and Cardozo high schools. Many children in
the neighborhood are under 5 years old, so whether they will eventually attend
D.C. public schools isn’t yet clear.
“I
think people will be motivated to try and stay,” Horman said. “We’re definitely
staying.”
Living
there: Bloomingdale lies just west of North Capitol Street, bordered by Florida
Avenue to the south, Second Street to the west, and Channing and Bryant streets
to the north.
The
neighborhood is home to many Victorian rowhouses from the late 1800s and early
1900s, as well as some porch-front homes built in the early 20th century and a
number of apartment and condominium buildings.
Des
Marais said 68 Bloomingdale homes sold in the past 12 months, for between
$306,000 and $1.3 million, while 63 condo units sold, for between $185,000 and
$720,000. Nine houses are on the market, priced from $384,500 to $1.2 million,
as are eight condos ($239,900 to $499,990).
Transit:
Most homes in Bloomingdale are within a 15-minute walk of the Shaw-Howard University
Metro station, on the Green and Yellow lines, and the NoMa-Gallaudet University
station, on the Red Line. Buses run frequently along Florida and Rhode Island
avenues, and an Interstate 395 on-ramp is about a mile away.
Crime:
Crime is still something of an issue. Horman says a violin student’s car was
broken into, and she’s had to call the police a few times. According to the
D.C. police department’s online crime map, no homicides occurred in the area in
2012, but the community did see 15 robberies, five assaults and 33 burglaries;
the latter is a distinct increase over the year before.
Amanda
Abrams is a freelance writer.
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