Where else in this country can you feel within only five-square blocks you just visited 16 countries? Adams Morgan, tucked into northwest Washington, DC, above the National Zoo and Rock Creek Park, just about 10 blocks from the White House and downtown DC, is a myriad of nationalities happily tasting each other’s cuisines, hearing each other’s music and active in a cosmopolitan community among colorfully-painted row houses.
Condos to buy in stately mid-rises surround the village. Lease a condo for rent permanently or for a short stay in the city in which all the capital’s main sights are not far from your doorstep and your explorations can be like an adventure into countries you’ve never visited.
Adams Morgan’s prime dining and sidewalk cafes, rooftop lounges and patio bands will take you into Ghanese, Lebanese, Israeli, Thai, Chinese, Italian, Indian, Peruvian, Brazilian, Cajun, Vietnamese, Mexican, Guatemalan, Spanish and Ethiopian establishments. Not long ago Adams Morgan was known as the “Ethiopian Restaurant Capital of the United States” till several spread to the flourishing nearby U Street neighborhood. Sit in your condo with the window open to harken the sounds of American blues, salsa or the sitar.
Visit art galleries. Take advantage of the community pool, basketball and tennis courts, athletic field and chess tables. Drop in on wine-and-cheese tastings. Condos to buy and condos to rent put you right at the seat of the action including quiet early mornings when you just might hear the monkeys playing outside on the treetops at the nearby zoo.
Visitors stream into the Adams Morgan cross-section at Columbia Road and 18th Street, NW, for night life, starting early on Fridays, but the neighbor has begun controls to limit growth and maintain the down home feeling. Those protective policies offer security that the value of condominiums in the area will continue to rise.
On weekends, like others throughout metro DC, make the Farmer’s Market at Dupont Circle, one of the best and biggest city and area-wide, a habit. Frequent also the Western Market on Saturdays featuring Adams Morgan-only original artisans.
Out-of-towners look forward all year to Adams Morgan Day, held every September, a street festival celebrating the neighborhood’s diversity.
Take the Metro subway red line downtown from the Woodley station at the zoo, about a half-mile walk, go to the next closest stop, on the yellow line, in Columbia Heights, or bus it. Surrounding neighborhoods include Mt. Pleasant, also a rising condo hot spot. Progressive, arty and grand-old Dupont Circle, is just one subway stop down.
Get involved in citizen associations, including neighborhood beautification projects, planting trees and flowers, and an eclectic selection of committees in a community proud of its heritage, togetherness and unique flavor. Residents are citizen-oriented—volunteer at service associations or create your own.
Historians, architects, lovers of art and old-fashioned design will revel in the Kalorama Triangle Historic District’s preservation work. Encompassing part of Adams Morgan, Kalorama showcases classic creations and stylistic variations. Most prominent are Georgian Revival, Italian and Spanish Mediterranean and English Arts and Crafts.
Adams Morgan has been the most densely populated area of DC, a distinction residents value as they bop around the main and side streets and find they know more retailers and activists than not. Stroll around avenues past majestic townhouses with window gardens and courtyards. Wind further into the park, dip in its streams, picnic, bike and look toward soaring trees to feel like you’re deep in the country. |
