Confirmed: Manhattan taken
...And then work kinda took me.
Sorry, peeps, I just really haven't been into the voluntary writing thing: too much of a busman's holiday.
New York was fun, albeit rainy, and someday I just might write up the review of what we did when, lest any of you wish to benefit from our triumphs and travails (sneak peek: we've already made our reservation again for Dirt Candy for our return NYC trip -- gotta go back; our freezer is now almost devoid of H&H bagels -- later this month). But oh, oh, oh, what a mistake to think I could disappear for eight days during our busy season at work, with essentially no backup, and no ill would come of it. I've almost, but not quite, only now pretty much kinda sorta caught up.
The birthday part was less fun. I mean, not just the day itself (Finian's Rainbow - meh), but I've been angsting pretty hard on that day and thereafter. There's a classic social psych study in which people who are asked to estimate consecutive average daily temperatures supply a larger decrement between, say, November 30 and December 1, than they do between November 29 and November 30, even though, of course, nature is blissfully ignorant of our categories. In a similar vein (or broken capillary), I'm utterly convinced I became far more jowly on November 11 than I was on the 10th, and I remain rather unhappy about it.
But turning to possibly happier adventures: Berlin is confirmed, and we're back in the housing market. Today, we found the nicest property the closest to a metro that our pathetically inadequate budget has yet allowed. It's in the Brookland neighborhood of DC (and it's really close -- like a five-minute walk -- to said metro). Searching the various DC-oriented list-servs and fora yields the skinny that Brookland is a "safe, boring, family-oriented" place, all of which is ok by us. However, searching the DC crime databases reveals that within the past two months there have been two muggings at gunpoint within a thousand feet of this prospective residence. Is that really "safe"? I know, I know: depends whether you're one of the two mug-ees. But seriously: DC readers, assuming I have any readers left at all, do you have any experiences with Brookland?
Sorry, peeps, I just really haven't been into the voluntary writing thing: too much of a busman's holiday.
New York was fun, albeit rainy, and someday I just might write up the review of what we did when, lest any of you wish to benefit from our triumphs and travails (sneak peek: we've already made our reservation again for Dirt Candy for our return NYC trip -- gotta go back; our freezer is now almost devoid of H&H bagels -- later this month). But oh, oh, oh, what a mistake to think I could disappear for eight days during our busy season at work, with essentially no backup, and no ill would come of it. I've almost, but not quite, only now pretty much kinda sorta caught up.
The birthday part was less fun. I mean, not just the day itself (Finian's Rainbow - meh), but I've been angsting pretty hard on that day and thereafter. There's a classic social psych study in which people who are asked to estimate consecutive average daily temperatures supply a larger decrement between, say, November 30 and December 1, than they do between November 29 and November 30, even though, of course, nature is blissfully ignorant of our categories. In a similar vein (or broken capillary), I'm utterly convinced I became far more jowly on November 11 than I was on the 10th, and I remain rather unhappy about it.
But turning to possibly happier adventures: Berlin is confirmed, and we're back in the housing market. Today, we found the nicest property the closest to a metro that our pathetically inadequate budget has yet allowed. It's in the Brookland neighborhood of DC (and it's really close -- like a five-minute walk -- to said metro). Searching the various DC-oriented list-servs and fora yields the skinny that Brookland is a "safe, boring, family-oriented" place, all of which is ok by us. However, searching the DC crime databases reveals that within the past two months there have been two muggings at gunpoint within a thousand feet of this prospective residence. Is that really "safe"? I know, I know: depends whether you're one of the two mug-ees. But seriously: DC readers, assuming I have any readers left at all, do you have any experiences with Brookland?
4 Comments:
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Anonymous said...
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- 10:21 AM
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David Schraub said...
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- 2:27 PM
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Esquiver said...
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- 3:10 PM
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Italophile said...
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- 2:19 AM
Post a CommentPro Brookland. You've probably already come across the Brookland blog, but if not: http://brooklandavenue.com/blog/
-Shani
I don't know anything about Brookland particularly (I know someone who lives there, and he's not dead yet, but I haven't really asked him about the neighborhood), but a lot of DC neighborhoods are really block to block. I have a ton of friends in Columbia Heights who feel perfectly safe in their house, but a few blocks away people are getting shot all the time. And everybody seems to just agree there is a qualitative difference between they block they're on and one, say two blocks south.
And I should mention that by "five minutes" I really mean transit time from the kitchen to the station platform, with possibly some train-waiting time thrown in. According to Google, the actual distance is .16 miles, which makes me giddier than you'd think a casual and infrequent user of Metro would get.
Another place just came on the market in Old Town Alexandria near (.3 mi) Braddock metro: it's smaller and more expensive, though it has parking. The catch? It's right across the street from a public housing project. As a potential resident, I'm torn: as far as I know, people don't get mugged at gunpoint in Old Town, even by/around/in the projects. As a potential investor, though: that housing project isn't going to go anywhere, and is likely to be a drag on future appreciation -- versus a neighborhood like Brookland, which most seem to agree is on its way up. Hmmm.
What kind of public housing? (i.e., low-, medium-, high-rise?)
I would vote for Brookland, not knowing anything about either place.
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