Photos: Cleveland Park, Washington, DC

[ChevyChaseDC]

As the proud owner of a digital camera (finally) I went and snapped a few for Cyburbia in the Northwest Washington neighborhood of Cleveland Park.


Though I've heard some say that the neighborhood includes the Wisconsin Avenue corridor, I tend to think of the neighborhood center as being along Connecticut Ave.
Cleveland Park was once a collection of summer homes for the city's elite. Its elevation and wooded setting were welcome respite from the stifling humidity of the areas built over swamps closer downtown.
The houses represent an electic mix of architectural styles. All of the shots are within a few blocks of one another. The denizens of the neighborhood are mostly white professionals, from young senate aides, graduate students, and new associates at tony law firms, to older, more established Washington families. Of course, wealthy people are notorious NIMBY's, and if not for the NIMBYism of the residents of Cleveland Park, there probably would have been a freeway running up Connecticut Ave; additionally, if not for the efforts of neighborhood activists from Cleveland Park, the DC Metro system might not exist as it does today. (For a great history of the DC Metro, see the scholar Zachary Schrag's wonderful page on Metro history.
























Below is the Connecticut Ave. commercial area, home to Sam's Park and Shop, one of the first strip malls in the country; the Uptown Theater, a DC landmark, and, my personal favorite, Nanny O'Brien's, one of the few genuine Irish pubs in the city (along with its larger neighbor across the street, known locally as '4 P's.'

















Hope these photos help convey why Cleveland Park is one of the most accessible, livable, attractive, and downright desirable (and quite expensive) neighborhoods in the entire Washington, DC region.

[the north omaha star]

These pictures remind me of why Washington is my favorite city in the US.