Bellevue

Bellevue is an upcoming neighborhood. I think is a great area for anyone who desires to invest on a property located in Washington D.C early enough before it starts getting too expensive like many other neighborhoods in D.C. This area , mainly the area of Elmira Street S.W is not ridiculously expensive. There are projects coming up in the next couple of years. Now, the street over , not so good. I wouldnt go for a run or walk at night time. The Tanger Outlets , MGM Casino , VA, Downtown D.C is just 5 to 10 minutes away from this area. Glad I decided to purchase my first home here, I sense peace and tranquilty in my street :) Hopefully the city will gentrified this area and build jobs ( Cafes, Shops, restaurants, etc ).

The location of Bellevue and the quiet environment with plenty of free parking is are its selling points. I love this neighborhood and I am so glad to have moved here. The history of Shepherd's Parkway is amazing and I anticipate one day, historic signs will be posted to highlight the significance of certain areas. There are a lot of homes being renovated and sold to a more younger buyer and it is bringing a welcome mix to the neighborhood. My friends are amazed when they visit this little known neighborhood of Southwest, as it is separated from the SW Waterfront area by the bridge and is East of the Potomac River while being West of the Anacostia River. We are getting a new grocery store with plenty of organic, locally-sourced, and healthy foods, which is due to be delivered by 2018. This area is truly a gem and I am glad to have found it before the real estate prices start creeping up more.

The comments here are from no one I recognize in my neighborhood. First off, I live on the back end of the neighborhood, that would smell anything from the DC water plant and I can tell you there are absolutely no smells of sewage. That has long been a disgusting myth spewed by people that do not live here, just because they can smell it from the highway, well pass the Bellevue neighborhood. The Washington Post recently highlighted the transition underway in Bellevue https://www.washingtonpost.com/realestate/bellevue-a-quiet-corner-of-southwest-dc-undergoes-a-transformation/2016/11/02/8932798c-9615-11e6-9b7c-57290af48a49_story.html.

Bellevue is a community on the cusp of gentrification and revitalization. When I first moved to Bellevue, my co-workers thought I was crazy, because several of them remember the area from childhood, when it was rough. Over the past decade, I have seen the demographics change of who lives here - more high income business owners and federal employees. The South Capitol Street SW and Atlantic Street SW intersection is being completely revamped and the blighted retail strip on that corner is being raised for new apartments with ground floor retail. The best thing about the neighborhood is that it is centrally located between Capitol Hill/Barracks Row, Alexandria, and National Harbor. It takes me 8 minutes, at best, to get to all of the restaurants on Barracks Row on Capitol Hill. Bellevue is 10 minutes or less from the recently Michelin star rated restaurants Pineapples and Pearls as well as Rose's Luxury. Additionally, the MGM National Harbor and the Wharf contain restaurants owned by world renown chefs such as Michael Samuelson, Jos Andrs, and the Voltaggio brothers, to name a few. It takes about the same amount of time to get to National Harbor and about 10 minutes to Alexandria. Being close to 295N and the Woodrow Wilson bridge makes commuting quick and easy.

We have a bike trail that runs through the neighborhood and extends through Oxon Hill and Alexandria that I love.

The crime stats are nowhere near what people portray. Don't believe me? Go to the Metropolitan Police Department's crime statistic site http://crimemap.dc.gov/. In that address, enter the address for Georgetown Cupcake 3301 M St NW, make sure you are looking in a range of 1000 feet, then select the 'One Year' option, so you can see the total number of crimes in one year. In comparison, enter the address of Bridgepoint Hospital, centrally located in Bellevue at 4601 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave SW. Just as before, make sure you are looking in a range of 1000 feet, then select the 'One Year' option. You will see the amount of crimes are far less and dramatically insignificant when compared to Georgetown, an area with high property values, taxes, and yes - crime. It's all about what's important to the person seeking to move, but I love being able to walk to a bus that takes me directly to my job near the White House (A9), taking a quick drive to Capitol Hill or the upcoming MGM at National Harbor, and enjoying a quiet neighborhood that hasn't been overrun with hipsters - yet. I challenge everyone to drive through Bellevue at night, sit on 2nd st SW and see how quiet it is.

A variety of inexpensive housing is available here, and in the southwest corner of DC you have a higher likelihood of finding a nice balcony, or a backyard that's larger than your standard bathroom. The space comes at a different type of price, though- that nice balcony will probably be overlooking a busy highway. And speaking of your standard bathroom, the neighborhood is close to the Blue Plains waste facility, which gives the air a very unique perfume, to say the least. There is no quicker way to wake up while driving to work at 7 am than to breathe in and smell... that. If it gets too bad you can just hold your breath and look across the street, where the sun is rising over a very pretty pond with trees. But you'd probably just better keep your eyes on the road.

Bellevue has long suffered from a bad reputation for crime and urban blight. Certainly this is true to a point, although recently it has been the target of a revitalization plan on the part of the DC government. There is a huge discrepancy between the rental prices and the housing values: houses run less than 200K on average, but rent will still set you back 1,000 per month (unless you want to live in subsidized housing). This seems to be true largely because the neighborhood has a very high percentage of high school dropouts who can't afford to buy a home, and very few professionals. Also, a potential buyer should be aware that this is a highly segregated neighborhood. In my experience, if you are not a member of the dominant demographic in areas like this one, not only do you stick out like a sore thumb, but you tend not to be treated with much respect. There is a constant fear that the more a neighborhood is "gentrified," the fewer homes there will be for current residents. Sadly this is a valid concern. Nonetheless, revitalization does seem to be working somewhat: new stores are coming into the area, and with the housing costs soaring in other places, Belleview is becoming a good bargain. Minutes away in the Maryland suburbs, there is plenty of shopping. Although DC area traffic is terrible, if you are brave and don't go over there at rush hour the Old Town area of Alexandria is a nice place to visit and do the sort of upscale shopping you won't find at home.