Why I bought in Congress Heights

By way of introduction, let me tell you how we came to live in Congress Heights.

So I got a job to the surprise of everyone I know and to the enormous relief of my parents. I previously had plans to be a student for life. My new job was in DC. We were initially overwhelmed with the number and variety of neighborhoods to choose from. In true millennial fashion, I wanted to live somewhere affordable close to my work, a farmer's market and a coffee shop. My real terms for buying a house were a little bit narrower:  I want to live somewhere I could afford and be close to my job. Meanwhile, we lived in Navy Yard, paying way too much money for a one bedroom apartment.

My first condition did a good job narrowing down the list of places to live. There was basically only housing stock east of the Anacostia River at the price range we were looking at. Fatefully enough, my new job was located in Fortress America east of the river. 

My husband added his own condition. He wanted to live in a single family home, after a crazy neighbor incident we had in graduate student housing. We had a neighbor, who used to complain to building management the moment we entered our apartment that we were making too much noise. She would come to ask us to be quieter in the middle of the day in her pajamas. I think she used to sleep during the day, and my guess is she was a light sleeper at that. I feel for her, of course. There are never enough hours in the day for graduate students. For that reason, my husband wanted no shared walls and bit of a buffer in the form of a yard, just in case. That meant no row house for me, sigh, despite me loving the quintessential form houses take in DC.

So with those two limiting conditions--cheap and single family home--I instantly found my dream house in Congress Heights. An adorable two story, four bedroom pre-war brick home with curved arches in the entryway, large front yard and backyard plus a basement for a little bit over $200,000. Absolutely charming. We kept looking around because it was a little over budget. Then the owners dropped the price, and my real estate agent recommended we might as well make an offer with our desired price.

We still ended buying "over budget." By that I mean, my mortgage is now $500 dollars less than what we were paying in Navy Yard for a one bedroom apartment. Extremely affordable compared to the rest of DC.

I was aware of the bad reputation Congress Heights had when we were house shopping. We drove around in Congress Heights several times before purchasing and didn't see anything in particular that dissuaded us. To the contrary, I saw a lot of parents walking with their children, which I thought was nice change from Navy Yard, where there was hardly a child in sight. Despite our frequent visits, the bad reputation still concerned us. The houses were so cheap we thought to ourselves it MUST be for a reason!

I wanted to start writing a neighborhood blog as soon as I moved in, because I liked it so much from the start, but I thought to myself there must be something I'm missing. I've got to give it some time, you know, let it set in. Well, here we are two years later still crazy in love with our house and the neighborhood. As much as I love Congress Heights, I recognize there's some problems with the neighborhood as with most urban neighborhoods. And, of course, an old house, as beautiful as it is, has plenty of things that need to get fixed/would look much better if they were renovated.

But, by and large, I love my house and my neighborhood, and I tell everyone I meet about where I live. I love the strange looks it garners, and I love offering an alternative interpretation of a place people have likely never visited but have strongly preconceived notions about. Thank you, neighbors, for your warm hospitality and your fierce sense of community. I hope to stay here for as long as you'll have me.