April 14, 2008
Help Us Decide -- Is U Street in Shaw?
Yesterday the New York Times published a review of new District hotspot Marvin, the Belgian-themed bar and restaurant sitting just north of the intersection of 14th and U streets NW:
Named for the “Sexual Healing” crooner, Marvin is a new Belgian bistro and lounge in the Shaw neighborhood where Gaye was born. Those taking an evening off from the darts-and-Dockers bar scenes in Georgetown or Adams Morgan say it feels more than a few Metro stops away from their usual haunts.Wait, Shaw? Yes, Shaw. But the Times isn't alone in making this claim -- the Washingtonian similarly lists Busboys and Poets, which is less than a block north of Marvin, as being in Shaw.
Is it really? Does Shaw extend as far north and west as some claim, effectively swallowing what has come to be known simply as U Street? Much like other debates on the ill-defined boundaries of D.C. neighborhoods -- remember North Cleveland Park? -- there's isn't a whole lot of clarity on the Shaw/U Street debate.
According to the D.C. Citizen Atlas, both Marvin and Busboys and Poets are in Neighborhood Cluster 3, which is listed as Howard University/LeDroit Park/Cardozo/Shaw and encompasses a swath of land between 15th and 1st streets NW and S Street and Michigan Avenue NW. Shaw spills over into Neighborhood Cluster 7 to the south also, though. According to Wikipedia's map of District neighborhoods, Shaw is a huge neighborhood that spans much of the U Street corridor.
Conversely, though, in 1998 the Greater U Street Street Historic District (.PDF) was included in the National Register of Historic Places, lending support to the argument that U Street and its surrounding environs are their own neighborhood. Additionally, Metro has two distinct stations for Shaw and U Street, and the Post lists both Marvin and Busboys and Poets as being in "U Street-Cardozo." To the business community, the U Street area is its own, though they refer to it as MidCity. Finally, Shaw Main Streets, a non-profit organization dedicated to revitalizing the neighborhood, focuses its efforts on the area between 7th and 9th streets NW and bounded by K Street to the south and Florida Avenue to the north -- the area most commonly associated with Shaw.
But to muddy the picture even further, it was the Cardozo Shaw Neighborhood Association that lobbied to have U Street added to the National Register of Historic Places. And according to their web site, they consider "Cardozo Shaw" to include everything between 16th Street to the west, 8th Street to the east, S Street to the south, and Florida Avenue, Barry Place and W Street to the north. (Notice the exclusion of 7th Street.)
So who's right? Is U Street merely a part of Shaw, or has it grown into its own distinct neighborhood worthy of formal recognition?
Photo by Ronnie R
| 
ouch my head hurts. but no, U st. is not shaw, imo
Generally, I've always considered Shaw's eastern boundary as Georgia Ave. I always thought that part of U street, if it needs a name, is the north side of Logan Circle.
However, I'm more troubled by the NYT writer lumping Adams Morgan in with Georgetown as a "darts and Dockers" scene. I don't know about the clothes, but is there anywhere on 18th where you can play darts?
I don't see how they're mutually exclusive. U Street's a street that's in the Shaw neighborhood. But if you want to split hairs you should use the real estate tax designation and call it Old City, but what's the likelihood of that happening? I think the distiction is something residents use to differentiate themselves from other neighborhoods. At what point does Logan Circle end and U Street begin? This is the kind of pissing match that Mount Pleasant and Columbia Heights have been in for years.
It really depends on who you're talking to. If you're trying to convince your out-of-town relatives and suburban visitors that they'll be safe, you tell them you live off hip n happenin U Street. If you want to namedrop your indie street cred on a woman in a bar, you'll tell her you live in Shaw. Works for other neighborhoods too, like when you want some attractive co-worker to come over for drinks you tell them you live in trendy Adams Morgan. But if you don't want jerk guy to know where you live, you tell them you live in a ghetto off Columbia Road. In both cases, you're telling the truth.
To me U St (9th St to 18th St) is a street in 2 or 3 neighborhoods. Western part Adams Morgan, Eastern part Shaw, middle part lower Columbia Heights. 14th and U is more Adams Morgan or lower Columbia Heights as that is just where you start climbing up from the flat lands of Dupont and Logan.
jeezus, man, the whole question is mootsville baby, mootsville: Within fifteen minutes, everything will be SILVER SPRING.
Watch those borders; It's coming to getcha! Nobody's safe. Canada, this is your thirty-minute warning...
Once upon a time there were neighborhoods in DC that had defined boundaries (more or less). Now it seems like people just toss names out whenever they want and a major culprit is the real estate industry.
I met a woman one time who told me she lived in "North Georgetown. I thought to myself, "where the hell is that?" Turns out she was talking about Glover Park.
Anyway, I think there will always be a debate as to what lies where. But in my honest opinion, 14th NW & U NW is definitely not Shaw.
oh holy god, this is like manna from heaven for me....
(cleans drool off keyboard)
ok, now that i'm composed, here's what i think:
this isn't a discussion that leaves a lot of room for nuance, but nuance is needed here. first, you need to read rob goodspeed's take on this here, specifically so you can see the map of the shaw school urban renewal area.
basically, "shaw" as a neighborhood name didn't come around until the shaw school urban renewal area was created, and that was in 1966. check out this site and download the shaw history PDF to read a lot more about the neighborhood's history.
in the end, the area that has been called shaw is slowly being carved up as parts of the huge area develop their own personalities. i think everyone would agree that logan circle has become a pretty well defined neighborhood, centered on the circle itself and the commercial nexus at 14th and P. truxton circle is another part of shaw, east of new jersey avenue and named after the old circle that used to be at florida and north capitol.
the u street area is part of shaw, but it certainly has it's own history, both before and after the shaw appellation came into being. like truxton circle and logan circle, i would say in a historical sense, u street is part of shaw, but it's its own neighborhood as well.
enjoy the nuance...
@dudelookslikealady - The Reef, for one.
@IMGoph
Are you serious about Truxton Circle? I always thought that name was some made up real estate agent BS.
I met a woman one time who told me she lived in "North Georgetown. I thought to myself, "where the hell is that?" Turns out she was talking about Glover Park.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Golly, I'd have thought she was speaking about Burleith--she missed a whole neighborhood. Psha, what ignorance!
Go ahead and laugh about Silver Spring annexing U Street, but I had the misfortune of trying to get to a hat store that claimed to be in "Silver Spring" but was NOWHERE freaking near Georgia Avenue or Colesville Road. Got friggin lost in Wheaton for half an hour before we tracked the place down. So yeah, you want to glom onto that neighborhood cachet as much as possible, because nobody in their right mind wants to go to "Kemp Mill Village."
Brother can't even get a decent porkpie nowdays. Ain't that a b***h?
There's mad confusion about this stuff all over DC. When I first moved to the Hill in '97 my Dad came over to my place and he was surprised that where I lived was considered Capitol Hill. My grandparents had lived in the same neighborhood some 30 years before, but back then it was called something else.
I am going to have to agree, Shaw, to me, ends at Georgia Ave...U street is well, justt that, U street, it's got it's own thing going on. I work right in the midst of all of this columbia heights, u street, 4th corridor, Adams morgan...U street has its own flavor just like all the others
but is there anywhere on 18th where you can play darts?
Try Kokopoolis
To make matters more confusing, Cardozo High School is technically in the Columbia Heights neighborhood. Don't tell Jim Graham or he'll try and change the Metro Stop signs again.
Can't we just call the whole mess "New Honkeyton" and be done with?
We know it's not in NoMa!!
Does anyone else remember when people were calling it "New U"? I think WaPo even had that as a neighborhood you could filter a restaurant search with.
also re: creeping silver spring...
there's an apartment building on 16th just south of U street advertising a room for rent... call the number and the guy will tell you that the apartment is actually in "silver spring"... coincidence?
Well, someone did try to make a neighborhood map at some point... but then they went ahead and just called NE one big neighborhood:
http://www.washingtonsbestaddress.com/neighborhood_map.htm
The other question is: what is the 14th street corridor? (by which I mean the area south of U on 14th St)
It's not shaw. It's "The Corridor" as my friends and I refer to that area. 10th & U to 15th & U and the surrounding area = The Corridor.
According to Destinations DC (the city's official tourism and visitors board), Shaw is defined roughly as "North of M Street NW and south of Florida Avenue NW, between 11th Street and New Jersey Avenue NW".
Clearly, there is a small part of U Street that is part of Shaw, but not as far west as 14th & U.
Cardozo really isn't a neighborhood, despite what some bow-tie wearing council member thinks. The name was derived from the High School, and that was named after a prominant African-American.
"but is there anywhere on 18th where you can play darts?
Bedrock Billiards on Columbia Road.
juanfe: That's actually a pretty good map of NW neighborhoods. And in its defense, it only purports to be a map of NW DC neighborhoods (plus Capitol Hill). At least Washington's Best Address is honest about where it considers Washington's best addresses to be.
But as I've said before, Windows maps has a pretty decent reflection of DC neighborhoods. Plus it's got that awesome Bird's Eye View.
I'd say it's part of the U Street corridor, or U Street area or whatever. Shaw, to me, doesn't go that far north or west, it stops around Q or R and about 11th or 12th.
Isn't the vicinity surrounding 14th Street south of U a mix of Dupont Circle and Logan Circle neighborhoods? At least that's what the real estate postings about 'East Dupont' seemed to claim in the late 90s.
reid: yeah, they only really make a claim to northwest neighborhoods, but it's interesting that they don't even label anything on the other side of the anacostia.
if we were to take their map as gospel truth, then u street is definitely part of shaw.
hillrat: yeah, truxton circle isn't like noma or dupont east, some crazy realtor creation. it was real. check out this article from dcnorth in 2005.
but is there anywhere on 18th where you can play darts?
The Reef!!!
So I have a question for you guys: I recently moved to an apartment near Meridian Hill Park, which is in between Adams Morgan, U Street, Mount Pleasant, and Columbia Heights. Which neighborhood should I claim as mine?
Also, I'm pretty sure Angles has darts.
Silver Spring has something like 15 zipcodes, what's a few more?
@tam82: that's a good nickname, but if I were you, I'd extend The Corridor to span between 7th & U to 16th & U. Then again, everyone on the west side of 15th street would bitch about not being able to call their neighborhood "East Dupont." Ppfffftttt.
I'm on board with the U street is a definitive area of its own, but can be considered part of the amorphous "Shaw."
I do not consider Truxton Circle to be in Shaw (I live there and consider Shaw's eastern boundary to be New Jersey).
Coincidentally, it's also U Street Month: http://ustreetmonth.blogspot.com/
@IMGoph
Thanks for the link, it's always cool to learn a little more about DC.
engineergirl - I'd say you live in Meridian Hill.
Either that or North Kilttown.
Engineergirl - I think if you're west of 16th you're in Adams Morgan.
And Marvin is definitely part of a fairly amorphous neighborhood I call "U Street." Not sure, but it goes at least as far south as T and north to around V/Florida. I would put its western boundary at 16th and just for fun let's put its eastern boundary at Vermont. That works for the imaginary map of DC I carry in my head.
Bedrock also has darts.
Screw darts. Where are the downtown bars that also have jarts?
Depends on exactly where "near" Malcolm X Park you are, engineergirl...if you're on the east side of 16th, that would technically be Columbia Heights. West side would be Adams Morgan, unless you're also a few blocks north of the park and on the west side, which is Mt. Pleasant. And if you're on the south side of the park, then you're probably lumped into this whole Shaw/U Street debate.
Re: which neighborhood you are in in relation to Meridian Hill Park:
It depends where you are in relation to the corner of 16th st and Florida Ave/ W st
NE is Columbia Heights
NW is Adams Morgan
SE is the fusing of the U street Corridor and Dupont (a fusing that begins at 14th street and ends at the Starbucks on 16th and U)
SW is the northern reaches of Dupont
Also, engineergirl, the fact you called it Meridian Hill Park implies that you're not an uptight hipster. As such, you're more likely to live in Adams Morgan, not Columbia Heights.
Man, do people on any of the other -ist blogs debate neighborhood zoning borders with such vigor?
JohnS - Are you kidding? Gothamist goes bats**t crazy over neighborhood street cred. If you live in Park Slope or Redhook, you're a yuppie poseur, but all the cool kids live in "the Bronx."
Funny how this happens. If the reporter had done their research, they would have discovered that Shaw and U Street were historically two different and distinct neighborhoods with different socio-economic and social histories, although both became predominately black beginning about 1900. I researched both neighborhoods for various projects, including the two walking tour trails and a book on U Street published in 2000.