Photo by Matthew Lehner Photography.

The New York Times says that it’s home to Washington’s Hip Strip. City Paper scribe Jason Cherkis called it the “ugliest gentrified neighborhood in D.C.” and joked that “the difference between Columbia Heights and Silver Spring” is that “Silver Spring has two movie theaters.” Prince of Petworth and its commenters took umbrage and defended the neighborhood. It feels like everyone’s talking about Columbia Heights. And while our penchant for free pancakes is well-documented, we want to know: what do you guys think about the future of Columbia Heights? Is it on the right track or not?

(Also: feel free to dub this a lazy post or “comment-bait” if you’d like — but at 4:50 p.m. on a Friday afternoon in February when the temperature is a record-setting 77, can you really blame me? Just think of it as you and your DCist editor sharing a couple of virtual stoop beers. And, if this doesn’t interest you, feel free to talk about Little Caesar’s plans to come back to the D.C.-area or something. I’m going outside.)