This is Why I Love SE, DC and Now Call it Home

Southeast is the 'Heart and Soul' of Washington
By Ernest-Earl Wood, Washington Post
Thursday, January 25, 2007

Sometimes, it amazes me how many people proudly tell me that they have never been to Southeast Washington. They seem to discount that the D.C. Armory, RFK Stadium and Capitol Hill are all in Southeast. It seems that a lot of people who live in the Washington area think that Southeast is all carjackings, drug-infested streets and drug deals gone wrong.

Most people who live here do not realize that Southeast is the heart and soul of the city.

More than 200 years ago, Frederick Douglass decided he was going to move to the nation's capital to further his abolitionist goals. He searched the city and found a property on a commanding hill that had the most beautiful panoramic view. At night there, he could enjoy the lights and fires of the federal city. Douglass said he had found the "pulse of the city": Southeast Washington

Ever wonder why D.C. Council member Marion Barry continues to live in Southeast? Oh, the skeptics will say he lives there because the people of Ward 8 are the only voters who would elect him. But "Hizz Honor" lived in Southeast when he was mayor of the entire city. Could he have shared the view of Frederick Douglass?

Now, people from Northwest are smiling, thinking their part of town is the heart of the city. Northwest is the heart of the "federal city." It has the stone and marble monuments, the seats of the federal bureaucracy, the museums -- all cold and heartless. It has the high rent areas, including Foxhall, Georgetown, the "Gold Coast" and Embassy Row, all out of the price range of most who live here.

The newer, overpriced downtown areas are the playgrounds of the rich, the transients and the ruling political party. But there are not any real neighborhoods there. Please don't mention Adams Morgan. That was a beautiful neighborhood 20 years ago -- before the drugs, drunks and gangs. And parking there? Forget it.

Southwest, where I live now, is the wharf, condos and projects. Trust me, no real neighboring happens there. Good seafood, though.

And Northeast, well, there must be something good I could mention. Oh yes, there is Catholic University, the National Arboretum and Brookland, all past their prime.

For a real neighborhood, nothing compares to Capitol Hill. It has an unmatched mixture of gays and straights, young and old, rich and poor and a good racial balance that reflects the best of the city. The crowns of Capitol Hill are Lincoln Park and Eastern Market.

Lincoln Park is a safe recreational area, particularly for dog-walking. Thanks to the dogs, the park has the most nutritional soil in the city. Five times around, and it's a mile track for running or walking.

Eastern Market is the meeting place, the hub and the best marketplace in the city. Its meat markets cannot be matched: Canales Quality Meats and the Union Meat Co., to name just two. There's Market Poultry, which has fresh chicken waiting to be fried or baked, as well as duck, turkey wings, capon and range chicken. At Bowers Fancy Dairy Products, the cheese sells itself on taste alone. You even get to sample before you buy. And all of these stands are self-owned, not a part of any chain.

For a hot meal, you can get an all-meat hot dog plus all the trimmings for just 90 cents at Union Meat. On weekends, Market Lunch has hot breakfasts that are inexpensive, tasty and filling. The long lines that form must say something about the quality. There is also a farmers market that offers farm-grown fruit and vegetables and a flea market stocked with a greater variety of furniture, antiques, books, tapes, CDs, paintings, jewelry and flowers than you will find in any place of this kind. You have not enjoyed a warm weekend in the District if you have never been to Eastern Market.

Getting back to Capitol Hill, the boundary stops around Lincoln Park, not over to the Anacostia River or Benning Road. My sister, Ronnie, and I, third-generation Washingtonians, grew up at 16th and C streets SE, which was never considered part of the Hill. Now, the areas up to 19th or 20th streets are included. I heard recently that the Trinidad area is now being rezoned as Capitol Hill. That is totally preposterous.

If I want to be suave and sophisticated at cocktail parties, I can always proclaim that I grew up on the Hill. The expansion of the area is a scheme of crafty land speculators. By the time my children are my age, the area called Capitol Hill will include Prince George's County. Watch out, Annapolis!

The best-kept secret of Southeast and all of Washington is Hillcrest. It has quiet, tree-lined streets, no crime or drug dealing, real middle-America life inside the city. Its majestic homes are still pretty much affordable for the upper-middle class. It's the perfect place to raise children, grill a rib or read the Sunday paper on your patio. The areas around Alabama and Branch avenues, Pennsylvania Avenue and Fairfax Village have some of the best residential values in the city. The hidden jewel of this area is Westover Drive and 31st Street, which is a circular drive high on a hill that has the best unobstructed views of the city. If God were to move to the District, he would surely build on Westover Drive.

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Respect Your Elders

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