State of Washington, D.C.'s Neighborhoods

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Abstract

The District of Columbia's leaders have committed to capitalizing on the city's many assets and taking advantage of its recent growth and prosperity to tackle persistent challenges of inequality and exclusion. This report, prepared for the D.C. Office of Planning, seeks to aid the city's leaders and citizens through tracking and measuring major economic and social indicators. The report provides a baseline assessment of the current situation in the city and its neighborhoods in nine subject categories: demographics; jobs and income; housing; education; health; family, youth, and seniors; safety and security; public investment; and environment.

ABOUT THIS REPORT

The District's leaders — civic, business, and political — have committed to a strategy of capitalizing on the city's many assets (both old and new) and taking advantage of its recent growth and prosperity to tackle the challenges of inequality and exclusion that persist. Sustained investments in affordable housing, mixed-income neighborhoods, school improvement, crime prevention, and economic development offer the potential to achieve the goals of equitable, inclusive, and sustainable growth in the years ahead.

This report seeks to aid the city's leaders and citizens in addressing challenges and meeting goals through tracking and measuring major economic and social indicators. Following an introduction, the report provides a baseline assessment of the current situation in the city and comparison of measures over recent years. Indicators are grouped into eight subject categories:

• Demographics
• Economy — Jobs and Income
• Economy — Housing
• Education
• Health
• Family, Youth, and Seniors
• Safety and Security
• Public Investment
• Environment

Each section provides a series of indicators meant to measure different aspects of the issue. The indicators are discussed in the text and presented in charts and maps, providing a citywide, ward, and neighborhood context for current conditions and trends.

A full set of data tables and comparison charts for the 39 neighborhood clusters can be found in the report appendices. The ward and neighborhood cluster data have all been adjusted by NeighborhoodInfo DC to consistent geographic boundaries, even for older data. The ward boundaries used throughout this report are those established in 2002, according to the redistricting following the 2000 decennial census. The neighborhood cluster boundaries are those determined by the D.C. Office of Planning around this same time.

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