Michigan Park

Home buyers come to North DC's Michigan Park for its relative affordability and greenery. But the reason home buyers stay has more to do with the community that Michigan Park's natural beauty encourages. "They come for the trees and large yards, but stay for the suburban feel," says Realtor Jacob Abbott of Berkshire Hathaway PenFed Realty, who sells homes in Michigan Park and is a member of the Greater Brookland Garden Club.

Michigan Park sits north of Brookland along Michigan Avenue. Parts of the two neighborhoods are often called "little Rome" because of the large number of longstanding Catholic colleges and seminaries in the area. Michigan Park starts west from John McCormick Road and runs east to the DC-Maryland line. Its northern borderland is largely formed by Fort Circle Park, which adds even more greenery to an area already bursting with chlorophyll. It's an old neighborhood of streets shaded in mature alder trees, which shroud the tops of many row houses in a wide variety of styles, from Spanish Mission to Tudor style. But there are also some new townhouses popping up in the center of the neighborhood. Compared to a lot of DC, Michigan Park has some competitive home prices, though they can vary quite a bit. Some can sell in the low $300,000 range, but some have sold for just under $1 million.

When compared to school districts in the counties surrounding DC, Michigan Park's schools seem below average. But, they offer attributes that help facilitate a more personalized learning experience and further embolden the neighborhood's sense of community. Bunker Hill Elementary receives a Niche score of C-plus and has highly regarded teachers who work with small class sizes of an average of eight students per teacher. "The staff is so loving," says Realtor Silvana Dias of Cupid Realty Group, whose husband used to teach physical education at Bunker Hill. "It has a very tight-knit feel." Brookland Middle comes next, and like Bunker Hill it both earns a C-plus rating from Niche and has smaller-than-average class sizes. Finally, Dunbar High School gets an overall score of C from Niche. It offers students many programs for career and college development, from AP classes to a career planning Saturday school program.

Like many of DC's outer neighborhoods, Michigan Park's personality and lifestyle is defined by its greenery and park access. "The Garden Club also extends into Michigan Park, like we do for our annual House and Garden Tour, which I think is probably one of the larger community events for this area," says Abbott. To the neighborhood's north end, visitors can immerse themselves in Civil War history by visiting the remnants of DC's complex system of fortifications. At the heart of the neighborhood sits St. Joseph's Seminary, which has a public jungle gym on its grounds for children to climb on. Or you can walk around to the other side of the building to the tree-spotted green space and check out a statue of Saint Joseph, which you ought to do if one helped sell your last home. But when the weather turns gloomy, you can still get a workout in by visiting the North Michigan Park Recreation Center's weight room or indoor basketball courts. The center also has a baseball diamond and picnic area for days with better weather.

Michigan Park only has a few dining and retail options within. But the bright side is that its location in DC is to be envied. Two metro stations right on the neighborhood's western edge make getting to downtown DC a breeze. You're also right across the border from a hip arts district in Mount Rainier, Maryland. And with multiple universities a stone's throw from the neighborhood, residents only have to travel about a mile to reach trendy shopping and dining locations off Monroe Street. "If you look at any of the communities that have universities within DC, they're thriving communities," says Dias. Though not in the neighborhood, many Michigan Park locals head to the Dew Drop Inn down on Franklin Street to catch up with their neighbors over a pint of beer and a game of cornhole. "It's in this old, almost medieval-looking building that's kind of hidden behind the train tracks – it's a really nice vibe in there," says Dias.

Written By

Mary Katheryn Luther

Photography Contributed By

Jack Adams

Video By

Curtis Newkirk