WASHINGTON — Capitol Riverfront and Yards Park in Southeast D.C. made Money Magazine’s list of “The 10 Coolest Neighborhoods in America.”
The magazine also figures you could spend an entire week exploring the neighborhood and what it has to offer for about $3,100.
Money put together its list for visitors looking to get out of the tourist traps recommended by guidebooks by focusing on up-and-coming urban destinations. With the help of Lonely Planet, Money looked for locales with promising eateries, artisan products at local shops and craft breweries to highlight what it labels the hottest neighborhoods in America.
It also calculated how much it costs to spend a week exploring those neighborhoods, based on data from Hotels.com, Hopper and ValuePenguin.
While Money notes Capitol Riverfront was once a grittier part of D.C. (fair enough), it notes Nationals Park has helped transform the neighborhood into a full-fledged tourist destination.
“These days, there are more reasons to visit here than for sports alone; the entire waterfront precinct now features an attractive boardwalk, small riverside parks and a handful of top-notch eateries,” writes Kate Armstrong, a travel writer and Lonely Planet contributor.
As WTOP reported in March, Navy Yard is, by many measures, the fastest-growing neighborhood in D.C., with 20 new luxury apartment and condo buildings, a half dozen others under construction and 14 more that will break ground soon, trophy office buildings and a healthy roster of three dozen restaurants with more than a dozen others opening soon.
At least one residential building or restaurant is opening every month in the Capitol Riverfront neighborhood.
The Capitol Riverfront Business Improvement District estimates the neighborhood’s current population of 6,000 residents will double by the end of 2019 and already, 34,000 people work in the area.
For visitors looking to take Money Magazine up on its recommendation, there are four hotels in the Capitol Riverfront and Navy Yard neighborhood.
And when visitors tire of watching baseball, drinking and dining, Capitol Riverfront has more than 10 acres of parks and public piers for water sports activities.
Here are “The 10 Coolest Neighborhoods in America,” according to Money Magazine and Lonely Planet:
- East Liberty and Lawrenceville, Pittsburgh
- Avondale, Chicago
- Point Loma, San Diego
- Frelard, Seattle
- East Nashville, Nashville
- Capitol Riverfront and Yards Park, D.C.
- Sunset Park, Brooklyn, New York City
- South 1st Street, Austin
- Montavilla, Portland, Oregon
- River North, Denver
Here’s why each neighborhood made the “coolest” list.
