Washington, D.C. is a magnet for newcomers, with world-class museums, performing arts venues and universities, historic neighborhoods and districts, a beautiful natural setting and thousands of monuments that form a connect-the-dots accounting of the nation’s history. Add in the not-insignificant fact that this area is the nexus of authority and influence of the western world and it’s small wonder this small district has developed by leaps and bounds.
Impressive and commanding, Washington D.C. beckons the ambitious, and not just politicians. Many that are drawn to the nation's capital aren't essentially aiming for federal government jobs. The actual newcomers are the thousands headed for suburban Virginia's high-tech corridor, the nation's second largest after Silicon Valley. Retirees moving to be a metro ride from great food, art, theatre and music, are one of the newest trends adding texture and variety to this vivacious town.
Housing inventory is low and prices have risen steadily for a decade throughout the metropolitan area, which includes the District of Columbia and bedroom suburbs in Virginia and Maryland. The median home price in the Washington area surged 27 percent to a record $371,000 last year, one of the largest increases nationwide.
For worth and diversity in metropolitan Washington, we chose two "District" neighborhoods, close-to-government Capitol Hill and trendy Dupont Circle, and suburban picks, Clarendon in Virginia and Bethesda in Maryland
