Mount Rainier: A Hidden Neighborhood of Artists and Affordable Housing Options

• August 10th 2009

by Mark Wellborn

This weekend, we had two people come up and ask what we knew about the Mount Rainier neighborhood, and then the Washington Post did a story on the area. Fortuitious!

The reputation that the Maryland town, sandwiched between Brentwood and Brookland, has developed over the last few years has been one of abandoned buildings and a general lack of commercial development. However, the Post points out (what many already knew) that the neighborhood has a strong artistic community feel and some of the most affordable housing options in the DC area.

Here are a few excerpts from the Post regarding resident’s take on the neighborhood:

Mount Rainier “grew on me a lot,” said Michelle Darden-Lee, 43, who landed in the city earlier this decade with her husband, Tony Lee, 45, after being outbid for homes elsewhere. The couple talked a resident into selling his house to them.

“You have the original Mount Rainier pioneers who have been here 40 years, new urban pioneers who found the [housing] market unbearable and landed here like me, apartment residents in transition, the gay and lesbian community, young families and old church-going ladies,” Darden-Lee said.

“Artists who come to work in the city realize, ‘Hey, this isn’t a bad neighborhood. This is a nice neighborhood,’” said Tim Tate, 49, who moved his Washington Glass School from the District to warehouses along Otis Street four years ago.

Aside from Mount Rainier being an area with a community dedicated to its success, it is also a place with some of the most affordable housing options in the DC area. The median list price for homes on the market in July was $230,000, according to Redfin.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/mount_rainier_a_hidden_neighborhood_of_artists_and_affordable_housing_optio/1220.