MikeT

The fact that Spygirl talks about herself in the third-person suggests that there are bigger problems in Spygirl's life than random violence in DC.

carisdc

I agree, MikeT.
Dupont is a great place to stay! There are restaurants, bars, ecclectic shops, etc..
I feel totally safe there - probably one of the safest areas of DC, given its popularity.
The Starbuck's shooting a few years aho (sister of an acquaintance of mine) was by a psycho terrorizing areas.
Yes, we also had the Sniper...and guess what, SpyGirl - I got gas right near the beltway and made it home just fine!

Be smart and you'll be safe!

MikeT

I think the examples used are random, but also covered a significant number of years. The G-town Stabucks murders were at least five years ago. The Chandra Levy case was also a number of years ago and probably had nothing to do with random violence.

But getting back to TOURISTS, violence against tourists almost never happens. While there was a murder of someone visiting DC, that murder occurred in either Silver Spring or Takoma Park, not areas where many tourists end up.

Hikers have been randomly murdered in the Shanendoah's and on the Appalachian trail. Would Spygirl also suggest avoiding those areas also?

Spygirl

If you're referring to the Starbucks murders of the 3 employees, on Wisc. Ave.-that certainly was NOT a "psycho terrorizing areas." He was a married father of a young child, the son of a DC minister, with a loving family, who quite obviously was leading a double life of crime.

Spygirl

And I repeat, the latest murder on Sunday of the young Israeli locksmith helping a robbery victim is what makes life in the District a gamble-and for tourists, they need to come to the District with their radar on alert at all times.

MikeT

The locksmith who was killed was in one of the highest-crime areas in the city and MILES AND MILES from anywhere where a tourist would likely end up.

Shane

Washington has many nice neighborhoods and is experiencing economic growth in areas that were moribund only a few years ago. Logan Circle has become an upscale neighborhood filled with $ 750,000 town homes and 14th Street has had an explosion in condo building. Mt. Vernon Square is growing as is the stretch of Massachusetts Avenue between the Capitol and downtown. Yet both neighborhoods aren't far from what the Post years ago called the "Shameful Shaw" neighborhood. Tourists can expect to be very safe from about 12th Street NW and further west. On Capitol Hill, never go within a few blocks of the H Street NE corridor and north to Florida Avenue- that's not a good neighborhood at all. To play it safe, I wouldn't go farther east than 12th Street NE on Capitol Hill. Some of the neighborhoods in southwest aren't too hot either- Justice Souter was jumped there a couple of months ago.

As for the Chinese, I heartily recommend Tony Cheng's Mongolian Grill in Chinatown. It's a lot of fun.

E

jh6000, I'm very sorry your post has been hijacked!
I'd like to second City Lights of China, in Dupont Circle. I admit, I moved away from the area before Chinatown was "reborn,", so some of the restaurants mentioned in that area may be more authentic, but I remember liking City Lights a lot, in part b/c it's a white-tablecloth type of place.

Also in Dupont, I like Raku for casual Asian fusion--your friends might find the mix intriguing, or horrifying, who knows?!

Lastly--and I know the cuisines are different, but my mind easily drifts from Chinese to other Asian cuisines--there's a really great, authentic Korean restaurant in Pentagon City called Woo Lae Oak. Make a reservation if you go...

Enjoy your trip!

rb_travelerxATyahoo

If you're all not carry too much luggage, and once you've all got your baggage, I would at least LOOK at the 5A Metrobus if its schedule somewhat matches the current time ... if you're the first ones to board and can get your bags stowed away ok, then why not take it? But _DO_ visit, it's no fun to hide under the bed away from life's "boogeymen".

roothy123

Well, I lived in DC for at least 10 years before moving to the 'burbs (wanted a yard and house - too expensive in the city). I never experienced any crime, and yes, I did go out of the house a lot....alone, female, you get the picture.

Dupont Circle and Foggy Bottom/Geo would be my priceline choices. Hotels are expensive here - hope you found something reasonable.

Grand Hyatt's nice. Chinatown is a couple blocks away from where I work. I would agree with one of the posters above - None of the Chinese restaurants, sadly, seem to be good as the ones I go to out in the sticks...although the folks I work with seem to like Hunan Chinatown on H the best.

Tourist passes on Metro can only be used after rush hour - ok as long as you're not an early bird.

Dulles to downtown is pretty easy.

CFW

Spygirl, I assume you are a prosecuter in D.C. I'm sure that colors your view since you are dealing with crime on a daily basis, 10 -12 hours a day....

The nasty/angry tone and aggressiveness of some on this post are unnecessary... talk about road rage.. this sounds like web rage. Lighten up.

jlo92504

E - what a great suggestion - I forgot about that one - Woo Lae Oak is INCREDIBLE - if you go order some Bek Se Ju - traditional Korean wine - yummy!

Spygirl

I don't know what more I can say to those who become unhinged when someone points out the horrific random violence factor in the District, unlike anyplace else in the US, and those who breezily proclaim Dupont Circle and DC to be "perfectly safe." Perhaps a read of today's Washington Post online is in order. (Metro section)

The article is entitled "LIGHTS FOCUS ON DUPONT CIRCLE. POLICE RESPONDING TO KILLING, HOLDUPS.

No less an entity but the federal D.C. National Guard has taken over part of the policing of Dupontg Circle. The article states that the Guard is "stationing high-powered lights in the Dupont Circle area this week to brighten dark streets that might be contributing to a RASH OF ROBBERIES AND THE SLAYING OF A POPULAR WAITER AT A NEIGHBORHOOD RESTAURANT."

The Nat. Guard originally intended for this set of lights to go up in the heavy drug dealing areas of the District-which they have installed in these areas for years, but because the level of crime in Dupont Circle has risen so ominously, they have put the lights here instead.

As for the waiter, no arrests have been made, (natch!) but police said IT MIGHT BE CONNECTED TO A RECENT SPATE OF HOLDUPS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD. Witnesses told police that, moments before the waiter was shot dead (smack in the heart of Dupont Circle, by the way, 18th and S) they heard him say "I don't have any money."


Now here's the kicker: Even as the Guard were putting up the lights, and even with the stepped up MPD patrols in the area, TWO MEN WERE ROBBED AT GUNPOINT BY THREE ASSAILANTS EARLY YESTERDAY IN THE 1600 BLOCK OF 16TH ST. NW.

So, now, who's "nuts" here? Those on this board who proclaim this area to be perfectly safe, or, Robert Halligan, the Chair of the public safety committee for the Dupont Circle area, who says, and I quote:

" I feel horrified that the city can't do its job and the National Guard is doing it."

The waiter was killed right outside Annie's Paramount Steak House, where he worked.

Like I said, the District's random violence factor is unique in the country, and there is no one area that is insulated from it. The District is no place to be out roaming around in at night.

And no, CFW, I am not. Spygirl doesn't think she'd wish that job on her worst enemy!

Spygirl

E-again, that's a personal attack, which has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the issue at hand. If you want to address what the Dupont Circle Commissioner said, and the article, that's fine-but merely attacking the poster because you don't like the message is pointless and contributes nothing -this is a public forum where issues of this type should be aired.

E

Honey, you've aired it and aired it and AIRED IT! I know your opinion--and that's all it is, no matter how tediiously you repeat it--and I am urging you very strongly to give it a rest.

Spygirl

No, that's an incorrect statement. The article about the horrific killing of the waiter in Dupont Circle and the quote from the Dupont Circle Commissioner only appeared online in the Post today. Those tourists who wish to make an informed decision about where to stay in the District absolutely need to take note of it, read it if they wish, and make their decisions accordingly.

johncharles

Spygirl, I don't think anyone here has said, or any sensible person would say, that DC or Dupont Circle are "perfectly safe," any more than Chicago is, or Times Square is. No one disputes that horrifying random violence does occur in these places, and it's appalling that it happens, and that it happens as often as it does.

But I still challenge you to produce statistics to support your claims that the random violence level in tourist areas of DC is "unlike anyplace in the country" and "unique in the U.S."

These same things happen in other large cities where lots of tourists go, and it is not "ridiculous" to ask you to back up your assertions with evidence. I can't think of any reason why it is "ridiculous" to ask for comparative statistics between comparable areas of other cities, other than that you know you probably can't back up what you're saying, and want to intimidate people from asking you again by using a strong word.

You can't prove your point with anecdotes. The issue isn't whether these things happen. We know they do. What you are claiming is that they happen uniquely, or uniquely often, in tourist Washington as opposed to other cities' tourist areas. You can't prove that without presenting some statistics from those other cities.

Before I came to live in the Washington area, I lived at different times in the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas. I can assure you that reading the San Francisco Chronicle or Los Angeles Times for awhile, you would find many local stories of horrifying random violence similar to the ones you have found in the Washington Post.

In San Francisco some years ago, the future mayor, Art Agnos, then a young unknown, was gunned down and seriously wounded in broad daylight on one of the busiest streets in town, by someone who wanted to join an organization which required the random killing of a white person for membership. Did that make San Francisco "unlike anyplace else," including Washington, for random violence?

In a restaurant in a part of L.A. which gets a lot of tourist traffic, another "popular waiter" found an item left behind by a diner and went after her to return it, and since the diner happened to be Mrs. O.J. Simpson, he was murdered for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Did that make L.A. a place "unique in the U.S." for tourist area violence?

In both cases, of course not. You can't make the point you are trying to make with anecdotes, Spygirl, no matter how sad or horrifying or numerous. Back it up with comparative statistics, or stop asserting it.

Spygirl

If anyone wants to do their own research on the crime statistics of other major cities and the District, by all means do so. I think you'd be surprised how safe the major cities in this country really are in comparison to the District. And as far as saying DC is "perfectly safe" and "there's no problem there" - that's EXACTLY what posters have been saying. Tourists, particularly from other countries, need to be aware of the crime in Dupont Circle and the District. And if the Dupont Circle Commissioner doesn't convince them of the danger in the area, I don't think anyone can!

E

Spygirl, please do leave us to do our own research. Please.

Spygirl

No need to do that. As I said, tourists should go and read up for themselves, understand that the National Guard, and not the Metropolitan Police, have moved into Dupont Circle in an effort to try and stem the crime rate in the so-called "best" part of the city. That fact says it all.