Georgetown is the neighborhood most locals and real-estate analysts point to first, combining Federal-era brick streets, Potomac waterfront access, and a median home price of around $1.7 million. But Kalorama and Au-Tenleytown make equally strong cases depending on what you value most.
In brief
Georgetown is the neighborhood most locals and real-estate analysts point to first, combining Federal-era brick streets, Potomac waterfront access, and a median home price of around $1.7 million. But Kalorama and Au-Tenleytown make equally strong cases depending on what you value most - prestige and quiet, or top schools and high household income.
The three neighborhoods that top nearly every ranking
The best neighborhoods in Washington, according to HomeSnacks' 2025 analysis, are Au-Tenleytown, Cleveland Park, The Palisades, Chevy Chase, Barnaby Woods, Woodley Park, Kalorama, Glover Park, Berkley, and Georgetown. Three of those - Georgetown, Kalorama, and Au-Tenleytown - appear at the top of virtually every serious ranking and represent three distinct versions of "the best."
Georgetown: the one everyone knows
Georgetown is one of Washington DC's oldest and most iconic neighborhoods, and it combines historic charm with modern living. It started out as the original port of the nation's capital, became its own municipality, then turned into Ground Zero for the preppy set, and eventually became one of the most expensive neighborhoods in the District, with prestige unmatched by most of the rest of DC.
The money numbers are stark. In February 2026, Georgetown home prices were up 4.6% compared to the prior year, with a median price of $1.7 million. A regular inclusion in DC's most expensive housing market lists, Georgetown recorded an average home price of $2.055 million in early 2024, up 21% compared to the first three months of 2023. Cash sales remain prevalent, accounting for 6 in 10 transactions. Entry-level doesn't mean cheap either: most Georgetown home prices start in the mid $1 millions, and anything close to 2,000 square feet runs close to $2 million - with real estate regularly exceeding $1,000 per square foot.
One thing Georgetown does not have: a Metro station. The reason is two-fold. First, technical difficulties from the hardness of the bedrock and the proximity of the river made a station infeasible. Second, when Metro planners were laying out the system, Georgetown was not enough of a population or jobs center to justify working out a solution. The popular legend that wealthy residents blocked it to keep out minorities has been largely debunked by Metro historian Zachary Schrag. The nearest stations are Foggy Bottom-GWU, Dupont Circle, and Rosslyn - each about 1.5 miles from Georgetown's center.
Kalorama: the quieter power address
Home to former presidents, cabinet members, and Supreme Court justices, Sheridan-Kalorama has been an affluent community in northwest Washington DC since it first developed as a streetcar suburb in the early 20th century. Kalorama is home to 28 embassies within the neighborhood. Six presidents have called the neighborhood home in their post-presidency years, from Woodrow Wilson and William Howard Taft to Barack Obama.
As one of the city's earliest developments, the leafy streets of this wholly residential neighborhood are off the grid - they were exempted from DC's gridded street-layout system as development crept outward from downtown. The result feels intentional: Kalorama is quieter than Dupont, more residential than Georgetown, and lacking Woodley Park's tourist buses - yet you can walk to all three in under twenty minutes.
Prices reflect the address. Zillow's latest numbers list the average home value at roughly $1.37 million, with recent median sales above $3.4 million. Along Connecticut Avenue, pre-war apartment blocks offer two-bedrooms for diplomatic aides, and down the hill the Kalorama Triangle has condos that recently averaged about $549,000.
Au-Tenleytown: the data-driven pick
If you weight crime rates, school quality, and income rather than prestige alone, the data points somewhere different. Au-Tenleytown holds the highest median household income in the District, at $178,534 - making it the richest Washington neighborhood by census data. Georgetown comes in with a median home value of $1,056,531 and a median income of $150,426, while Au-Tenleytown's median home value sits at $973,793 with that top-ranked income figure.
Shopping, Fort Reno and Fessenden parks, dining at more than 40 restaurants, and top educational institutions are all within walking distance of tree-lined streets and single-family homes. Multi-generational and family-oriented, Tenleytown continues to rank among the District's most sought-after neighborhoods. City Ridge delivered 690 residential units in 2022 and is home to DC's first Wegmans.
How DC's overall housing market compares
DC's median home sale price is around $580,000 as of August 2025. The city's market runs from Georgetown's $1.7 million average to properties in Anacostia that average $387,563. Average rents for a one-bedroom hover around $1,600 to $2,600, but prices vary significantly by neighborhood and building type.
The short answer: Georgetown wins on name recognition and raw prestige. Kalorama wins on quiet and diplomatic cachet. Au-Tenleytown wins on the numbers. Which one is "nicest" depends entirely on what you're actually looking for - and whether you own a car.
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CAN I KICK IT? screens New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument, on Aug. 22. (Courtesy SHAOLIN JAZZ)
The live-cinema series CAN I KICK IT? returns to the National Mall this month with what its producers are calling the "Gangsters on the Mall" chapter of their free outdoor summer run. On Saturday, August 22, the SHAOLIN JAZZ production brings the 1991 crime classic New Jack City to the Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument for a night of film, music, and community under the DC summer sky.
What sets the event apart is the sound. As the film plays, DJ 2-Tone Jones builds an original score in real time, reimagining one of the most iconic crime movies of the ’90s through hip-hop, soul, funk, and more. It is less a movie screening than a live performance built around the film.
The details:
Film: New Jack City (1991), with a live soundtrack by DJ 2-Tone Jones
When: Saturday, August 22 — seating opens at 7:30 p.m. (bring lawn chairs and blankets); film begins at 8:30 p.m.
Where: Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument, Independence Ave SW & 15th St NW
A parking note from the organizers: expect road closures and restricted parking east of 14th Street NW due to a separate race event in the District. Roads west of 14th Street NW will be accessible and available for parking.
New Jack City is the second of three screenings in this year’s free CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series, which opened with Black Panther at Skyland Town Center and concludes with Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial on September 5. Produced by the Washington, DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, the series has presented more than 150 live cinematic experiences at venues across the country, from Lincoln Center to SXSW.
"I wanted to be able to tell good stories with substance and remove the ‘ego’ out of the art," said Andrew Huang during a recent interview. Now, he’s building his career at the intersection of discipline, creativity and innovation.
Andrew Huang, founder of New Place Studios. (Courtesy photo)
As a Chinese American, Huang was reared with a deep respect for hard work, consistency and excellence. He describes his childhood as "not so affluent" and later attended college to hone his passion for videography. "In college I tried to do something I loved, which was video, but along the way I knew that I had to find a job. And so I thought, ‘what was the low hanging fruit to get to that stable 9 to 5 job?,’" he stated.
Later in life, Huang found himself working for corporations where his creativity was often limited, eventually leading to burnout. "I worked in a corporation for a long time and there were a lot of missing pieces. I wanted to fill in gaps missing in corporate video production," said Huang.
He later described how his upbringing and a mindset of "survival" led him toward a corporate career. However, his desire for balance and authentic storytelling ultimately pushed him to take the entrepreneurial leap.
"I founded a new place where you can create video and film with ‘substance and style,’" said Huang. His desire for work-life balance and passion for storytelling naturally evolved into a small business based in Virginia. With the launch of New Place Studios, the entrepreneur quickly found himself reconnecting with the values that would become the foundation of everything he creates behind the camera.
Huang said being a business owner has allowed him to first embrace himself. While others may see video as simply capturing moments, he sees it as a way to preserve stories that inspire, connect and leave a lasting imprint.
By combining cinematic visuals with cutting-edge production techniques and a keen understanding of branding, Huang helps organizations and individuals communicate their vision with purpose. He said understanding a client’s "why" serves as the compass for delivering the services they need.
One benefit of working with a small business, he said, is that clients get to see the production process unfold through a micro lens while working with the same faces throughout the entire project. "The work feels personal," said Huang.
Huang does not regret leaving behind the flash-over-substance mentality and corporate hustle culture. That does not mean the Asian American entrepreneur has been without challenges in the industry. "It’s relatively hard to find other Asian American creatives or people who would want to work with me in the DMV," said Huang.
He identifies the industry culture in which everyone is trying to blend in, creatives may fear displaying their Asian identity and some feel pressure to adopt an American corporate persona. He also points to what he describes as a level of gatekeeping within the industry. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2024 statistics, Asian American and Pacific Islander entrepreneurs own more than 3 million businesses and employ 5.2 million people in the United States.
After tapping into organizations such as SCORE, which offers free small business mentorship, New Place Studios has become a trusted creative partner throughout the DMV (Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia). The company produces a range of creative services, including commercials, corporate branding, documentaries, film, 2D animation, motion graphics and photography.
For Huang, entrepreneurship has become more than a departure from corporate life. It has given him the freedom to create with intention, build meaningful connections and tell stories that go beyond the surface.
The 2026 CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
For three Saturdays this summer, some of Washington’s most familiar public spaces will do something they rarely do after dark: fill up with blankets, lawn chairs, and the sound of a movie being scored live, in real time. CAN I KICK IT?, the traveling “live cinema” series produced by the DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, is bringing a free outdoor run to the city — pairing three era-defining films with an original soundtrack performed on the spot by DJ 2-Tone Jones.
The premise is what sets it apart from a normal screening in the park. Rather than simply pressing play, 2-Tone Jones builds a score as the film unfolds, pulling from hip-hop, soul, funk, jazz, rock, electronic music, and sounds from around the world. The result, the organizers say, is less a movie night than a one-time performance — the same film you know, wired to a soundtrack you have never heard and will not hear again. Guest DJs warm up the crowd starting at 7:30 PM before each 8:30 PM screening.
The 2026 outdoor schedule
All three events are free and open to the public.
Saturday, August 8 — Black Panther at Skyland Town Center. A pop-up marketplace and community activities kick off the evening; guest DJs at 7:30 PM, film at 8:30 PM. Marvel’s superhero epic gets a one-night-only live score in Southeast DC.
Saturday, August 22 — New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument. Seating begins at 7:30 PM; the film starts at 8:30 PM. The 1991 crime drama plays out at the foot of one of the country’s most recognizable landmarks.
Saturday, September 5 — Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial. Seating at 7:30 PM; film at 8:30 PM. The series closes with Brian De Palma’s crime saga against the backdrop of the Memorial, scored live from start to finish.
First up: Black Panther at Skyland Town Center on August 8. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
A DC company with a national footprint
SHAOLIN JAZZ describes itself as a Washington-based arts company working at the intersection of music, film, art, and culture, and CAN I KICK IT? is its signature production. According to the organizers, the series has staged more than 150 live cinematic experiences around the country — at performing arts centers, museums, festivals, and cultural institutions including Lincoln Center in New York, SXSW, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Republic Square in Austin, the Tacoma Armory, and The Cary Theater.
“CAN I KICK IT? has always been about creating a shared experience,” said Gerald Watson, co-founder of SHAOLIN JAZZ. “When you combine iconic films with live music in public spaces, something special happens. People aren’t just watching a movie — they’re experiencing it together. That’s what makes these nights so memorable.”
Cinema as a community event
The DC run lands as cities across the country look for new ways to activate public space through arts and culture — and this series is a straightforward pitch for how to do it: take a landmark everyone already knows, add a film everyone has an opinion about, and let a live soundtrack turn the evening into something neighbors experience shoulder to shoulder. Families, film buffs, and music fans are all invited, and admission won’t cost a thing.
The CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series runs August 8, August 22, and September 5. All events are free; check SHAOLIN JAZZ (shaolinjazz.com) for the latest details and any weather updates before heading out.
