2200.1 The Rock Creek East Planning Area encompasses the 7.4 square miles located east of Rock Creek Park, north of Spring Road NW, and west of North Capitol Street and Riggs Road NW. Its boundaries are shown in the map at left. Most of this area has historically been in Ward 4, although in past and present, parts have been included in Ward 5.

2200.2 Rock Creek East is a sought-after residential community containing many low- and moderate-density neighborhoods. Single-family communities like North Portal Estates, Colonial Village, Crestwood, Crestwood North, Carter Barron East, Shepherd Park, 16th Street Heights, and Takoma are known for their park-like ambiance, sense of community, open spaces, and family atmosphere. These neighborhoods house persons across the full income spectrum. Row house and semi-detached neighborhoods such as Lamond-Riggs, Brightwood, Brightwood Park, Petworth, and Manor Park have similar qualities. The major planning objective throughout the community is to conserve these traits as the housing stock matures and infill development occurs.

2200.3 Georgia Avenue NW is the commercial heart of this Planning Area, with local shops and regional retail anchors that serve the adjacent neighborhoods and beyond. There are also small shopping districts in Takoma, near 14th Street and Colorado Avenue NW, along Kennedy Street NW, along Upshur Street NW, and along 14th Street NW between Allison and Decatur Streets NW. Major employment centers in the area include the Washington Hospital Complex, consisting of the Veterans Affairs Hospital, Medstar Washington Hospital Center, Children's National Hospital, and the Armed Forces Retirement Home (AFRH). The possible reuse of a portion of the AFRH during the next 20 years presents an opportunity to integrate the long-isolated site into its adjacent growing and vibrant neighborhoods while strengthening functional and perceptual connections to the District. The site of the former Walter Reed Army Medical Center, which closed in 2011, is redeveloping into a mixed-use neighborhood that will one day become a major commercial and institutional employment center in the area.

2200.4 Rock Creek East is served by two major transit hubs: the Takoma and the Georgia Avenue/Petworth Metrorail stations. Residents also use transit stations in adjacent Planning Areas, including Fort Totten, Columbia Heights, Van Ness/UDC, and Cleveland Park, as well as the Silver Spring Transit Center in Montgomery County, Maryland. Historically, the major circulation routes through the planning area have been the north-south arterials leading out of downtown, such as 16th Street NW, 14th Street NW, Georgia Avenue NW (7th Street), New Hampshire Avenue NW, and North Capitol Street NW. East-west circulation is more limited. Missouri Avenue/Military Road NW is the major east-west street and one of the few that connects the neighborhoods east of Rock Creek Park with those to the

west.

2200.5 The community includes many important open spaces and natural resources, the most significant of which is Rock Creek Park itself. The park is a massive green space that provides opportunities for both passive and active recreation. It includes amenities, such as a golf course, Carter Barron Amphitheater, and tennis facilities that host professional tennis players from across the United States. There are also a number of neighborhood parks, some serving the dual function of being school recreation areas. Recreation centers have recently been built in Brightwood, Lamond, Takoma, and Petworth. The Civil War Defenses of Washington, otherwise known as the Fort Circle Parks, also cross the area, providing a series of green spaces from Rock Creek to Fort Totten and beyond. Rock Creek Cemetery, the oldest cemetery in Washington, DC is also located here.

2200.6 Rock Creek East has a vibrant sense of community, due in part to a well-organized network of community associations, places of worship, and interest groups. Committed and established neighborhood groups and civic associations in Shepherd Park, Brightwood, South Manor Park, Crestwood, Lamond-Riggs, Carter Barron East, 14th Street, Sixteenth Street Heights, and Takoma have been bolstered in recent years by newly formed community organizations in Petworth and on Kennedy Street, founding events like Celebrate Petworth and the Kennedy Street Festival. Farmers markets are hosted in Petworth, Takoma, and 14th Street Heights.

2200.7 The future of the Planning Area's evolution holds a number of land use and community development challenges and opportunities. Public schools are being renovated, while public charter schools are locating or expanding in Rock Creek East. Georgia Avenue NW continues to have high commercial vacancy rates, aesthetic issues, parking problems, and land use conflicts where commercial businesses abut low-density housing. While attracting new businesses to the avenue is a high priority, helping existing businesses thrive is also important. In Takoma, there are issues related to the impacts of infill development around the Metro station. The CSX rail corridor in Manor Park and Lamond-Riggs continues to support industrial land uses, sometimes without sufficient buffering for adjacent residential areas. However, new zoning regulations passed in 2016 address additional buffers for industrial or production, distribution, and repair (PDR) uses. The ongoing redevelopment of the Walter Reed campus will bring new jobs, amenities, and residents, contributing to the growth of upper Georgia Avenue NW while responding to the needs of the surrounding community. As noted above, portions of the AFRH may be developed in the coming years, which presents the opportunity to improve connectivity, open up publicly accessible green space, convert historic assets into new amenities, and provide new housing options to meet Washington, DC's growing demand.

2200.8 Rock Creek East also faces the challenge of retaining its economic and social diversity in the face of rising housing costs. Appreciation of single-family home prices in the Petworth and Brightwood neighborhoods was among the fastest in the District between 2006 and 2016. Many apartments in areas like Brightwood and Brightwood Park have been converted to condominiums. The increase in housing costs has made the area much less affordable for Rock Creek East's moderate-income families and for its large population of low- and moderate-income older adults. On the other hand, demographic changes are making the area more ethnically diverse than it used to be. The area's Hispanic/Latino population has continued to increase since 2000, accounting for over 20 percent of residents in 2015.

2200.9 Looking to the future, residents seek to retain the residential character, appearance, and historic continuity of their neighborhoods. Sustaining these qualities has resulted in plans and development that are carefully and strategically directed to accommodate growth. At the same time, plans also seek to conserve neighborhoods, enhance environmental quality, provide an effective transportation network, improve health care and educational services, reduce crime, upgrade public facilities and infrastructure, and expand housing choices.

SOURCE: District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Act of 1984, effective April 10, 1984 (D.C. Law 5-76; 31 DCR 1049 (March 9, 1984)); as amended by District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Act of 1984 Land Use Element Amendment Act of 1984, effective March 16, 1985 (D.C. Law 5-187; 32 DCR 873 (February 15, 1985)); as amended by District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Amendments Act of 1989, effective May 23, 1990 (D.C. Law 8-129; 37 DCR 55 (January 5, 1990)); as amended by District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Amendments Act of 1989 NCPC-Recommended Amendments, and Closing of Public Alleys in Square 669, S.O. 88-452, Act of 1990, effective May 23, 1990 (D.C. Law 8-132; 37 DCR 2213 (April 6, 1990)); as amended by District Government Land Use Temporary Amendment Act of 1994, effective October 1, 1994 (D.C. Law 10-190; 41 DCR 5360 (August 12, 1994)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendments Act of 1994, effective October 6, 1994 (D.C. Law 10-193; 41 DCR 5536 (August 19, 1994)); as amended by District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Act of 1984 Land Use Amendment Act of 1994, effective March 21, 1995 (D.C. Law 10-235; 42 DCR 30 (January 6, 1995)); as amended by Technical Amendments Act of 1996 effective April 18, 1996 (D.C. Law 11-110; 43 DCR 530 (February 9, 1996)); as amended by Second Technical Amendments Act of 1996 effective April 9, 1997 (D.C. Law 11-255; 44 DCR 1271 (March 7, 1997)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendment Act of 1998, effective April 27, 1999 (D.C. Law 12-275; 46 DCR 1441 (February 19, 1999)); as amended by Technical Amendments Act of 1999, effective April 12, 2000 (D.C. Law 13-91; 47 DCR 520 (January 28, 2000)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendment Act of 2006, effective March 8, 2007 (D.C. Law 16-300; 54 DCR 924 (February 2, 2007)); as amended by Technical Amendments Act of 2008, effective March 25, 2009 (D.C. Law 17-353; 56 DCR 1117 (February 6, 2009)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendment Act of 2010, effective April 8, 2011 (D.C. Law 18-361; 58 DCR 908 (February 4, 2011)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendment Act of 2021, effective August 21, 2021 (D.C. Law 24-20; 68 DCR 006918 (July 16, 2021)).