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Washington D.C.- Pleasant Plains - We've got a newly-renovated one bedroom unit that has a great layout for roommates who need their privacy but also need a one-bedroom sized rent. In this apartment, we've put a door on the living room, so it can be used as a second bedroom. Studio apartments, lofts, and efficiency apartments also available. View More Listings -->
Pleasant Plains Information
Pleasant Plains is a largely undiscovered yet rising neighborhood in central Washington, D.C, largely occupied by Howard University. It is situated in the Northwest quadrant of the city and bordered by 2nd Street, Park Place, and McMillan Reservoir to the east; Florida Avenue and Barry Place to the South; Sherman Avenue to the west; and Harvard Street to the north. It is flanked on the eastern side by the Washington Veteran Affairs Medical Center and Washington Hospital Center, and by the Columbia Heights and Park View neighborhoods on the west and south sides.
Pleasant Plains, Howard University notwithstanding, is a residential
neighborhood. A large portion of its residents are Howard affiliates, either
students or employees. Politically, Pleasant Plains is in Ward 1.
The neighborhood is a small portion of a large colonial estate named "Pleasant
Plains," owned by the Holmead family. The original estate stretched from the
current neighborhood's location all the way south to present-day Florida Avenue
and west to present-day 16th Street. The estate was apportioned and sold off
over the course of the 19th century and divided into suburbs until it was
annexed by the city of Washington in 1878 and became neighborhoods of the city.
Essentially, the Pleasant Plains neighborhood is the area of the Holmead estate
that was not settled as part of either Columbia Heights or Park View. (In 1918,
the city returned the name "Pleasant Plains" to the entire area of the original
estate, but this is a semi-formal name for the section of town and not a
neighborhood in and of itself.)
Although Washington's neighborhoods are known for their unique characters,
Pleasant Plains has the misfortune to be wedged in between the far more
distinctive areas of Columbia Heights and Park View; as such, it is often
confused with one of those neighborhoods and its character (outside of the
University) is often hard to pin down.
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