Everyone feels welcome in Logan Circle

Sit at a table outside Whole Foods on P Street in Washington’s Logan Circle neighborhood — as it seems everyone in the city was doing on a recent August afternoon — and it is impossible not to notice the diversity of passers-by.

Men and women of every shape, color and size call Logan Circle home. That inclusiveness is part of why so many people treasure the area.

“As a gay man, I’ve never felt so embraced and comfortable as I do here,” said Tim Christensen. “Logan Circle is one of D.C.’s most diverse neighborhoods. All races, ethnicities, faiths and sexual orientations live peacefully side by side here.”

Byron Jones witnesses it firsthand every day. He bought Carl’s barbershop four years ago when Carl retired. “We get all different ethnic groups here,” Jones said. “It’s been good for business.”

According to the Logan Circle Community Association, the neighborhood is bounded by S Street to the north, L Street to the south, Ninth Street to the east and 16th Street to the west.

“The Logan Circle, 14th and U streets community has run the gamut of urban change from post-Civil War development, through the fashionable period at the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries, to the cramming and bustling of two war-driven growths, a depression, racial and socioeconomic swings to its present vitality and diversity,” said Robert Maffin, association president.

“In many ways, the community’s changes have mirrored the changes in our country and in urban centers worldwide, particularly where the automobile has been the dominant mode of transportation.”

The Logans Circle of today would have been unimaginable 20 years ago.

“There was nothing here except a paint store,” said Nick Apostol, who moved to the neighborhood in 1988. He shakes his head when he contemplates how things have changed.

Anchored by the Whole Foods, P Street between 14th and 15th streets has become Logan Circle’s “Main Street.” In addition to a CVS, dry cleaners, hardware store and Carl’s, several trendy restaurants, including the Logan Tavern, have set up shop. The Vegas Lounge is a live music venue, and just around the corner is the Studio Theatre.

As in many urban neighborhoods, parking is a persistent problem and petty crime is a nuisance that just won’t go away. Yet neither of those minor annoyances has proven particularly harmful to the housing market, which apparently is thriving. Logan Circle features a blend of Victorian-style row homes, condos and rental apartments.

“The condo market in Logan Circle is excellent,” said Joseph Poduslo, a real estate agent with TTR Sotheby’s International Realty, who has sold homes in Logan Circle for seven years. “We’re seeing a lot of multiple offers on units. The row homes, if they’re priced properly, are doing well also. You can pretty much walk anywhere from coffee shops to restaurants to shows. People move to Logan Circle for a lifestyle change.”

Whatever your lifestyle — or race, ethnicity, or any other label — you’ll feel at home in Logan Circle.

At a glance