Columbia Heights (Washington, D.C.)

Columbia Heights
Neighborhood of Washington, D.C.
Top: Tivoli Theatre (left) and Riggs-Tompkins Building (right); middle: National Baptist Memorial Church (left), Meridian Hill Park (center), and All Souls Church (right); bottom: DC USA.
Columbia Heights within the District of Columbia
Country	United States
District	Washington, D.C.
Quadrant	Northwest
Ward	Ward 1
Government
• Councilmember	Brianne Nadeau
Area
• Total	.85 sq mi (2.2 km2)
Population  (2010)
• Total	31,696
• Density	37,289.4/sq mi (14,397.5/km2)

Columbia Heights is a neighborhood in Washington, D.C., located in Northwest D.C. The neighborhood is an important retail hub for the area, as home to DC USA mall and to numerous other restaurants and stores, primarily along the highly commercialized 14th Street.^[1][2] Columbia Heights is home to numerous historical landmarks, including Meridian Hill Park, National Baptist Memorial Church, All Souls Church, along with a number of embassy buildings.

Developed as a suburb after the U.S. Civil War, the area's growth accelerated in the early 1900s. The extension of the DC streetcar system in 1914 made the neighborhood a popular place to live among federal workers. In the 1940s, the designation of Cardozo High School as a "colored" school resulted in a demographic shift and the neighborhood became predominantly African-American. The 1968 Washington, D.C., riots devastated the area and turmoil in the 1970-80s followed.^[3] Beginning in the late 1990s, the addition of the Columbia Heights metro station led to the redevelopment of the neighborhood. Today the neighborhood has diverse demographics.^[4][5]