Do you consider Columbia Heights safe?

I often get emails from people who are thinking of moving to the neighborhood or who just moved asking about safety. "Is the neighborhood safe? Are there certain places or times I should avoid?" and the like.

I generally tell them that crime could happen any part of the city, even the nicest ones, and that they should be aware of their surroundings and don't do things like walking around alone at 3 am, or drunk and alone, or on your phone.

But aside from that, I'm kind of stumped. I generally think Columbia Heights is very safe. I've only been hassled once in the neighborhood: in maybe 2007 a very scared kid with what looked like a fake gun held up my friends and I. O course we didn't want to find out for sure about the gun, and he got about $20 total from us. We called the police and they came but didn't find anybody (and a couple of cabs drove past us while it was happening and didn't seem to call the police or anything, which was frustrating.) Maybe I've been lucky though, and I hope everyone reading hasn't had a similar experience.

Of course, your results may vary, but it seems mostly random. I've had a hard time finding places where lots of bad things happen to bystanders or passersby. There have been shootings, but I think mostly those are targeted or the result of some dispute, not just a random robber shooting somebody they are trying to rob. (This has happened a little bit though, like the sad shooting during a robbery at Sherman Circle in 2010.)

It's also been a while since there has been a big shooting, like the one around the Faircliff building at 14th and Fairmont in 2008 where a number of people were shot, as well as some cars. The Faircliff building management has since done a lot to address crime there and we haven't heard much from it in a while, to their credit.

I also think the neighborhood certainly seems safer than a few years ago, mainly due to increased foot traffic everywhere. Back before DCUSA was built, the area around 14th and Irving was completely deserted at almost all times of the day. Now there are people there constantly and all over the neighborhood -- though I also usually tell people that they should stick to busier streets and that generally as you go north and east, streets get less busy. I'm not sure if that actually results in more crime, but it can be eerie walking alone on Kenyon and Georgia or something at night.

So those are my thoughts, how about yours? Are we safe? Are certain parts more unsafe for people? Let us know in the comments.