I have several friends who are hunting for new homes and houses in D.C. Picking a neighborhood is tricky, especially in a rapidly developing city like Washington. Not many of my friends have kids, so schools aren't really an issue. Instead, it's the usual single-professional litany: crime and coffee shops, kitchens and subway stops. In the suburbs, the old maxim was:"Start at your office. Then drive till you can afford it." In the city, it's: "Start at your favorite bar. Then walk till you can afford it."
Of course, in DC, you need to do a leetle crime stats mapping to make sure you don't accidentally walk into a turf war between drug dealers. Or worse, between agricultural lobbyists.
This article available online at:
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2008/11/location-location-location/4337/
