page_title: Adams Morgan
section_title: Cultural diversity
hierarchical_section_title: Adams Morgan / Cultural diversity
caption_attribution_description: Shops located along 18th Street NW, in Washington, D.C.'s Adams Morgan neighborhood. Looking towards Joy's Spa located on the second floor in the photo.
context_page_description: Adams Morgan is a neighborhood in Northwest Washington, D.C., centered at the intersection of 18th Street NW and Columbia Road, about 1.5 miles north of the White House. Known for its broad mix of cultures and activities, Adams Morgan contains together both residential and entertainment areas, and has a vibrant nightlife with numerous bars and restaurants, particularly along 18th Street NW. Columbia Road also holds a busy stretch of shops and businesses. As a distinct, named area, Adams Morgan came into being in the late 1950s, when it drew together several smaller and older neighborhoods that were first developed in the latter 19th and early 20th centuries. It is today composed primarily of well-made rowhouses; and classically-styled mid-rise apartment buildings, many of which are now co-ops and condos; along with various commercial structures.
  Adams Morgan is bounded:
  to the south, by Florida Avenue NW and the Dupont Circle neighborhood
  to the southwest, by Connecticut Avenue NW and Kalorama-Sheridan
  to the north, by Harvard St. and Mount Pleasant
  to the east, by 16th Street NW and Columbia Heights
context_section_description: Along with its adjacent sister communities to the north and east, Mount Pleasant and Columbia Heights, Adams Morgan long has been a gateway community for immigrants. Since the 1960s, the predominant international presence in both communities has been Latino, with the majority of immigrants coming from El Salvador, Guatemala and other Central American countries. Since the early 1970s, like other areas of the nation, Adams Morgan had seen a growing influx of immigrants from Africa, Asia and the Caribbean, as well. Gentrification and the resulting higher cost of housing, however, have displaced many immigrants and long-time African American residents, particularly those with young children, as well as many small businesses, but the community still retains a degree of diversity, most evident in its array of international shops and restaurants. Since 1980, the population of the neighborhood has not changed (increasing marginally from 15,352 to 15,630) while average real annual household income more than doubled from $72,753 to $172,249 (in 2010 $) and diversity has decreased shifting from 51% to 68% White Non-Hispanic.
  Adams Morgan also has become a thriving spot for nightlife, with several bars and clubs featuring live music. Over 90 establishments possess liquor licenses, putting it on level with other popular nightlife areas like Georgetown and Dupont Circle. Nightlife establishments rapidly replaced local stores along 18th Street NW, leading the Alcohol Beverage Control Board to impose a moratorium on new liquor licenses in 2000 after successful lobbying by resident groups. The moratorium was renewed in 2004, but eased to allow new restaurant licenses.
  Despite the exodus of many immigrant, and also African-American, residents from Adams Morgan because of costlier housing, a nexus of long-time institutions, many established specifically to meet the needs of Latinos and other non-English-speaking residents, continues to serve as a magnet for immigrants and their families. Within Adams Morgan is Mary's Center, a clinic focusing on healthcare delivery to Spanish-speaking patients, and the Latino Economic Development Corporation, and numerous businesses and churches that employ and cater to immigrants. Adjacent Mt. Pleasant also hosts a number of commercial enterprises, social service agencies and other institutions that help to anchor local immigrants to the area.
  Another barometer of the enduring pull of Adams Morgan for immigrants is the linguistic and cultural diversity of its public schools. Many of the families served live beyond the boundaries established for routine student enrollment; however, Adams, Reed, and H.D. Cooke elementary schools all have international populations, with children from well over 30 nations in attendance. Latino and African-American children comprise the majority of students in the public schools.
  The second Sunday of September, the neighborhood hosts the Adams Morgan Day Festival, a multicultural street celebration with live music and food and crafts booths. Weather permitting, every Saturday—except during the coldest winter months—local growers sell fresh, organically grown produce and herbs, baked and canned goods, cheeses, cold-pressed apple juice, and fresh flowers at the farmers market, in operation in the same location on a plaza at the corner of 18th Street NW and Columbia Road for more than 30 years.
  In the 1960s, the neighborhood's attractions included the Avignon Freres bakery and restaurant (closed in the 1990s), the Café Don restaurant, the Ontario motion picture theater, and the Showboat Lounge jazz nightclub. In the 1980s, Hazel's featured live blues and jazz, and its soul food offerings made it a favorite of black jazz musicians such as Dizzy Gillespie when they came to town.
  In September 2014, the American Planning Association named Adams Morgan one of the nation's "great neighborhoods", citing its intact Victorian rowhouses, murals, international diversity, and pedestrian- and cyclist-friendly streetscape.
caption: Shops located along 18th Street NW in Adams Morgan
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