The studios are pretty good-sized for the price and have nice big walk-in closets and the parquet flooring is easy to clean. It has a convenience store, drycleaners, video rental, soda machines. Allows cats, has parking (even though for a hefty fee of $120 per month). Bus stop right out front and walking distance to Mount Pleasant and Columbia Heights shops/restaurants/bars. The convenience store people are very nice and personable. The parking guys are super nice too and know you by name. Maintenance was always pretty quick to fix whatever I put in an order about.

Now some things about this place that are not great: bed bug infestation, roach infestation (they crawl on you in the middle of the night), loud booming music at 7 or 8 am on the weekends, no chains on the doors and EVERYONE that works there has a key to your apartment, fire alarm goes off so often in the middle of the night that nobody even gets up anymore, you can hear your neighbors having sex every Sunday afternoon, drunk drivers have accidents right out front in the middle of the night quite often, a percentage of the housing is subsidized for mentally disabled (which is NOT a problem, but a couple of them stand out front every day begging for bus fare as you exit the building and that is), the stairwells inside smell like urine, the elevators are constantly breaking, the head of maintenance is a JERK who sat there chatting with a woman and laughing and joking while security repeatedly called him on his walkie-talkie to come help me with something and he had his back turned to me so he didn't see me sitting there watching him ignore the call over and over.

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 06/16/2009
This is the best review I have seen yet. I used to live there - I moved out right as the bedbugs were moving in. But, this resident truly describes the good and bad of the Woodner - YES!
From: Anonymous	Date: 06/21/2009
Thanks DMVRentr: You truly are stating the right things when it comes to the Woodner apartments in N.W., DC. I too have seen where management has ignored the calls when they are talking to someone that they are interested in talking to alive. What jerks! I need to find out though, where can you write to in DC to complain about the bedbugs, roaches, rodents, etc., when maintenance and management at the Wood ner won't help you. It has been seven years now that I have had to fight with insects in my apartment. No one cares, and my products aren't working this year.
From: Anonymous	Date: 06/21/2009
For the above, I know The Woodner has a Tenant Association, but I'm not sure if they can actually do anything. Maybe you can try the DC Tenants Advocacy Coalition? * Phone number: 202-628-3688 * Mailing address: P.O Box 7237 Washington D.C 20044 * General email: tenacdc@yahoo.com
From: Anonymous	Date: 06/24/2009
The Building Assocation can't do much other than advocate and refer people. it's wonderful that the building has one though. TENAC is a non profit, that isn't that much "actual" help. The DC OTA ( Office of Tenant Advocate) is the best resource. They are at 202 442 8676- they're on the dc.gov website. I've talked to Joel Cohn joel.cohn@dc.gov. He can refer you within thw office though. Also DC LAw Students in Court is helpful too- 202 638 4798.
From: barnaby.twist	Date: 07/09/2009
Get in touch with councilmember Jim Graham. When I was still living there, he arranged for us to have inspectors from a DC agency view individual apartments and document and fix problems. The Woodner won't do anything to help solve problems. Only the threat of the law will help.
From: Anonymous	Date: 07/15/2009
The Building Association could be much stronger and effectuate change within the Woodner if more residents participated and actively engaged. Instead, the responsibility is left to 3 or 4 board members in a building with 1100 units. And it's been this way for the last three years. What is the likelihood of success with that ratio? While discussion boards, calls to city council/dcgov/ota/dcra/ etc. help to some extent, they are sufficiently ineffective--either mutually exclusive from one another or combined. In other words, if you want sustainable action and/or results get involved with the Building Association to make it strong. Management listens to the Association when it has support from all constituencies but the most important is the support from residents, which unfortunately is lacking at the moment. And by the way, the comment above, "The Building Association can't do much other than advocate and refer people," is factually incorrect. The Building Association has a direct line of communication to management, which has worked in the past. City Council won't do anything to help one complaint (not because they don't care but because if they intervened on behalf of every complaint they would be inundated with requests) especially if they know there's an Association, they'll just refer the complaint to the Association. You have a choice, you could either live in an existential condition always seeking help from someone else and never getting help and always let down, or organize to effectuate change. All the best and peace and love to you.

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