Beyond the line formed by 44th and Foxhall lies Glover-Archbold Park, meaning that Berkley is surrounded on three sides by parkland.

Berkley is a suburban-style neighborhood, naturally isolated from the more cosmopolitan parts of the city by its location between parks.

It was also very nearly the site of an official residence of the mayor of Washington, D.C., in 2001 when Betty Brown Casey, widow of millionaire Maryland real estate developer Eugene B. Casey, donated 17 acres (69,000 m2) of land at 1801 Foxhall Road to the city for the purpose of a mayoral mansion.

However, the city was bogged down for nearly a year in attempting to purchase adjacent land from the National Park Service; additionally, many vocal city activists and residents felt that for a city marked by increasing gentrification and socioeconomic diversity, building a mayoral residence in such a wealthy enclave sent a bad message.

The city ultimately gave up on the project in 2003 and ceded the land to the Salvation Army.