WE'RE IN THE MIDST of a big transition period for several District neighborhoods. As we reported earlier this week, the opening of part of the DC USA shopping complex has put in place a big piece of the development puzzle there. In Near Southeast, crews are toiling away to prepare the new Nationals stadium for gameplay later this month. And the decision by National Public Radio to remain in the District is stirring up buzz around its selected new home at 1111 North Capitol Street NE.

Our colleague Marc Fisher took a stroll through each affected neighborhood, and his observations make for interesting reading. Click the links below to get to his full blog posts on washingtonpost.com.

» Part One — North Capitol Street: "For now, the stretch of Capitol Street where NPR intends to move is hardly what anyone would call welcoming or pleasant, and given the street's heavy car traffic, it's hard to imagine it becoming a pedestrian-friendly avenue. But if the retail envisioned for both the NPR building and the New Community across the way come to pass, a far less forbidding streetscape may emerge."

» Part Two — Near Southeast: "What was a collection of rutted roads, empty lots, warehouses and fringy businesses is becoming an extension of downtown in which walking around is as routine as on Seventh Street in the East End, K Street downtown or M Street NW in Georgetown."

» Part Three — Columbia Heights: "[A] city that has been starved for retail ever since the 1968 riots is finally learning what many suburban centers discovered long ago: Giving people a pleasant place in which to run their errands and hang out can alter the social life and the tenor of the streets."

Photo of the Best Buy under construction in Columbia Heights by Greg Barber/Express

Posted by Greg Barber at 2:10 PM on March 7, 2008
Tagged in Capitol Hill , Columbia Heights , Free Ride , Near Southeast , Streetscapes , The District , Top Stories