If you take a close look at the map in the story, you will see that the area of the attack is just beside the northbound railroad tracks adjacent to the rail yards and north of New York Avenue. As in many cities, the railroad corridor is rough. To compound the problem, New York Avenue, once a graceful street, was turned into a commuter sewer in the 1960's, making it all-but-uninhabitable for folks with two nickels to rub together, and thus a magnet for the undesirables. On top of that, Eckington is home to a big industrial/warehouse area full of big sterile boxes with large stretches deserted at night. A tough combination all around. This will not make much sense to the out-of-towners, but y'all have heard of Anacostia, and this area for many years was every bit as bad. But it is improving rapidly; for that matter, so is much of Anacostia.
There is very strong redevelopment pushing north from Union Station, with Metro stops becoming the hub for some pretty nice improvements in many areas. Eckington is too close to Capitol Hill and downtown not to redevelop. H Street, long a battleground, is turning into a destination, and good things are moving north. I've lived on Capitol Hill for over 30 years and long regarded H Street as a boundary. I now know several people in Trinidad and even a couple in Ivy City, which would have been unthinkable even five years ago.
What happened to that house? You must have sold it and possibly taken a bath? . . .I bought a house in the ghetto and I had to walk because I couldn't sell if for what it's worth (location, location, location)
There are a few bright spots in federal Keynesian porkulusian 8A contractor giveaways and that's probably one of them. Unlike regular welfare at least the 8A's can buy a nice mercedes without having to sell drugs. But trust me, it won't last. It will crash much more quickly than outside the beltway where people are more adaptable.