D.C. Growth Continues

The revitalization of WDC is an ongoing process, reports the Fannie Mae Foundation. While the suburbs still account for most of the region’s sprawling growth, the District’s revitalization
continues to gain strength. City employment reached 672,000 in 2004, up from 650,000 in 2000, and the number of households choosing to live in the District is climbing, noted the Fannie Mae's recent report, Housing in the Nation's Capitol.
But the corresponding real estate boom has not impacted the city uniformly. Some neighborhoods — Mt. Pleasant and Capitol Hill, for example — "are under intense market pressures," said the recent report. Others — including Deanwood and Congress Heights — remain weak. As a result, affordable housing is disappearing and concentrating poverty in lower-cost neighborhoods.
To achieve a more equitable distribution of the benefits that prosperity creates, the WDC "will need to ensure that more affordable housing choices are available throughout
the city."

Luckiest Man of the Face of the Earth

No not Lou Gehrig, but Duane R. Deason who bought half an acre near Buzzards Point and months later learned the new baseball stadium will be his neighbor. The 38-year-old accountant bought the land for $275,000 and is about to sell it for $8.3 million, according to the Washington Post. That's a 3,000% return on equity. Deason tells the Post: "I got kinda lucky." Uh huh.