MCI Center was built in a dump of a neighborhood. I remember coming out of the Gallery Place Metro to walk up 7th st to near New York Ave. and there were needles, condoms, empty liquor bottles and the occasional crack pipe lying around the sidewalks. That was in 1994-95 too. Now it's a ritzy area. Remember all of the crack houses up on Rhode Island Ave around North Capitol St? What was a flophouse shooting gallery will now cost you some serious coin. Remember the danger around the old bus station a few blocks up 1st St NE from Union Station? It looks like Reston Town Center now with little white kids riding bikes up and down the streets.
The area around Nats Park was a dump before the stadium was built. It's now a pretty safe area. The days of security guards at the Navy Yard warning Marines going up to the Barracks to be careful walking at night are long since gone. The area is pretty safe. It's not McLean but I haven't heard of any fans getting mugged or anything. Certainly not shot at.
I went to a Caps game last week and I was pretty surprised at how many empty storefronts there are within a block of Capital One Arena. A lot of the bars and restaurants I used to go to are gone. The neighborhood doesn't feel unsafe and the pandemic is surely the main factor in all the closures, but it's still a bit jarring. Feels like the neighborhood is backsliding a bit.
