WASHINGTON — The coming of the $611 million publicly financed stadium for Washington’s National League team has coincided with — and, many say, accelerated — a striking change in a long-languishing area less than a mile from Capitol Hill.- NY Times, 4/16/08

Baseball fans flocking to Nationals Park, the brand-new stadium here, see more than a game these days. Approaching along Half Street Southeast from the nearby Metro subway station, they pass construction sites and billboards that tell of a neighborhood being transformed. From inside the stadium, they can see both the Capitol dome and construction cranes jutting into the sky.