I've written on this topic before, but having now been to a game at the new Nationals Park (see article on that here: Nationals Park opening, take 0, I got an even better look at what will wind up becoming former D.C. Mayor Williams' legacy, the rebirth and renewal of the area where Nationals Park now stands.

Nationals Park is most easily accessed via the Metro  system.  There's an exit at the Navy Yard stop on the Metro Green Line.  If you take the Metro trains and exit at the Navy Yard stop, you are dumped off about 2 blocks, if that, walking distance away from the gates to the park.  Those two blocks are what will become Half Street, and Half Street is what will wind up becoming, if I'm correct (and I really think I am) a big part of the legacy of former D.C. Mayor Williams.

Halfstreet is a work in progress.  You can find a lot of information about the project here: Halfstreet.com along with some nice pictures and promotional information about the project.

Eventually Halfstreet is going to be a hustling and bustling area with shops, eateries, and even residential space available for those that want to move into the area.  For now, Halfstreet is little more than a paved walkway that is lined with the parking garages that will hold many of the vehicles that attendees of the games at Nationals Park will drive in.  There's also an old warehouse that has been kept in the area, but which will also eventually be refurbished and/or remodelled and updated for new businesses to move into.

Similar things happened around Camden Yards, the site of the Baltimore Orioles Ballpark in the Inner Harbor area of Baltimore.  Baltimore used the opportunity to recreate a horribly blighted area that was literally crumbling and decaying.  Old warehouses and factory space that was long since past it's prime and usefulness was rebuilt and brought into the modern era and new business moved into the area and started serving customers that came to see the ballgames, or wanted to go see sights like the National Aquarium.

Some other parts of Halfstreet and the surrounding area are up and running, including some new office space in a brand new medium rise (D.C. has height restrictions on buildings, so there are no true 'high rise' buildings there) office building.  Fans that sit in the stands at the park can look over at the crisp, clean glass, steel and marble type building and admire it.  Fans that knew the area before are more awed as they remember the buildings and businesses that used to infest -- quite literally -- that area.  Before this renewal was begun, and especially before the ballpark was designated to go into the area, the area where the ballpark now sits was filled with bars and clubs that served the Gay community, along with slums, decaying warehouses, an asphalt business and other wonderful neighbors for those that happened to live in the area or had to pass through it.  While the bars and clubs that the Gay community ran and frequented weren't necessarily bad businesses to have in the area, the owners of the properties never reinvested in the area, and many people refused to build in the area, or even go through the area because they saw it as dangerous, dirty, and disgusting.  Those that did go through the area and happened to go to the clubs had to be concerned about whether or not they'd be showing up in the newspapers as another victim of crime (the Washington Post Metro section was often filled with articles about crimes that took place in that area, if the crime was even bothered to be reported on at all, as it got to be too frequent for the police to even really care about).

I'm looking foward to seeing Halfstreet take off and really bring on the urban renewal that was the reason that Mayor Williams worked so hard to bring on for his city.  While I'm not a resident of the city, and really my only real interest (as far as many was concerned) has been as someone that wanted to see a nice home for the Nationals to play in, that wasn't strictly the case.  I too have wanted to see D.C. become a brighter, cleaner, and more desirable place to go to.  I've wanted to see it really and truly become a world class tourist destination.  It already features the capitol of the free world, and already has the National Mall, many wonderful monuments, beautiful museums and of course the workings of the nations political machinery and more.  But in addition to those features, there were many areas of the city that were just horrible to even think of passing through, much less going to do business in.

In 2009 and beyond Halfstreet should be populated with a nice selection of eateries that I could go to before or after games.  Places where I'll be spending money, paying sales taxes, and paying tips to workers that will in turn pay taxes on their income into the city and into the federal revenue stream.  Revenue that wouldn't exist in those areas if not for this wonderful new ballpark and beautiful new area.

By the way, for the most stunning comparison of what this area was like before, try this photo (not the exact same area, but very similar to what the area where Halfstreet is being build now was like before):

The image that follows is from one of the buildings that was demolished to make room for Nationals Park and Halfstreet.  This was one of the 'clubs' in the area:

Another image from the area (again, a building that was demolished to make room for the stadium):

If you'd like to see more of what the area looked like before the renewal began, check here: JDLand.com. Their site is filled with pictures of what the area looked like before, along with images that show what areas are being targetted for renewal and what projects will be going into those areas. Well worth a visit.

Let me close by saying that former Mayor Williams wasn't necessarily the best Mayor that D.C. could have had, but given the mess than he was handed when he took office, and given the lasting impact that projects like Halfstreet will have on the city, I'd have to say he was far from the worst.  Where people like current Mayor Adrian Fenty demagogued on bringing baseball to D.C., and especially a new stadium to Southeast D.C., Mayor Williams saw the future and what good could be brought to the city.  He overcame Adrian Fenty, Linda Cropp (the former chairman of the D.C. city council) and even Mayor for Life Marion Barry, and brought the new stadium to the city along with projects to bring lots of new construction to the city.  Hopefully he'll be seen as a great leader when history looks back on what he did for D.C.  It seems to me that he deserves it.