From an aerial perspective, Southwest DC is strikingly different from the other four quadrants of the city. Not only is the neighborhood much smaller, but the road network is also broken. Although the same rules apply in SW, the street grid is not as rigid as in the rest of the city; this allows for more open space and serves to make SW feel more like a neighborhood than just a collection of large city blocks. The older buildings that make up much of the Southwest include a lot of low-rise, low- to moderate-income housing and a few light commercial lots interspersed on each block near South Capitol St., but it becomes almost exclusively residential as it gets closer to the waterfront and the extreme southwestern border. This is a change from most of the rest of the city; while there are many other residential neighborhoods, none have the contrast of old and new that is present in the Southwest. The neighborhood's old urban renewal created what can be seen today as a highly dichotomized neighborhood with elements of both extreme wealth and intense poverty. . Walking west from South Capitol St., the area follows a starkly contrasting trend: new high-rise, luxury condominiums, then old townhouses and run-down apartments, some without electricity, and finally an elegant, but old, area mixed with townhouses and large apartments and condominiums. The first two sections are perhaps the most evident example of the urban renewal efforts underway throughout the city. The ability to stand on a lot in the middle of SW (e.g. the site of the old Waterside Mall) and look into M St. to see three distinct trends shows how much this neighborhood has been destroyed. The influx of renewal has brought new developers to the east (looking east), where a high-rise... middle of paper... type of structure keeps children off the streets and promotes positive habits during formative periods. years in the life of a young person. In addition to benefits for children, the city also provides adults with career-oriented services, such as resume writing classes and job search consultants. In addition to educating people and helping on an individual level, the city can enforce laws requiring developers to dedicate a portion of new buildings to low-income housing. Right now there is a brand new high class apartment building on one side of M St. with run down townhouses on the other. Instead, there should be new buildings on both sides of the street, suitable for both luxurious lifestyles and people on a budget. Works Cited Wasserman, Paul and Don Hausrath. Washington, DC A to Z: The traveler's research source for the nation's capital. Sterling, Virginia: Capital, 2003. Print