Seventy years ago, almost 10,000 people lived in the alleyways of Southwest D.C. Thanks to the website Alley Connoisseur, we can see what life was like in those conditions. more ›

Wheat Row, constructed in 1794, is the city's oldest standing group of rowhouses. Located in Southwest near the waterfront on 1315 through 1321 4th Street SW, the Federal-style cluster are designed to appear as a single structure. Named after a resident and Senate messenger, John Wheat, these rowhouses are one of the few remaining pre-1950 buildings to survive the massive urban renewal the government undertook on the neighborhood. more ›

Southwest Airlines will purchase fellow low-cost carrier AirTran for a tidy $1.42 billion plus AirTrans's sizable debt, according to a report by the Associated Press. Southwest, which is already the country's largest air carrier based on number of passengers, is making the move primarily to compete with Delta in Atlanta (the one major section of the country where Southwest currently doesn't fly), but the merger will definitely create some waves in the Washington, D.C. area. more ›

For those of you following yesterday's broad daylight double shooting in Southwest, one of the victims is now reported to have died. From the Post's Paul Duggan: "The slaying victim was identified as Chicquelo Abeny of Southwest Washington. Police did not identify the second victim because he survived the shooting and is considered a witness." Police are still not offering any ideas as to a motive in the shootings, but Ward 6's Tommy Wells is already tweeting up a storm about setting up a community meeting "to determine if they are retalitory [sic] shootings or unrelated incidences." more ›

Two people were shot earlier this afternoon in the 1300 block of First Street SW. The shooting occurred at approximately 1:15 p.m., D.C. Police said. D.C. Fire/EMS said emergency responders transported one man found shot on First Street SW and a second man who was found shot in the alley off N Street SW, near Howison Place SW. Both men are said to have been in critical condition when they were taken to local hospitals. more ›

Not much more to report at this time on the body found this morning at the Capital Yacht Club, located in the 900 block of Water St. in Southwest. D.C. Fire/EMS spokesperson Pete Piringer was able to confirm that the body, which was found near Pier 5 at about 9 a.m., was that of an adult woman, and not a man as had been initially reported. D.C. Police confirm that they are investigating, but could offer no details. more ›

WMATA broke ground today on a new Metrobus facility in Southwest that could eventually house and maintain 250 Metrobuses (to start, it'll only hold 114 buses). The new facility is intended to replace the 72-year-old Southeastern Bus Garage – that's the one the agency had to sell and vacate last year because it was so close to Nationals Park. The building isn't yet fully funded but is being financed through a combination of the proceeds from the sale of the Southeastern Bus Garage plus another $30 million from stimulus funds. more ›

The Examiner reports today that there's a little bit of controversy brewing over the design for the new Washington Highlands public library branch in Southwest. No big surprise there: when it comes to public libraries in the District, suddenly everyone's an architecture critic. The main arguments presented in the Examiner story seem to be that the design, by famous British architect David Adjaye, is just too weird and doesn't "fit the neighborhood." Presumably, the ANC commissioner quoted in the story would rather have some kind of more classical, square brick building that blends in with the rowhouses around it. Personally, I think it looks pretty rad, but that's the thing about aesthetics, I guess. You can't ever please everyone. more ›

The Post reports that a 16-year-old was shot and killed near Nationals Park yesterday afternoon. Kevin D. Allen of Northwest D.C. was found lying in an alley on the unit block of N Street SW at around 12:30 p.m., and pronounced dead later at the hospital. That is only about a block away from Nationals Park, but there wasn't a game going on that day. No motives or suspects have been reported in the killing. more ›