“I think it’ll be a space where artists will want to come from all over the city, not just from east of the river. I think it will help us thrive as a community. More traffic, more business.”

While officials and advocates often spar over the best approach to address youth crime, DCist/WAMU spoke to youth who live or go to school east of the Anacostia River about the kinds of support they feel they need to achieve their goals.

“I miss community living. To step outside and walk into an adventure,” one mom in Ward 8 says. Her daughter wants to eat ice cream and pick flowers.