Ward 5: a Mosaic of Neighborhoods; Quiet, Stable Communities Contrast With Areas Plagued by Drugs, Violence
A block club in the Woodbridge neighborhood was incorrectly identified in last week's profile of Ward 5. It is the 2200 Block of Douglas Street Block Club. (Published 6/30/94)</br></br>Before there was home rule in Washington and before the city was divided into wards, Mary Butler and Annie Logan formed a block club in the Woodridge neighborhood of Northeast Washington to look out for their community and each other.</br></br>Forty years later, the 2000 Block of Douglas Street Block Club still meets. Members are part of Ward 5, but that is an artifical boundary. Their world is their immediate community and they are doing just fine: The children are going to college; there are almost no burglaries, and the planters donated by the club are filled with flowers.</br></br>"Most all our neighbors are still here, same as when I moved in," said Butler, 70. "At most, five have moved. This is a good place to live. We are all out on our porches. When I have trouble sleeping, I just go out there to sit. Nobody ever bothers you."</br></br>If pressed, Logan, 72, said the potholes on Douglas Street are a concern and sometimes the city is slow to pick up bulk trash, but mostly, life is pretty good in their part of Woodridge.