Forty years ago, the Columbia Heights neighborhood of DC was engulfed in flames. Riots began on April 4, 1968 when a brick flew through a drug store window at 14th and U and over the next 12 days, hundreds of buildings were burned, looted, and otherwise destroyed. For the next 30 years, some entire blocks in the area were simply left as rubble.
You'd never notice signs of the destruction now. Cranes dot the horizon and construction blocks roads. Luxury condos are opening every week. A new shopping mall with a Target and Best Buy went in, covering up some of the last of the scars. It's a neighborhood in transition. I do hope that after all this change, it still retains some of its original character and sense of history. At least there will still be Ben's Chili Bowl.
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