* The New York Times looks at the plans for replacing Capper/Carrollsburg with Capitol Quarter. (They also sent it out via their news service, so it's appearing in lots of papers around the country.) "Bucking national trends and citing what they call 'a moral goal,' District of Columbia officials have pledged to preserve and even expand low-income housing, replacing dangerous projects with new communities that keep both poor and 'work force' residents -- firefighters, teachers and laborers -- in the mix. The redevelopment of the Arthur Capper and Carrollsburg projects, where Ms. Jackson lived, is the first in the country to promise replacement of all low-income units within the same neighborhood[.]" There's a lot of good detail about the public-housing side of the project, along with comments from former residents.

You can't say the folks at Metro aren't trying everything to get the word out about using public transit to get to Nationals Park--witness this YouTube video that hit the streets today, where two Peeps try to tell another Peep to take Metro instead of driving. The production values won't win any awards, but it manages to talk about the two-way New Jersey Avenue entrance, the capacity expansion to 15,000 passengers an hour, and the N22 bus, all while making you crave Easter-y sugar. (h/t DCist, and ABC 7, too)

A little bit of news broke yesterday in the comments, as the owner of the Splash car wash at 10 I Street, SE (next to the McDonald's) announced that he will be offering the first known cash lot parking near the ballpark. Splash "will be offering stadium parking on a very limited basis (11 cars) during our 8-5 work week hours and Sundays and federal holidays from 10 to 4pm, but many more than that in the evenings (40+ cars). It is suggested that parties interested in season long parking only 4 blocks from the stadium contact us at [splashdc@earthlink.net], not the car wash. The charge will be $30 per car per event."

* The prettiest darn fences, about four feet high, popped up around parking lots T and U on Third Street within the past two days. An unexpected touch. (I originally said wrought-iron, but now that I think about it, that's not what they are. Just black steel or some other metal I'm not smart enough to recognize. But still cool. Photos to come.)

This afternoon the Nationals sent out a press release about how fans with disabilities will be able to get to Nationals Park. Here's the biggest items:

About five readers in the past week have submitted the same question: What's the Deal With Capitol Quarter? And it's hard not to be wondering that, as one of the first announced projects to revitalize Near Southeast still hasn't seen the start of construction, with a number of target dates having slipped past. (You can read my WTDW Capitol Quarter from December to see the last update.)

* I thought I was going to make it through this day with no ballpark-related items, but I can't not pass along this item about Wednesday's media event where Nationals President Stan Kasten is going to take the pack on a subway ride to the Navy Yard station, to "mimic" one of the many routes fans can take to Nationals Park. Will it include being able to come up out of the west entrance of the station? I'll have the scoop Wednesday afternoon.

Let's dip into the What's the Deal With.... mailbag for some more non-ballpark-related content. Reader M has asked about the garage on the northeast corner of First and K, which remains in place while JPI's 909 at Capitol Yards starts to rise up around it.

* The Examiner writes about the Washington Area Bicyclists Association's look last week at the crosswalks and curbs at the US Department of Transportation HQ, which WABA says are not ADA compliant: "An inspection of the area Friday found security bollards blocking curb ramps, bus shelters with virtually no sidewalk access, and multispace parking meters inaccessible to people in wheelchairs. Also, several crosswalks at non-signalized intersections feed into curbs with no access ramp[.]" DDOT says that the crosswalk at Second and M is not supposed to be used anymore (since there is a fully compliant crosswalk just to the west at New Jersey Avenue) and will be sending crews to take away the crosswalk marks.

I'm taking a bit of a mental health break today, to try to rest a bit and gird myself for the coming weeks. Not much news anyway, except for this WTOP piece on people being unfamiliar with the neighborhood around the ballpark [insert obligatory "if only there were a web site..." reference here]. Of course, because of this unfamiliarity, chaos will ensue.

* The Post reports that the city and the Nationals are tangling over whether vendors will be able to set up shop outside the ballpark, and whether the city can put up a sign at the ballpark showing the federal taxes that DC residents pay while not having any congressional representation. The sign stuff last came up at the end of 2007, and you can read my notes from the hearing on the bill where the council was basically told that the Nats legally control the signage on the stadium's interior, exterior, and perimeter, and today's article says that "the Nationals have told Gray that the sign is too controversial and political for a ballpark." At that hearing, as in today's article, council chair Vincent Gray made clear the council's feelings about paying $611 million for a ballpark and then not being able to put up a sign of their choosing. As for vendors, "Sam Williams, the city's vending coordinator, said vendors who were at RFK and others who have applied will get spots outside the stadium" in spots being referred to as "vendor malls", but right now no one's saying where these malls will be, exactly, other than in "areas of the highest pedestrian traffic."

From a Nats press release, word that the public can get another shot at Opening Day tickets via a random drawing: "Fans may register for the opportunity to purchase two tickets online at nationals.com and winners will be selected through a random drawing. Registration will begin on Monday, March 17 at 9 a.m. and end on Friday, March 21 at 5 p.m. Selected winners will be notified via e-mail on Tuesday, March 25 and will have 24 hours to purchase their tickets. Tickets must be printed at home and will not be available for pick up at the Box Office Will Call."