Capozzi said he had been renting on Capitol Hill and had looked at houses in Northeast Washington, near Union Station, but found that area too expensive. Barney Circle, by comparison, is an inexpensive, quiet part of the Hill, Capozzi said. It s safer, more affordable than Northeast. Although initially attracted by the prices, Capozzi is like many residents who have stayed in the neighborhood because of the people he met there. Barney Circle is a real neighborhood, he said.
People live there a long time.
It s not a transient area. I have neighbors who are friends. We ve developed a sense of community together. We work together to get things solved, said Capozzi, who has joined with other neighbors to oppose the District s plan to extend the Southeast-Southwest Freeway through the circle. District transportation planners argue that the project will divert commuter traffic from clogged Capitol Hill streets, but local opponents fear the transportation plan will do the opposite.