Half Day In ...: U in the District

The Air and Space Museum? Love it. But for a change of pace--and tempo--visit the jazzy environs of U Street

They used to call it Black Broadway: the stretch of U Street in northwest Washington where the likes of Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong and John Coltrane performed nightly. Then, in the 1960s, the neighborhood fell victim to urban blight as riots burned down much of the commercial district and affluent blacks moved to the suburbs. But these days efforts by local families to revive the area are taking hold. The result is a lively mix of recharged African-American culture and hip new shops and restaurants--less than 10 minutes from the National Mall and all those...

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