Every morning we look west down the F Street corridor at the sight of gently rotating construction cranes as we turn into our parking garage. This is another sign of the ongoing build-up of the Penn Quarter area of Downtown D.C. which includes landmarks such as Metro Center, Chinatown, the MCI Center, and the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery. I was curious about what a couple of the cranes were building and discovered that the Downtown DC web site maintains detailed quarterly updates with maps and tables of current and planned construction. The two cranes on the left are building office and condo buildings, and on the left is the ongoing renovation of the Portrait Gallery due to be completed in 2006. I'm assured an ever-happenin' area around my office with a constant stream of new stores and restaurants in the next few years.

- mike lee - washington, dc