Two fragile DC neighborhoods hang in the balance as the Wizards and Capitals consider leaving town

By ASHRAF KHALIL
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The proposed move of the Capitals and Wizards sports teams to nearby Virginia has stoked concern in a pair of fragile Washington neighborhoods. Residents and business owners in Chinatown fear that the departure of the teams would devastate the neighborhood around the Capital One Arena — which is already struggling with rising crime. Ted Leonsis, majority owner of both teams, has proposed moving the WNBA’s Mystics to Capital One as a partial replacement. But residents of Congress Heights neighborhood, where the Mystics now play, complain that this departure would remove an economic anchor from one of Washington’s poorest districts.