Verizon Center

When the sparkling $200 million, 20,000ft-high MCI Center opened in 1997 (the name change occurred in 2006 after Verizon bought MCI), the streets surrounding it were, to put it lightly, a bit gritty. Families definitely didn’t wander out this way. All that changed within a few months of the stadium opening – sports bars, shops and restaurants bloomed like neon flowers, luxury condominiums replaced old tenements and all of a sudden, the most dangerous thing on the block was bad traffic and rude teenagers. Basketball teams the NBA's Washington Wizards (www.nba.com/wizards), the WNBA's Washington Mystics (www.wnba.com/mystics), the Georgetown Hoyas (www.guhoyas.com) and the NHL ice hockey team the Capitals (http://capitals.nhl.com) all call the center their home turf; it also hosts major concerts, and even when there are no events, it functions as a ghastly shopping mall.