WASHPO: D.C.'s Ward 8 pins its hopes for economic improvement on Mayor-elect Gray

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Excerpt:

By Tim Craig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 29, 2010; 10:06 AM

Mary Cuthbert, who describes herself as a "seasoned citizen," doesn't shy away from telling people what she really thinks.

And having lived in the District's Congress Heights neighborhood in Ward 8 for 25 years, Cuthbert said she's tired of watching other areas of the city flourish with new shops, businesses and public transportation options. But after Ward 8 gave Mayor-elect Vincent C. Gray overwhelming support in the Sept. 14 Democratic primary, Cuthbert thinks her luck is about a change.

"We expect to see some improvement east of the river," said Cuthbert, a Ward 8 Advisory Neighborhood Commission member. "We want to see it be the same like everywhere else they built up.

"And we don't need no bicycle lanes," Cuthbert said, referring to the perception that outgoing Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) was more attuned to the concerns of affluent parts of the city. "We need a store where you can buy some pantyhose and a shower curtain, and we want to see people go to work."

As Gray prepares to be inaugurated as the District's seventh mayor Sunday, interviews with an array of Ward 8 residents reveal a community pinning its hopes on his remembering it when he takes office.