* The Post's Saturday real estate section has "People Flock to Live in DC's Capitol Riverfront Area Despite Commercial Stall," which focuses on the more than 1,700 new residents that have moved into Near Southeast since last year's Opening Day. It's a basic overview of the goings-on, but there is one tidbit of what I'd consider news: Forest City says that they are planning to restart the stalled Foundry Lofts residential renovation at the Yards next month, completing it in summer 2011. (No word on a start date for the retail renovation of the Boilermaker Shop across the street.) It's been mentioned before, but if you're not hanging on every word here at the blog, you might find the news of a redesign of 401 M Street from an office building to residential of interest, especially since that would speed the opening of a planned Harris Teeter on the ground floor. Elsewhere, the article also says that Velocity now has 75 units sold, although nowhere near that many have actually been closed on, according to land records (looks like around 30 as of early March).

* The Post's offspring publication the Express also published a piece today on the neighborhood, "From Frontier to Focal Point: Capitol Riverfront's Growth and Potential," which again focuses on the residents who have moved in despite the lack of retail. (The online version of the piece also has one whale of a coding error that suggests that the JDLand.com web empire is far more vast than I might have ever dreamed.) There's also an accompanying Capitol Riverfront Basics, laying out all the amenities that don't quite exist yet.

* And, while not really along the same lines as the other two, I should also point to the Post's feature today on the Trapeze School in its new home at the Yards.

I imagine there's more of these pieces to come over the next week. And really, I shouldn't be so cynical about them, since they do serve a purpose for the vast majority of the citizenry who don't pay much attention to the area; but I just think it's funny that this is now becoming such a standard late-March exercise for all media organizations. On the other hand, I sort of {ahem} did one myself last year, although it was more of a reaction to all the oh-my-God-there's-nothing-new-down-there thread that ran through the media coverage last time around, to show that there had been a lot of progress in the year since the ballpark opened. This year, as the stories are keying on, the progress is more inside the existing buildings than with any new developments.

Believe it or not, the first game of the third season of play at Nationals Park is just over a week away (the 4:05 pm exhibition on Saturday, April 3, against the Red Sox) with the home opener on Monday, April 5 at 1:05 pm against the Phillies. So, let the onslaught of ballpark-related news begin! (I'll be saving up the latest general let's-look-at-the-ballpark-neighborhood links for a group post probably on Monday, though will tweet them as they come out.) Today's tidbits:

* I've updated my map of parking options around the ballpark with the information on official Nats lots (locations and prices) for the 2010 season. I've left the information from last year on unofficial lots on the map, though won't know if it carries through until the first game.

* Here's the gameday schedules of Circulator service between the Union Station, Eastern Market, and the Navy Yard Metro stations. (Remember, this line's normal service hours are only on weekdays from 6 am to 7 pm, so they need special service for most ballpark events.) Thanks to DDOT for passing the schedule along.

* There's some chatter apparently going around the neighborhood that, because there will be no shuttles to and from RFK, buses bringing fans to games will now be allowed to park on neighborhood streets. The Nats' web site shows that bus parking is available at Lot W (Seventh and L, SE) for $50, but it's not clear whether that's a requirement, or how many buses can park there. DDOT tells me that they are still working on the Transportation Operations and Parking Plans for this season, and so at this point no decisions have been made.

UPDATE, 3/31: For more ballpark transporation tidbits (including Metro's plans for big big crowds), see today's entry.