You'll probably need your x-ray specs to really glean any progress from my usual vantage points, but that shouldn't stop you from taking a look at today's batch of Capitol Quarter photos, taken on the blocks bounded by Fourth, Fifth, L, and Virginia. As the above photo shows (there's a bigger version on the project page), foundations are indeed now being dug for the first townhouses, on the south side of L between Fourth and Fifth. And meanwhile, the streets are getting pretty new granite curbs and brick gutters. The blocks north of L now have a lot of "private" infrastructure work underway (meaning, the pipes and whatnot that will run beneath the houses), so all in all there's no denying that, after a long long wait, the heart of the Capper/Carrollsburg redevelopment is now underway. We should be seeing the first hints of structures rising out of the ground next month.

And, if you really really can't get enough of seeing what's happening in that section of the neighborhood, go to the Capitol Quarter Phase I Expanded Archive, where you can see all vantage points. And be sure to click on the icon anytime you want to see the complete range of photos from a certain spot (to watch the old Capper buildings come down, then see the weeds grow, then see the beginnings of construction).

UPDATE, 7/25: Within 24 hours of my visit, the first concrete footers were poured.

* I missed this last week, but the ballpark was host on July 17 to another battle royale: "They gathered together just south of the Capitol dome, silhouetted by the setting evening sun, to play a game of baseball. U.S. Representatives from across the aisle and across the country donned uniforms local to their districts and immersed themselves in America's pastime Thursday at Nationals Park. The city's new stadium played host to the 47th annual Congressional Baseball Game sponsored by Roll Call."