When Jayden Mason walks the streets of Ward 1, he’s not thinking about scenery — he’s bracing for injury.

“I don’t like the sidewalks in D.C. because they’re uneven. I always trip,” said Mason, originally from Chesterfield, Virginia, and now a Ward 1 D.C. resident. “It doesn’t matter where I’m at — I’m always tripping, my ankles [roll]. I broke my hip at 17 years old, and every time I walk down some of these sidewalks, I feel it down the side of my body.”

As the Howard University student walks by a campus dormitory, there is one spot that is particularly concerning for his on-foot commute.

“There’s this one part on Georgia Ave by Cook Hall—it’s all brick, and it shifts under your feet,” Mason, 20, told The Informer. “It hurts so bad.”

Mason is not alone.

Washingtonians and visitors of

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