Imagine a safe, vibrant Shaw with room for everyone, long-time residents and newcomers alike. That’s the vision Martin Moulton has for the neighborhood—but the only way to get there, he says, is with an engaged and active population.

Moulton isn’t all talk. The Shaw resident was part of the effort to establish the Convention Center Community Association last year and now serves as its president. He’s also on the boards of a number of community organizations and helps out at Scott Montgomery Elementary, the school across the street from his house.

It isn’t just because he’s a civic-minded guy: Moulton really believes in the neighborhood. “I love it here,” he said. He still recalls his first view of the area when he arrived in Washington. “I remember seeing where the Convention Center is now; it was a blown out, devastated wasteland. I thought, ‘How can it look like this?’ But I saw a vision of what the city should’ve been—a dynamic city.”

That was back in 1991. A Bay Area native, Moulton had graduated from Dartmouth and arrived in DC for a job doing graphic design for the MacNeil Lehrer show. Eventually, he wound up at Roll Call newspaper, where he still works. He’s been in Shaw for most of that time: after living in the Blagden Alley area of Shaw for five years, he bought a house at 5th and P streets in 2001.

Yes, the city’s certainly changed since he first arrived, Moulton concedes, but Shaw has a way to go. Crime is still a huge issue, there’s a gulf between well-off and low-income residents, and the community needs more economic development.

He pointed to Columbia Heights as an example of a neighborhood where public and private investment have helped a broad spectrum of residents. “Go to Target in Columbia Heights and see all the people shopping together,” he said. “Right now, people here are isolated; once you bring them together, they will see each other as neighbors, not stereotypes. It would dispel some myths.” He’s certain that most Shaw residents want the same things: safe, clean neighborhoods and expanded services.

The O Street Market—which was recently given a final green light by the City Council—will do a lot to enliven central Shaw, Moulton thinks, but residents have to take more responsibility if they want the area to improve. “We have a shooting here and no one responds,” he pointed out, comparing the few emails that Jack Evans, the Ward Two councilmember, might get from Shaw residents to the dozens he receives daily from Georgetown denizens.

He elaborated on his philosophy about politics. “Politicians, as far as I’m concerned, have to have a fire underneath them at all times.” Like the saying goes, the squeaky wheel gets the grease—and elected representatives will respond to those citizens who speak out. “You have to blame the community for not being more involved,” he said, though he admits that many Shaw residents are so used to being neglected by city officials that they’ve become apathetic.

In Berkeley, where Moulton grew up, things were different—the level of activism there was extremely high. “People felt like, ‘This is our city, we live here.’” Towards politicians, the attitude was, “You’re here to work for us.”

That’s an attitude he has brought with him in his role as CCCA president. At one recent meeting, he invited councilmembers Evans and Kwame Brown to discuss the neighborhood’s vacant properties with an overflow crowd. At another, some 70 folks listened to Mayor Fenty talk about crime. And this month, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton is taking her turn in front of the association’s members.

Being CCCA president already makes him a target for public criticism, and Moulton says he has no need to run for higher office. But he does have a few fundamental beliefs about how to get things done that include maintaining good communication with the grassroots and focusing on solutions, not just problems.