Many neighbors complain the District government only locates business in this north east section of the city that no other neighborhoods want.

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Across the street is a strip club, nearby is the largest trash transfer stationing the city and now another building will be home to a marijuana grow center.

"Ward 5 is definitely been a dumping ground and that's something we're trying to change," William Boston, a community activist.

Three of the six cultivation centers will be located within a half-mile of each other. One is across from a recreation center for neighborhood kids. In fact, five of the six grow centers will be in Ward 5.

A sixth center located in Ward 7 will have to be relocated because the D.C. council passed a law prohibiting it from opening in the area. It could also end up in Ward 5

The council had originally authorized 10 grow centers. But after residents complained, they scaled it back. Since each center can only grow 95 plants, experts are concerned that demand will be greater than the supply.

"If there's more demand than the dispensaries have then the price for patients will go up," Dahr Mann, a WeGrow medical marijuana consultant.

But not everybody sees the medical marijuana facilities as a bad thing.

"It's a beautiful thing, for me, because my father has stage four cancer," says Ward 5 resident identified as Rob.

One big concern has been security. The District has required volumetric intrusion detectors, storage safes that withstand 30 minutes of drilling, 24 hour surveillance cameras, professionally monitored alarm systems and a panic button for employees.