That sounds like a reference to North Korea. If that wasn't your intention: the capital of a country is usually (but not always) also the largest city. The largest city will have the largest group of people on the fringe. By definition it will never be a 'shining star of perfection', but neither are they in the 'top 20 hell holes', they have more of everything, and that - unfortunately - includes more crime. But the DC version is a bit more complex in that the biggest criminals are not found on the streets but in various offices.