I tend to toss most data-packed reports that come my way. They rarely break much news, and my attention span is notoriously short. But two reports arrived this week that describe two very distinct parts of the nation’s capital; the juxtaposition was both jarring and enlightening.

One was the 2008 Kids Count data book, sponsored by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The annual report attempts to define the state of childhood in the U.S. by measuring stats on health, economics and criminal justice.

The other report came from the Downtown DC Business Improvement District. The district roughly defines the commercial zone between the U.S. Capitol and the White House. The annual report measures job growth, investments, new residents and visitors.

To compare the two reports, I am tempted to borrow Charles Dickens’ first line in “A Tale of Two Cities”: “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.” My take: “It was the best of ’hoods; it was the worst of ’hoods.”

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Let’s begin with two rankings:

Kids Count says the District of Columbia’s child poverty rate puts it 38th out of the 50 largest U.S. cities, with 33 percent of children under the age of 18 living in families with incomes below the federal poverty level ($17,463 for a household with two adults living with two children).

The BID reports that first-class office space rents for $59 a square foot, second only to midtown Manhattan; and the vacancy rate of 6.3 percent is fifth in the nation, behind midtown and downtown Manhattan, Denver and Boston.

Richard Bradley, executive director of the BID, said: “Despite significant recent shocks to the international, national and regional economies surrounding downtown Washington, D.C., the downtown BID area economy should continue its strong performance and growth in 2008.”

In the past decade, $8.6 billion has been invested in the BID; last year it added 5,000 jobs.

Here’s what Laura Beavers, coordinator of the Kids Count study, told me: “It’s a mixed bag for D.C. Some things are getting better, some worse.”

Better is a decline in high school dropouts, from 13 percent to 7 percent. Worse is infant mortality, which doubled from 7 to 14 percent in 2004. Really worse is teen deaths, which rose 60 percent, from 108 in 2000 to 173 in 2005.

Another revealing fact: The number of Hispanic kids (4,380) is creeping up on white children (5,900).

I suppose I’m not breaking new ground by comparing the Gold Coast along K Street to the salt mines in the city’s eastern wards. We live in a city divided by wealth and race, education and opportunity.

Here’s what’s most interesting and not obvious in the kids report: While the percentage of kids in distress is large, the actual numbers are small. With all the tax dollars rolling into the D.C. coffers from the wealthy commercial zones, there must be millions to lift kids out of poverty.

Our next measure should be how well Mayor Adrian Fenty balances the scales between the two cities.