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Downtown DC lacks distinctiveness in my opinion. Not enough of it is an interesting place to walk, which makes it not a very successful example of urbanism.
That's how I felt too, which is why I asked DC's Finest if he had been to Boston. I feel like downtown DC is very 9-5ish, with the more urban areas located outside in places like Georgetown and Adams Morgan.
I look at it this way, DC was a planned city. It was planned as a baroque city and then filled in through the Civil War/1900s.
Boston is an organic city, having mostly been built before 1850, neighborhoods were planned, yes (the Back Bay, the South End). To me Urbanism is directly related to density. Density breeds all sorts of things. Density of buildings, people, streets. It becomes about experience. Washington is international because of politics, Boston is international because of education. Just yesterday, I heard 3 different languages while walking to downtown. Boston is a smart, buisness oriented city, whereas Washington is a smart, political city.
That's how I felt too, which is why I asked DC's Finest if he had been to Boston. I feel like downtown DC is very 9-5ish, with the more urban areas located outside in places like Georgetown and Adams Morgan.
I would actually agree with this. During the business day, downtown DC is quite bustling. After 6 PM or so, not so much. It depends on where you are, of course. East of 14th street there is more going on in the way of shopping/restaurants etc., and the area around Farragut (particularly K Street/Connecticut Ave.) is pretty busy at all times.
But, yeah, there are large chunks of downtown DC that pretty much close up shop after 6 PM. I wouldn't say that it makes for an unpleasant walking experience, just not particularly interesting.
Boston, on the other hand, seems to have a thriving commercial center on a pretty consistent basis. It feels more "big city" to me than DC does. That's why, I think if you're comparing downtown to downtown, Boston definitely feels more urban. The distinction between the two becomes much more blurred when you venture out into some of the close-in residential and coommercial neighborhoods.
Not exactly. DC's downtown has canyons that spread over three miles of 20 storie office buildings and numerous inner-downtown sections like Chinatown, the F street corridor, the 7th street corridor, Goergetown, the new SW waterfront and Dupont Circle that all are very vibrant. Not to mention those districts that are not in the immediate downtown, like adams-morgan, clarendon, alexandria, silver spring etc..
If we are going to compare cities, we should compare them as a whole. We are kind of beating a dead horse because much of what we are saying gets ignored and/or is subjective. We should look at things like the number of famous sights, world importance and where the nation is run. Then it wont matter, because it will end with DC winning. OOOOHHHHHHH... I just went there. lol
I have been to Boston plenty of times. It's a hard comparison because DT DC is so much bigger in area than DT Boston. DC has canyons upon canyons of office buildings stretching from West to East (23rd Street NW to Capitol Hill) and south from the National Mall, north to Mass Avenue. Of course some areas are dead after five. DC has government buildings galore that take up whole city blocks with no retail due to security issues. But you cannot tell me that areas like Chinatown and 14th & K aren't bustling at all hours of the night.
Location: That star on your map in the middle of the East Coast, DMV
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Originally Posted by HenryAlan
Downtown DC lacks distinctiveness in my opinion. Not enough of it is an interesting place to walk, which makes it not a very successful example of urbanism.
Name 5 things in Boston more distinctive than the White House, Washington Monument, The U.S. Capitol, Lincoln Memorial, and the Smithsonian....I'm waiting.
Name 5 things in Boston more distinctive than the White House, Washington Monument, The U.S. Capitol, Lincoln Memorial, and the Smithsonian....I'm waiting.
Oustide of the mall there may be less overall distinction but i like both cities.
IMO areas of distinction in Boston include things like fanuel hall, quincy market, Fenway, the whole back bay area, plus a multitude oh generally cool neighborhoods and streets. Include the cambridge side and the new Genzume green building, Harvards campus etc.
Now I also lived in DC and find many areas to be very appealing as well
The mall is cool and dinstinctive but after most of the tourists leave it gets pretty barren; I often wondered what if the area were backfilled just a bit to bring in residents (who lived in it)...
The mall is cool and dinstinctive but after most of the tourists leave it gets pretty barren;
That's actually when I love it the most...the lack of fanny packs, and of course the memorials at night are just stunning.
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I just went there. lol
