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Most larger (and mid-size) cities have at least some presence of these things.
But museums, theaters and historic sites thin out the list a bit.
The cities where you will have no shortage of any items on your list...
New York
Los Angeles
Chicago
San Francisco
Philadelphia
Boston
D.C.
Other large cities have some of these offerings to a lesser extent: Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Miami / Ft. Lauderdale, but BASED ON YOUR LIST, they are tiers lower than the first group.
There are also mid-size cities that punch above their weight and actually match (or surpass) the second group of large cities in these offerings.
Pittsburgh
Cleveland
Cincinnati
New Orleans
To name a few. I am drawing a blank on others right now.
New York
Boston
Philadelphia
Washington DC
Chicago
Charleston SC
New Orleans
Savannah GA
San Francisco
St. Louis
Providence
Richmond
Los Angeles
Pittsburgh
National Bonsai and Penjing Museum (at National Arboretum)
National Building Museum
National Gallery of Art
National Gallery of Art - Modern Art Building
National Geographic Museum
National Museum of African American History and Culture
National Museum of African Art
National Museum of American History
National Museum of the American Indian
National Museum of Natural History
National Museum of the United States Army
National Museum of Women in the Arts
National Portrait Gallery
National Postal Museum
National Zoological Park
Phillips Collection (of Amelie fame)
Renwick Gallery
Sackler Gallery
Scottish Rite Temple and Supreme Council Library
Smithsonian Castle
Udvar-Hazy Center (best aviation museum in the world)
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Congress also just commissioned the establishment of the upcoming museums: the National Museum of the American Latino and the Women’s History Museum
Art Galleries -
Not as common, but they exist in Barracks Row, Dupont Circle, Georgetown, Logan Circle, etc.
Theater and Music -
9:30 Club
The Anthem
Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater
Atlas Performing Arts Theatre
Black Cat
The Birchmere
Blind Whino Arts Club
Blues Alley
Ford's Theatre
Howard Theatre
Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Lincoln Theatre
National Theatre
Pearl Street Warehouse
Tivoli Theatre
U Street Music Hall
Union Stage
Warner Theatre
Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts
Woolly Mammoth Theatre
Bookstores - tons, as a very educated city. The most famous are Capitol Hill Books, Politics and Prose and Kramerbooks. I like old books, so am more into the antique bookstores. My favorite place in the whole region though is the Book Thing in Baltimore: hundreds of books for free everytime I visit!
Historical Sites - Of course.
National Register of Historic Places:
Alexandria: 49
Arlington and Falls Church: 75
Calvert: 20
Charles: 39
Clarke: 41
Culpeper: 29
Fairfax City and County: 73
Fauquier: 66
Frederick: 101
Fredericksburg: 28
Jefferson: 78
Loudoun: 93
Madison: 21
Montgomery: 79
Prince George's: 106
Prince William and the Manassas Duo: 52
Rappahannock: 19
Spotsylvania: 17
Stafford: 21
Warren: 23
Washington: 639
TOTAL (MSA): 1,669
CSA:
Anne Arundel: 103
Baltimore City: 299
Baltimore County: 89
Berkeley: 119
Carroll: 62
Franklin: 63
Hampshire: 27
Harford: 79
Howard: 42
Morgan: 14
Queen Anne's: 38
Saint Mary's: 32
Talbot: 62
Washington (Hagerstown): 103
Winchester and Frederick County: 50
TOTAL (CSA): 2,851
For perspective, the entire State of California has 2,866 and Texas has 3,365. Very impressive for a CSA of 9.7 million to be competing with the two largest states on historic assets.
I agree with others that most mid to large cities have a fair amount of this. But off the top of my head, the big ones are DC, NYC and Boston. NYC is #1.
Bookstores seem rare these days. Everything is ebooks it seems.
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