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According to the poll, most people are staying out of DC for various reasons.
Indeed. It’s very enlightening. Now I’m glad I moved from DC to Bethesda rather than NoVa, as I prefer to maintain the DC connection. I had initially thought that there were “DMV” cohesion that centered around DC, but it doesn’t seem to be the case.
Chicago (City only), 2,683,091 million population (3rd largest city is US by Population) ave neighborhood density for CSA is over 10,000/sqmile but parts of city have much lower densities.
Washington DC 712,185 population (Denver and Boston are similar) Density is 11.280/sq which puts its census derived density in the top 15 in USA with parts of NJ, MA, NY, RI etc
pop density ave for USA is 93/sq mile
I don't think the poster was making a point about population densities; he was talking about traditional downtowns. DC's downtown with monuments, federal building, etc is more of a draw for tourists and daytime workers. Obviously that's an over simplification, but if you are from the area, there's less of a draw to go into downtown. Of course there are restaurants and other entertainment, but many of the border cities like Arlington, Alexandria, etc. have comparable dining/entertainment without the hassle.
In other major cities like NYC, Chicago, Boston, Philly, etc. that have more traditional downtowns, they are the central point of the metro so it draws more people from across the metro. Now since 2020, things in every city have changed drastically, but prior to that, as the poster mentioned, more traditional cities have the types of shopping districts and cultural amenities that you can't find anywhere else in the metro area. DC doesn't have a traditional big city downtown, so there isn't as much of a "dominant/central feeling" to it.
This is an interesting topic to me because it points out the geography of different lifestyles that go into where we live and why. So much of who we are and where we live is wrapped up in our environment in ways we're not even aware of.
I'm an unusual person in that I comfortably live in the suburbs (Northern Virginia, Fairfax County) but comfortably go into the city pretty regularly. I don't mind the traffic (which isn't as bad on the weekends), and I'm used to the street parking. I enjoy going hiking in Rock Creek Park, one of the premier urban parks in the country. I enjoy walking through the dense, interesting and historic neighborhoods, eating at many of the restaurants and I love the world class Kennedy Center. There are many venues of various sizes to catch a live music concert (from cramped dive bars for 20-30 people with small stages to the 20,000+ seat Verizon Center and everything in between), a decent sized art gallery scene (Smithsonian, Phillips, Renwick to multiple smaller galleries), lots of independent bookstores like Politics and Prose and Kramerbooks along with the smaller ones that often serve as de facto community centers with book clubs, author appearances and signings and small shows. One of the best benefits of living around the Nation's Capital are the embassies which often host lectures, movies, concerts and other events open to the public as well as multiple historical organizations and trade organizations, especially in the sciences like the National Geographic. There are cultural and architectural gems like the National Cathedral and the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on the campus of Catholic University. And I haven't even really mentioned the Smithsonian, perhaps the greatest FREE treasure trove of artifacts, displays and exhibitions available to check out anywhere in the world with constantly updating new shows. Really, it's an embarrassment of riches.
When I was growing up in the Northern Virginia suburbs in the 1980s and 90s, I really only went to DC for field trips, forced family trips to the Smithsonian, a couple times to the zoo, and a few preseason Redskin games at RFK (because back then, regular season games were IMPOSSIBLE to find unless you knew people). From my comfortably nestled suburban perspective, DC was a scary bad ol' town with a famously corrupt "mayor for life", Marion Barry, and as far as I knew the only reason white suburban kids who looked like me would ever go to downtown DC would be to score drugs (or hookers) and maybe go to the old 9:30 Club or other underground venues to hear punk bands. I was fed so much racism and classism on so many levels by the surrounding society that I couldn't have imagined ever wanting to go there voluntarily other than to see a sporting event or something. When I started attending college in the city in the late 90s, the city had started to "clean up", to gentrify and the pace of change over the past 20-25 years has been dizzying and disorienting. It really IS a different city, a city I couldn't have imagined when I was younger. After living in DC for a while in my 20s, I eventually moved back out to Northern Virginia, where my job and family and comfort is. Still, DC often draws me back in like a moth to a flame. Healthy, vibrant cities have the character of possibility, dynamism, serendipity, of mixing and creation that just isn't possible in the suburbs. Suburbs are all about stability, order, calm and privacy; wonderful and important attributes for raising families (their primary design purpose) and a good place for introverts like me to recharge. However, cities and their design and density promote experiences you just don't have in the suburbs, at least not as often.
With the pandemic, much of what made DC so perpetually fascinating to me closed down or was curtailed to varying degrees. I still have enjoyed taking outdoor walks around town when the weather's been agreeable and Rock Creek Park, along with several other large parks around town, are still wonderful resources, especially for urban areas. When and if the pandemic finally eases and subsides (I guess each person has their own standards about what constitutes some new version of "normalcy") I look forward to engaging with the city again more fully. It's my hometown.
I grew up in Maryland, and looks like I am just about the same age as you (maybe slightly younger). But for those of us who were teens in the 90's (and those older than that), I don't know that younger people can truly understand/appreciate how different DC is now. Back in the 90's (my reference point), DC was a medium sized city and was not full of glitz and glamour. It was actually very similar to Baltimore in many respects (modern day Baltimore and Baltimore back then...as unfortunately, not much has changed). It had the 'murder capitol' title for a few years back then, and was a rough and gritty city. Still, there was a certain charm to it and the museums were really what it was known for. Right around the early 2000's when the tech boom happened in the DMV region, which boosted the affluence of the whole region, DC gentrified more rapidly than any city ever has. It's become one of the top tier US cities in terms of global stature (in the same tier as San Francisco, Chicago, Boston). For those younger, it's hard to recognize how DC was in the 90's based on how it is today. It's a completely different city.
Probably at least once every couple of weeks if not more. Granted I live in the Court House area of Arlington and have also lived in DC so it's really close for me and there are a number of restaurants, live music venues, etc that I enjoy. Free world class museums is another great perk!
I don't think the poster was making a point about population densities; he was talking about traditional downtowns. DC's downtown with monuments, federal building, etc is more of a draw for tourists and daytime workers. Obviously that's an over simplification, but if you are from the area, there's less of a draw to go into downtown. Of course there are restaurants and other entertainment, but many of the border cities like Arlington, Alexandria, etc. have comparable dining/entertainment without the hassle.
In other major cities like NYC, Chicago, Boston, Philly, etc. that have more traditional downtowns, they are the central point of the metro so it draws more people from across the metro. Now since 2020, things in every city have changed drastically, but prior to that, as the poster mentioned, more traditional cities have the types of shopping districts and cultural amenities that you can't find anywhere else in the metro area. DC doesn't have a traditional big city downtown, so there isn't as much of a "dominant/central feeling" to it.
Yeah, that was the point I was making. In most other major cities downtown is the unrivaled center of the region. You won't find anything to rival Mich Ave or Center City Philly in the suburbs of those cities. Where places like Old Town Alexandria and National Harbor are fairly similar to Georgetown and the Wharf. You can find a lot of the same restaurants from central DC in Rosslyn-Ballston. Your typical suburban mall will have better shopping options than DT DC.
Go to Center City Philly on a Sat night and you are in the hub of a major metro. Go to Metro Center on a Sat night and you are in a office district. Generally when people go into DC it is more for of a specific reason. Seeing a concert, going to sporting event etc. Not as much of the unstructured take the train downtown to walk around, shop at the flagship stores, people watch, listen to the street performers, stop for dessert at a bakery in Little Italy, grab dumplings in Chinatown. There are obviously elements of that in DC. But not to the same degree as some other cities.
Yeah, that was the point I was making. In most other major cities downtown is the unrivaled center of the region. You won't find anything to rival Mich Ave or Center City Philly in the suburbs of those cities. Where places like Old Town Alexandria and National Harbor are fairly similar to Georgetown and the Wharf. You can find a lot of the same restaurants from central DC in Rosslyn-Ballston. Your typical suburban mall will have better shopping options than DT DC.
Go to Center City Philly on a Sat night and you are in the hub of a major metro. Go to Metro Center on a Sat night and you are in a office district. Generally when people go into DC it is more for of a specific reason. Seeing a concert, going to sporting event etc. Not as much of the unstructured take the train downtown to walk around, shop at the flagship stores, people watch, listen to the street performers, stop for dessert at a bakery in Little Italy, grab dumplings in Chinatown. There are obviously elements of that in DC. But not to the same degree as some other cities.
I agree with this to some extent. Though I would caveat that places like Rosslyn-Ballston, Crystal/Pentagon City, and even Alexandria to some extent are sort of akin to the larger “central DC” to a lot of the metropolitan area in all but name. It’s a quirk of arbitrary political boundaries. Rosslyn is closer to the city center via Metro than most of the District itself is. They’re effectively more like different districts of a larger urban core, rather than true suburbs. Going to Alexandria on the Metro isn’t that different than riding the El a few stops north and walking around by Wrigley or something.
But I do agree that DC lacks a lot of the neat ethnic hoods that other cities that were bigger at an earlier time had. DC’s Chinatown is a joke, and a lot of those neat diaspora areas with great food are slowly evolving in some of the suburbs instead, more like in European/Australian cities.
It seems like DC is pretty late in the game to all this, so all those other scenes that other cities have built over a couple centuries are just now evolving in DC as it densifies. DC went from a sleepy southern government bureaucrat town to a global and international city/metropolitan area in the span of like 20 or 30 years. It’s going to take awhile for it to grow into its own new shoes, so to speak.
I’m in Ashburn. But even when I lived in Arlington, besides work or going out, I never went to dc. For me, there’s no point. Main reason, I can’t stand driving in DC. Everything I need is in NOVA, honestly. I went to dc a few weeks ago to run an errand and I couldn’t wait to leave.
With the vaccine and mask mandates in place, I will never step foot in that cesspool again.
I’m vaccinated. But I agree with this, as well. We don’t have this in NOVA. I don’t want to have to show my card to someone to eat at some lame DC restaurant.
I’m vaccinated. But I agree with this, as well. We don’t have this in NOVA. I don’t want to have to show my card to someone to eat at some lame DC restaurant.
Reading this makes me not want to step foot in NoVa ever again. But damn, the airports are there.
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