Quick poll about the National Mall in Washington, DC

[maru2501]

i was also kind of surprised by the gravel walks the first time I was there

[EastSideHBG]

DC is one of my favorite cities but there are no stores there and for being called a mall come on, give me at least some shopping options!



Okay in all seriousness I agree with some of the others and it serves a purpose and it is neat having a huge open park in the middle of a city. I think pretty much everything can be improved upon so minor tweaks would be fine but I would be sad to see much else, as that entire area still has a lot of charm to me. Hell I remember being just a bit nervous about the WWII memorial but that came out beautifully and is a very nice addition.

[jd3189]

I think it's okay the way it is with some additional monuments and museums being added gradually. Yes, it is very expansive, but I think that was the point of it. Unlike the great public squares of Europe, Asia, and even Latin America, we have in our capital a large green space which makes us somewhat unique. Canada has something similar going on in Ottawa but the Mall is what makes DC different.

[Cirrus]

I'm intentionally not responding because I'm interested in the unfiltered opinions.

But this is an easy and objective question, so I'll answer it:

Originally Posted by mrnyc

free trolleys? maybe they have them already? i dk.

There's a DC Circulator bus that runs on a tourist-friendly National Mall route. $1/ride, every 10 minutes. Map of route.

[dc_denizen]

free citibikes on the mall would help a lot.

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by jd3189

I think it's okay the way it is with some additional monuments and museums being added gradually. Yes, it is very expansive, but I think that was the point of it. Unlike the great public squares of Europe, Asia, and even Latin America, we have in our capital a large green space which makes us somewhat unique. Canada has something similar going on in Ottawa but the Mall is what makes DC different.

I repeat: There are TWO large green spaces in DC, the Mall being the more formal and open one. The other, Rock Creek Park, is intensely woodsy, shaded, sylvan, informal and a fine place for all sorts of outdoor recreation by the locals that doesn't require a flat grassy surface (which Mall provides in spades).

That people less familiar with DC keep overlooking Rock Creek Park, which is 1754 acres in the heart of the city, says a lot. But it's there and it is in many ways the polar opposite of the Mall, giving everybody what they want.

[cannedairspray]

Why do you keep insisting that people are overlooking a different park, miles away, that isn't the topic of this subject?

[Barney Greengrass]

The WWII Monument is just ridiculous, and not in a good way. Otherwise, I've always loved the variety the Mall has to offer.

[ardecila]

It's hard to see what planners could do with the mall other than minor upgrades. The Mall's role as a national gathering space is important to the idea of DC as a national capital, it's a highly symbolic place (opens up to westward expansion, etc) but also functionally it enables gatherings that are scaled to the 350-million people living in this country. Any redesigns to make it into more of a traditional urban park, especially a Romantic, Olmsted-style park, would crowd out its role as a ceremonial place.

Certainly the Mall could function better. New technology could allow for a more durable turf, and better grading and drainage could keep the grass from turning into a muddy mess. The monoculture of elm trees should be replaced over time with a diversity of species that is more sustainable and reflective of the different regions of the country (more conifers!) I agree that the Mall feels too remote from the city, so visitors feel very far from food service and restroom options. There are already some concessions in the Mall, but maybe this could be expanded tastefully.

Not sure why the gravel paths are so irritating to some. The Mall is based on French landscape design, which uses fine gravel paths (or red brick dust) to provide a walking surface that is softer and more comfortable than the hard pavement elsewhere in the city. The trick is proper design and maintenance to keep the edges sharp where gravel/grass meet, but this could be done with low stone or concrete curbs. Also need to fill in low spots as they appear, which is a never ending battle, but improved drainage for the Mall overall will reduce erosion.

Maybe instead of a flat expanse, designers could play with different elevations? Have the central part of the Mall slope gradually up from the Reflecting Pond to the hill the Washington Monument stands on, and depress the remaining roads crossing the Mall into shallow tunnels.

[photoLith]

I like the Mall and it is pretty grand, but every time I go to DC its always a wreck with grass dead all over and just doesn't look like a park that belongs in the most "powerful" nation on Earth. But I guess you cant do much with grass when hundreds of thousands trample it all the time and theres always lots of trash laying around, which isn't the national park services fault or anything but stupid lazy tourists who trash the place. I was just there a few weeks ago again and after walking around the mall and to all the museums my feet were dying. Next time Im bringing my bike, looks like an absolutely wonderful city to bike in.

[mhays]

How often are people really trampling it in massive groups? Does it do various multi-day festivals throughout the year?

[Segun]

Section off portions of it for mini parks with different uses a la Miliennium park.

You could create an outdoor Smithsonian Nature Museum by dividing the park into portions and having each portion represent different types of plant species and foilage. You could create a wetland in one portion with walkways, native plants and animals, leading up to a forest, prairie, and so on.

Each individual portion would have its own theme, with vendors, sculpture and art. You could connect them via walkways or create a small set of waterways resembling a stream. If done in the best way, you'll have the midpoint between a well manicured park and a nature preserve. That brings more people to the overall space, and you provide more nooks and crannies for people to explore. It's the same concept as Jane Jacobs urban principles, just applied to Parks.

[Austinlee]

I chose the "fine" option. It's a bit unpolished and I think some tweaks and changes could make it better.

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by cannedairspray

Why do you keep insisting that people are overlooking a different park, miles away, that isn't the topic of this subject?

I think the point was clear enough for most people but for you I'll try to make it clearer. People keeping criticizing the Mall for not serving a function that is being more than adequately served by a different "park" and to convert the Mall to serve the same function would not only be duplicative, it would then take away the space serving the grand gathering function and vistas that the Mall serves.

[cannedairspray]

Originally Posted by Pedestrian

I think the point was clear enough for most people but for you I'll try to make it clearer. People keeping criticizing the Mall for not serving a function that is being more than adequately served by a different "park" and to convert the Mall to serve the same function would not only be duplicative, it would then take away the space serving the grand gathering function and vistas that the Mall serves.

That was a weird and passive aggressive response. Rock Creek is miles away. I don't agree with many of the posters' criticisms, but saying "WHAT ABOUT ROCK CREEK!?!?!" is asinine and pointless. It's on the other side of town. It's not the subject. Leave it.

[cannedairspray]

Originally Posted by mhays

How often are people really trampling it in massive groups? Does it do various multi-day festivals throughout the year?

Every week. There's large scale amateur sporting events every weekend.

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by cannedairspray

That was a weird and passive aggressive response. Rock Creek is miles away. I don't agree with many of the posters' criticisms, but saying "WHAT ABOUT ROCK CREEK!?!?!" is asinine and pointless. It's on the other side of town. It's not the subject. Leave it.

Ah, aggressive aggression ("assinine", "pointless") is so . . . honest.

Rock Creek Park is not "on the other side of town". Technically speaking, since Washington is divided into quadrants radiating from the Capitol, roughly ½ the Mall is in the Northwest quadrant just like Rock Creek Park and the latter extends from the downtown area out toward the Maryland suburbs. But exact location hardly matters since both greenspaces are huge and attract users from all over the metro. It is the functions they serve and whether the one needs remaking to be more like the other (or not as I argue).

[mhays]

It's still pretty irrelevant. The quality of parks is often about what's within walking distance.

[austlar1]

Around 1900 or so, the DC Mall was a very different place. There was only the Washington Monument and the original Smithsonian buildings. It was heavily forested for most of its length. There was a botanical garden close to the Capitol. The link below provides more information about the emergence of today's Mall.

http://ghostsofdc.org/2015/02/18/nat...mall-look-way/

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by mhays

It's still pretty irrelevant. The quality of parks is often about what's within walking distance.

Washington also has lots of small public parks "within walking distance". When I was growing up there, there was one a block away. But the Mall is not within walking distance of very many since it is in the heart of the government district, not residential Washington. Almost any other park, including Rock Creek, is more accessible to middle class Washingtonians who want to walk to a park.