Is it just me or is Washington DC extremely underrated as a city?

[craigs]

Originally Posted by destroycreate

It's one of my favorite East Coast cities. It's walkable, dense, historic, has excellent public transit, and the low-rise density gives it a European feel. There's so much great architecture. I don't feel like the city is talked about much beyond politics and internationally it's not as big a destination compared to NYC, LA, Miami etc. But I think it should get a lot more love and hype.

Thoughts?

DC has both strong points and weak points, and is neither under- nor over-rated. The city has good public transit and is walkable in large part, but the monumental scale can be alienating. The residential and mixed neighborhoods have great scale and charming architecture, but many of the business and government areas are sterile and offer nothing to the casual tourist. It has great institutions, parks, and plazas but there is also a ton of car-centric infrastructure. Culturally, it is very buttoned-up and the social scene seemed to be organized around work (e.g., coworkers drinking scotch together at dark, expensive bars). The museums are top-notch.

Originally Posted by jmecklenborg

DC was a major hub of hardcore punk rock activity in the 1980s, but creative things dried up by 2000 when the city went from being 75% a run-down ghetto to being wall-to-wall boring yuppies.

I spent a week in DC in early 1993, and had a lot of time to kill after dark. I scoured the bookstores and record shops for flyers to rave parties, like I would find in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Boston, etc. I found none. Maybe there were underground parties going on in DC at that time, but if so, they were inaccessible to tourists like me. I spent my nights in bars in DuPont Circle and Georgetown, which is okay, but . . . yeah. There was no alternative to the mainstream.

[LA21st]

Its fine as a walkable city with a good subway but downtown is really sterile. And that feel "bleeds" into the population with the government workers and contractors. Im sure its good for economic stats and office space numbers but it just is bland. And the newer areas like the Wharf and NOMA just contribute to the same blandless. It probably is more attractive than most cities but honestly, that is overrated when you walk around there.

Its hard to explain but it feels like its missing something.
You wont notice as a tourist, you have to live in the area for a considerable time. And the crime is no joke, and can't be glossed over here. Plus, after covid,
downtown feels more empty.empty storefronts than other cities have seen so far.

The neighborhoods outside the core are pretty quiet and underwhelming. Even places like Cleveland Park or Woodley Park seem small as far as amenties go.

[homebucket]

DC is appropriately rated. It's not underrated.

[202_Cyclist]

Originally Posted by Xing

Who gave you the 1990 most dangerous cities list?

I just moved from DC after having lived there for twenty years. DC is a fantastic city but, unfortunately, in recent years the murder and violent crime rate is higher than the national average and while the murder rate has been declining nationwide the past two years, it is still higher in DC.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md...ting-violence/

[The North One]

I don't think so. And there's nothing really European about it. It just doesn't have a usual square block grid.

[badrunner]

Originally Posted by LA21st

Its fine as a walkable city with a good subway but downtown is really sterile. And that feel "bleeds" into the population with the government workers and contractors. Im sure its good for economic stats and office space numbers but it just is bland. And the newer areas like the Wharf and NOMA just contribute to the same blandless. It probably is more "attractive" than most cities but honestly, that is overrated when you walk around there.

Its hard to explain but it feels like its missing something.

Yeah it feels like the social life of the city isn't really urban-oriented. It's not spilling out into the streets. It's all about black-tie affairs in hotel ballrooms and coke-fueled orgies (allegedly).

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by badrunner

Yeah it feels like the social life of the city isn't really urban-oriented. It's not spilling out into the streets. It's all about black-tie affairs in hotel ballrooms and coke-fueled orgies (allegedly).

DC doesn't have bad streetlife. Not in the organic South Philly/South Boston stereotype, but there's plenty of life in the neighborhoods ringing downtown. Dupont Circle, Adams Morgan, U Street, Georgetown, Kalorama and the like are all great neighborhoods, if not particularly eclectic. Places like Cleveland Park, Van Ness, Friendship Heights are urban-suburban hybrids with a nice feel.

[Cirrus]

I'm not going to get much involved in this thread but will just say this one thing:

My wife owns a tiny indie craft shop with locally-made goods, and most of her peer group is local artists, crafters, makers, or musicians of some kind. But her shop and all her friends do their business outside downtown, in neighborhoods that are cheaper. If you think DC is all stodgy bureaucrat bros, IDK, maybe the problem is where you're hanging out.

I will not be taking questions. Enjoy the thread.

[202_Cyclist]

Originally Posted by Cirrus

I'm not going to get much involved in this thread but will just say this one thing:

My wife owns a tiny indie craft shop with locally-made goods, and most of her peer group is local artists, crafters, makers, or musicians of some kind. But her shop and all her friends do their business outside downtown, in neighborhoods that are cheaper. If you think DC is all stodgy bureaucrat bros, IDK, maybe the problem is where you're hanging out.

I will not be taking questions. Enjoy the thread.

Indeed, it is the neighborhoods that make DC such a fantastic place.

[craigs]

Originally Posted by Cirrus

I'm not going to get much involved in this thread but will just say this one thing:

My wife owns a tiny indie craft shop with locally-made goods, and most of her peer group is local artists, crafters, makers, or musicians of some kind. But her shop and all her friends do their business outside downtown, in neighborhoods that are cheaper. If you think DC is all stodgy bureaucrat bros, IDK, maybe the problem is where you're hanging out.

I will not be taking questions. Enjoy the thread.

Aw, come on Cirrus! As the dean of DC forumers, we need your input!

[mrnyc]

dc is like florida to me. you regularly have to go there for one thing or another and soon enough you always wonder what you are doing there and when is it time to go home.

[pj3000]

DC is a highly ethnically-diverse city and is one of the strongest and longest-standing centers of black culture in the US.

Yet, reading the repsonses in this thread, one would be led to believe that the place is composed of nothing but ol' preppy whitey types drinking scotch in an extended frat life paradise.

If that's all you see in DC, then that's your problem.

[Prahaboheme]

A lot of misinformed opining going on here about DC. You people need to get off the National Mall next time you visit. Hell, some of the satellite nodes of DC like Arlington, Alexandria, and Bethesda have more going on than some US metro areas.

[destroycreate]

The DC metro area to me also does an exceptional job with new urbanism developments and in-city infill. Even the suburbs are much more walkable and transit-oriented than most US metros.

[Segun]

Originally Posted by pj3000

DC is a highly ethnically-diverse city and is one of the strongest and longest-standing centers of black culture in the US.

Yet, reading the repsonses in this thread, one would be led to believe that the place is composed of nothing but ol' preppy whitey types drinking scotch in an extended frat life paradise.

If that's all you see in DC, then that's your problem.

DC's Black population, I believe, is 4th after NYC, Atlanta and Chicago.

What I know about DC culture-wise is from Gogo music (not the same as skimp-ly clothed white women in 60s LA, it's a very African influenced homegrown sound), Funk Music, Wayne Perry, Mumbo Sauce, Doin Da Butt, and a never-ending beef with Baltimoreans. + Wale and Oddisee. Every time I've been, the Black people always seem to have a distinct slang and style of dress. I have to dig up an old picture I took where it looked like George Clinton was walking in front of a group of colorful rowhouses. It seems like a place full of colorful characters. It reminds me of the Black scene in the Bay Area. Chocolate City.

Also, the prominence of West Africans seems to be greater than any other city in the US. I haven't been to Houston in a while, so maybe my perception is wrong.

[LA21st]

Originally Posted by Prahaboheme

A lot of misinformed opining going on here about DC. You people need to get off the National Mall next time you visit. Hell, some of the satellite nodes of DC like Arlington, Alexandria, and Bethesda have more going on than some US metro areas.

Im from NOVA. What metro areas? Like Jacksonville?
Bethesda and Rosslyn etc are more impressive from afar than actually walking around.

Old Town Alexandria is solid and a sizeable commercial area. The other ones, not really. Somewhere like Ballston looks urban but its pretty boring to walk in. Not everything is about highrises. Spend time in these places lol, not some photos or driving through.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by pj3000

DC is a highly ethnically-diverse city and is one of the strongest and longest-standing centers of black culture in the US.

Yet, reading the repsonses in this thread, one would be led to believe that the place is composed of nothing but ol' preppy whitey types drinking scotch in an extended frat life paradise.

If that's all you see in DC, then that's your problem.

While I agree there's much more to DC than Type A professional preps, no other first tier U.S. city fits this stereotype better than DC. Nowhere comes close, not even Boston.

And it isn't a white thing. DC is prep-leaning, regardless of ethnic background. Very bougie, affluent-leaning AA population. And rather Southern. The only Big 6 city where you get the SEC crowd, the heavy representation from southern frats (black and white), the 20-somethings dressing up for college football games and the like. It's really a NE Corridor/Southern mashup, an old eastern city and a Sunbelt city in one.

[Prahaboheme]

Originally Posted by LA21st

Im from NOVA. What metro areas? Like Jacksonville?
Bethesda and Rosslyn etc are more impressive from afar than actually walking around.

Old Town Alexandria is solid and a sizeable commercial area. The other ones, not really. Somewhere like Ballston looks urban but its pretty boring to walk in. Not everything is about highrises. Spend time in these places lol, not some photos or driving through.

Clearly it’s not about high rises, since there aren’t any.

[LA21st]

I consider 20 story a highrise.

[3rd&Brown]

Originally Posted by Segun

DC's Black population, I believe, is 4th after NYC, Atlanta and Chicago.

Wrong. Philadelphia, Detroit, and Houston all have more black people.

I stand by my original statement.