In D.C. for Passover. Yes, Rambler's a Yid!
I get here about three times a year and both love how little it has changed in some parts and how much it has in others. Bethesda is almost a miniature Georgetown now. Rockville has its own version. I know. Rambler those are suburbs. You said you were in D.C. Trust me, I'm a D.C. boy with the Wilson diploma to prove it. No MD or VA prep school or DC private school for me.
But I'm staying with my brother in Kensington so what can you do. Anyway, Tour Guide would know best, but I guess the new thing for the suburbs is to create their own little downtowns to become more appealing to those who might be more inclined to stay in the city.
D.C.'s population has actually been growing. The city is a lot nicer than when I was growing up here. Not that it was awful then. It had its scary parts and now there are fewer scary parts. The whole 14th Street corridor is cleaned up. It feels like Brooklyn Heights. Columbia Heights looks like some city from the future!
Because of the strict zoning laws, none of these new developments seem overwhelming or out of place. Unlike New York, with its hideous glass hi-rises everywhere, D.C. architects actually seem to want the new to blend with the old. Radical concept.
For all that is new here, the old DC charms has not been lost. Roaming around Dupont Circle is timeless. Upper Northwest is as picturesque as ever. What's new works and what's old remains.
I'm sure there are others who blog constantly about the downfall of old D.C. and who knows, maybe they have a point. All I know is every time I'm back here I start to think that this is a city I could live in again should I feel the need to pull yet another geographic. I can't say that about New York.
I spent ten years in NYC before moving back to LA and yet I never miss it or think of it as home. I spent four years of my youth in DC and about four more as an adult. Yet this is where I consider myself from. I guess it's because all the pivotal early moments of life happened here. My first kiss was here. First drunk was here. First lay was here. Learned how to drive here. Etc.
When I come here I feel like I'm home. Just like when I'm back in LA I'll feel like I'm home. Don't have that feeling in NYC.
Didn't mean to turn this into yet another why I don't miss NYC rant. I'm just checking in and reporting that D.C. is still a pretty cool city.
3 comments:
I love upper Northwest, where we grew up! There's no more beautiful place. DC just feels empty now, though. But, that might be my fault. Haven't been out to Kensington to visit Huddle and Buddenhagen and Erin. And that emptiness just might be my soul. Don't know where this is going. Maybe I need a blog. Love DC! Have fun! (And hit another fucking Metrobus!!)
Always wanted to do a story about the uniqueness of Upper Northwest. Thought maybe Kreisberg's death would be a good entry. But living right outside the district line in Chevy Chase, I knew it was a unique place; a blend of suburban and urban. I also couldn't believe how beautiful are the deep, heavily wooded stream/creek/ and river valley parks that course through it, right in the middle of the city.
The suburban downtowns like Bethesda are the result of something you may not know: the DC area's population has gone up by more than 2 million people since we were there in HS (from about 3 million to over 5 million).
As for blending in new buildings, there's only so much a developer can do when the height limit, even downtown, is about 12-14 stories.
Oddly, being from NJ, DC still feels most like home. This is a little bizarre, since many people stay in the area only a few years and then leave, but it's the truth, much for the same reasons Rambler cited.
you can't respond to your friend's comments?!?! You've changed since you moved to Hollywood. Poseur!
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