Washington DC - always under construction

Washington DC is always under construction

The amount of change that Washington DC has gone through from the time I was a mediocre student (Chantilly High School class of 1982) and to now, the year 2017, is phenomenal. Each wave of change (usually on the coattails of a president, it seems like) has tended to renovate some aspect of the city, not always for the better, but frequently to improve and upgrade. In particular are changes in which residential areas have been developed where previously a business-only space became deserted once night fell, and an attendent amount of crime became the particular character of that place once the sun was gone. The incredible change of 14th street is just an example. Another good alteration is how the business and entertainment area now around the Verizon Center. In the late 1970s when I attended art classes at the National Portrait Gallery, the area was partially a legitimate business area with art auction houses, restaurants, and the rest, but also peep shows and a lot of rather dubious entrepreneurial activity on the sidewalks.

Though "gentrification" is decried, and it is a valid argument since it is often enough an accusation made by people actually being affected, nonetheless, speaking on the basis of crumbling-buildings versus not-crumbling-buildings, DC continuously seems to come out ahead in this contest between preserving the historical and community-flavored nature of the city and to allow for the elimination of troublesome issues (like a crime-infected local area, for example). A collapsing physical space does not benefit anyone, whether they are a longtime multi-generational resident or a brand-new occupant. With a swarm of Virginia and Maryland commuters pouring into the town daily (and I have heard from folks from larger cities that Washington DC is "not a city, just a large town") there is a sense that to host such large numbers and to also make a home for the permanent residents, there is a constant battle to overcome not just the wear-and-tear of the city traffic and human activity there, but to counter the humidity of summer and the sharp-dry cold of winter, each a force that affects the physical life of buildings, roads, bridges and the green spaces of DC. In a real way, DC has no choice but to continually rebuild, reinvent, and repair, otherwise it would simply degrade back into a swampy tidal area off the Potomac.

Sometimes there is an effort to preserve older building facades while constructing a modern glass-and-steel structure just behind the old brick face. It's a legitimate attempt to have the best of both worlds: a historically aesthetically impressive building but with the modern comforts and safety features on the inside.

More July 2017 photos of DC now online at my website livingcitydc.com