Washingtonian Profiles The Penn Quarter

I don’t like the name “Downtown” – it’s too nondescript and generic. It could refer to Foggy Bottom/K Street as much as it could to our area. I’ve never understood the name “Gallery Place” – there is one gallery, the National Portrait Gallery, as far as I can tell. Maybe there used to be more galleries. Currently, I do feel like Penn Quarter/Chinatown, Mt. Vernon Sq/Triangle, and the “East End” (or whatever people are calling the area between Union Station and Mt. Vernon Triangle) each have their own personalities, so I think for now those separate names make sense.

Great video-my parents can view before visiting in 2 weeks but anyone know whats wrong with the Sculpture Garden ice skating rink this year?

http://www.nga.gov/ginfo/skating.shtm

Due to technical difficulties with the ice-making equipment, we are unable to open the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden ice-skating rink until further notice. For inquiries, please call (202) 216-9397 or e-mail us at ngaicerink@guestservices.com.

I second CB Dweller’s comment…”Downtown” is too generic. I’ve heard the term downtown referencing K St up to Foggy Bottom as well. I’m not even a fan of “Penn Quarter/Chinatown” as there is a clear demarcation between the two. I agree keeping the names all separate, as there is a distinct feeling to each (even if it is just a block or two difference).

Washington, DC’s Center City area is now big and developed enough that distinctive districts and neighborhoods should and can be used instead of the very uninformative “Downtown” label that is used for just about every property from Union Station and all the way to Washington Circle.

I believe that our Business Improvement Districts, developers, residents, community associations, business associations, and individual residents all need to be a part of this process to inform our visitors, the media, and other entities that their is a better way to describe our central area.

I like how DC’s Center City Action Agenda. This is the closest that I’ve seen to a system that is much better than our generic “downtown” use.

Here’s a link to the DC Office of Planning website with more details on Center City:
http://planning.dc.gov/planning/cwp/view,a,1285,q,639047.asp

Within Center City, there are the following areas:
Capitol Riverfront
Golden Triangle
NoMa
West End
Chinatown
Penn Quarter
Mount Vernon Square
The National Mall
Midtown
Federal Triangle
Southwest Waterfront

There are more than that, but I think this is much better than labeling the whole thing by “downtown”. It doesn’t tell us much. There are too many distinctive areas for that.

I would like to see more of the primary entities and organizations, such as the BID’s, residents, and neighborhood/business associations take a more proactive approach to implementing this change by properly referring to such as more distinctively to the media, in office market reports, to tourism agencies, and the like.

I tend to think they should retain their separate names. However, I could see them collectively being referred to as “the neighborhoods in (the) East End”…….