City vs City: Washington DC

I spent the past weekend in Washington DC, and so I figured, for a blogger with the word “city” in my site title, I should write about what it was like to find myself immersed in an alternate urban landscape for almost four days. First of all, it felt effin’ fantastic to be anywhere other than where I’ve been for months on months now. But that’s beside the point. Or is it?

Anyway… There is one basis for comparison that stands out to me immediately: weight. What do I mean? I mean DC and NYC are both heavy cities, but for very different reasons. The latter is heavy in a more traditional sense, such as if you put it on a scale. The buildings in New York are big, imposing. Outside of Brooklyn, most neighborhoods have their resident skyscrapers, and many New Yorkers (like myself) live in fairly sizable structures (mine has 32 floors). This island has been built up almost to its maximum, with the parks serving as a reprieve from the pressing enormity of what lines New York’s streets. And though many of NY’s buildings are old and fragile or glass-clad and visually delicate, you get a sense here of being within a fortressed grid, surprised gravity hasn’t pulled us straight through the Earth yet.

Now, don’t get me wrong—DC has its big buildings, too. I mean, the Mall is littered with them (Washington Monument, I’m looking at you). I was even remarking to my host and good friend at how large some of the individual stones were for one of the government buildings and picturing the manpower required to place them. But DC’s weight is mainly ideological. Within DC are made the most important decisions for our country—across social liberties, criminal punishment, the environment, education, security, etc. On and on and on. You wonder as you walk around, “What’s going on in this building that could affect my every day?”

My friend works with the city’s environmental arm to regulate green buildings. Her roommate works solving international inequalities. I met many of their friends who work “on The Hill” within the offices of our elected officials or for departments with cabinet members. It felt as though, if you live in DC and don’t work on changing the way the United States prospers domestically or in relation to the rest of the world, you shouldn’t be there at all. The whole city seems to be working together towards the common goal of lasting change (whether you agree with the way certain DCers go about this is another conversation I will not be having in this medium).

But weight aside, a huge difference between the cities is the way most people live. As I mentioned earlier, my building has 32 floors. Many New Yorkers are like myself in that they require an elevator to reach their apartment (and most of the time, NYC provides this elevator). But in DC, everyone I met lived in a small, max-five-story apartment building or in a row house. There are rows upon rows of row houses. Just blocks over from the country’s governmental hub you find yourself in what feels like a combination of Brooklyn and Amsterdam. Each of the townhomes is unique and quaint. You tell me it’s a city, but if feels more like a quite large village.

This set-up means that many folks have their own little front yards, contributing to DC’s overall green feel. My friend showed me one curbside square of grass that is an entire fairy world, and another that rotates Barbie displays to reflect the season, both of which are Instagram-famous. The urban planners have taken full advantage of available space to add grass, flowers, etc. Little islands of parks pop up at major intersections. And just like in NYC, there are dogs to do their business on each and every blade of this welcome grass.

I spent a lot of time walking around DC. As in, one day I racked up nearly forty thousand steps. And each street I walked on presented another handful of diverse, beckoning restaurants, bars, and coffee shops. It was as though a city one-quarter the size of NYC tried its darndest to fit in the same number of destinations for culinary satisfaction. I was both impressed and intimidated.

But this post title does suggest a competition, so should I reveal the winner? Truth is, I am not here to tell you which city is better but to highlight how my extended experience within one informed the lens through which I viewed another. This is going to be the case for each and every one of us as we explore places beyond home base. I love living in NYC just as my friend loves living in DC. These places have their own identities and rub that identity onto us. So you could say that in the battle of city versus city, bias won. Perception won.

This was the first time I had been in DC in many years, and the first time I’d ever seen DC as a home to many individuals rather than as a home solely to giant stone Abe and war memorials. The first time I passed the White House just because it was en route to my picnicking destination and not because it was the destination itself. Cities may be the largest dots on our world maps, but this is because they are the most common homes to the world’s people. They may have their heavy buildings and professional connotation, but they also have… other things.

So I am looking forward to visiting friends across the country and the world, getting to know cities for their flesh rather than just their bones, and writing more of these blog posts. And before you ask, yes to paid endorsements. Thanks to the people of DC for having me.