Washington D.C.: A Successful U.S. City

    Recently I had the opportunity to travel to Washington, D.C for the American Society of Landscape Architecture conference. The last time I went to D.C. I was in elementary school, so viewing it as a landscape architecture graduate student helped to really shift my perspective and appreciate it for what it is. In comparison to the places I have both lived and visited, D.C. is incredibly different. 

Pershing Park in Washington, D.C. 

    Washington D.C. was very accessible in terms of walkability and public transit. Despite the metro card being pretty pricy, it was convenient to hop on and off the train and the bus to get wherever we needed. Without the train, it probably would have been physically difficult to walk across the entire city for several days in a row. 

Pershing Park in Washington, D.C. 

    Public space and public parks in D.C. were a huge plus. The park pictured above was Pershing Park to the east of the White House. In the park, there is a memorial with a water feature that has steps down into the reflection pool. Natural looking plants contrast the structure forms in the steps. Another really interesting feature of this park was a reflection pool. The water was only barely covering the surface of the pavers, and disappeared in the cracks. Beyond just the impressive mechanics of the water feature, it looks interesting and beautiful. Most anywhere that we walked in D.C. we were able to find a spot to sit down and enjoy the many features of landscape and architecture. 

    One of the notable neighborhoods was Georgetown. The streetscape was pretty incredible and it was easy and safe to navigate. After visiting Dumbarton Oaks, we walked the streets and quickly found multiple options of places to eat. The different homes and brick sidewalks with the large street trees are what make this neighborhood well-known.

    Overall, Washington, D.C. was a really positive experience. Seeing successful and beautiful neighborhoods as well as wonderful parks is refreshing when comparing living in a small rural college town. The experience of being able walk around in D.C. and experience it with the knowledge from my degree made this trip an excellent case study.