What Makes A Great City?

It happened to me again yesterday. I was meeting with a woman from the Connecticut/New York City area, and we were discussing how much we liked, or didn't like, D.C. Anybody that knows me knows that I'm from great city of Chicago. In the 12 years that I've been living and working in the D.C. metro area I've come a long way, from intensely disliking Washington, D.C., to passively tolerating the existence of the city. There was a time I was the President of the D.C. haters fan club; now, I'm more like a disinterested observer.

In any event, the woman I was meeting with didn't like this place either, and she looked forward to the time she would be able to get out. Fortunately for her, she had only been out here about two years, and she thought she'd be able to get away in a year or two, max. When I found out that she was from the NYC area, I would have bet money that she wouldn't like D.C. You see, there are basically two types of people in this area, despite its diversity and multinational population. The first group are those who came here from someplace of a lesser profile than D.C. This group includes most of the people who live in the area, including members of Congress and the massive federal government workforce, and nearly all of the people who came here from foreign locales.

The second group are those who, for whatever bizarre reason, have relocated here from places with a greater profile than D.C. This group is admittedly a distinct minority. I include myself in this group. In my opinion and on a totally arbitrary and non-scientific rating scale from 1 to 100, Chicago rates about an 85, whereas DC checks in at about a 72.


Why did I come to D.C.? Simple, for a job, and it turned out to be a pretty good one at that. Didn't know at the time I'd be downsized out of my position nine years later. Additionally, I had the good fortune of the opportunity to visit D.C. for an extended period three years before I moved out here. This trip was entirely on someone else's dime, was predominately recreational, and I had big, big, fun. In the vernacular, I was young, dumb, and full of ,well, you know. I visited museums by day, and partied by night. I saw only the best of D.C., and left with a entirely distorted view of the real nature of the town. I thought, "Wow, what a great town." I was misinformed. Didn't get a real taste of what it would be like to live and work with the people of this region.

Why do I stay? Good question. First, I got married out here, and Mrs. Diggity's family and work are here. Secondly, and most importantly, where am I going? Although this area will never be home, no place else is, either. I've been gone away for enough time that Chicago at times seems distant and foreign, even though on average I get back there three to four times a year. Unless a killer job or opportunity presents itself somewhere else, I'll probably be here.

The conversation with the woman reminded me of a question that I have tossed around in my head for at least as long as I have lived here: "What Makes A Great City?" I've decided to post on the question, fully aware that my criteria are entirely subjective. As usual, you're free to agree or disagree, or even call me a bigoted, uninformed snob. The discussion herein applies only to United States cities. Sorry, Paris, London, or Baghdad doesn't qualify.

I really believe that a catalyst or enabling factor of a great city is its close proximity to a substantial body of water. Chicago, of course, is anchored by Lake Michigan. Although I'm not particularly a water lover, I can't help but appreciate the Lake's beauty, its vastness, its impact on land and real estate values, and its recreational opportunities. New York has the Hudson and the Atlantic. San Francisco has the bay and the Pacific. Austin, Texas (trust me) has the Colorado River and three man-made lakes wholly within its city limits. D.C has, well........the Potomac. I'm so sorry D.C., but that would be a no.

A great city must also have an active and viable downtown business/shopping district, which doesn't roll up its streets after 10:00 PM. If D.C. has this, please let me know. I don't know where it's located.



Although I'm not a huge fan of food, I'm sure a general consensus would be that a great city has to have great restaurants and a variety of dining choices and options. When I first came out here, I thought the food of the city was vastly overrated. From what I know and hear now, the situation has improved tremendously, where D.C. is now a first-rate city for dining. Mind you, I do find the 10% restaurant tax repulsive and a disincentive to dining in D.C., but I really can't talk here. Chicago has one of the most byzantine tax structures imaginable, having the highest sales tax of all major U.S. cities, 10.25% on non-perishable goods, although it is considerably lower on food and drugs (2%). Car rentals in the city are taxed at 30%, hotel rooms at 15.4%, and soft drinks at 13.4%. Boy, am I glad I don't live there anymore.

I feel that in a great city, the occupants have a fashion consciousness and a sense of style, and the shopping choices available to those occupants reflect that sense of consciousness and style. D.C. is woefully lacking in this regard. First, the people seem relatively unconcerned about such matters. Admittedly, D.C.'s steambath-like climate is a factor. I mean, I've never seen so many jacketless professional men in short-sleeved shirts, and if it's April 1st, the women must be wearing their white or bone-colored shoes. Another factor is that it seems that D.C. is predominated by young people, i.e., those under 30 years of age. Perhaps I feel that way because I'm old (relatively), but my point is that really young (15 - 20) people's sense of fashion, if that is what you would call it, doesn't matter. And in this town, the folks older than that just have a clue.

The problem with living in a fashion-challenged environment is that eventually, you become lax in your habits. "When in Rome...."

Except for the last five years, my professional career has been spent exclusively in white-collar professional environments. There was a time in my kife where I was more comfortable in a suit than a pair of jeans. In Chicago,you developed a sense of pride in your appearance because others exhibited that same sense of pride. Hell, even the receptionists had it going on. And people didn't dress to "front" or to compete, it was just a manifestation of their professionalism. Here, nobody seems to care. After a while you may say, "If they don't care, I don't care." If I can get away with it professionally and it has no effect on my career, why bother?" I can save some money and some time. I've vertainly fallen into this type of thinking. However, I do have my limits. Minimum standards must be maintained. It's just that its all so easy here.

Even if I needed to be "clean" on a regular basis, it would be hard to find anything within D.C. to maintain. Although I won't speak to women's shopping options in the city, I can say there is nothing for men in this town that would approach the caliber of a Wilkes-Bashford in San Francisco, or a Syd Jerome in Chicago, or any other quality men's store. Hell, there isn't even a Barney's in the area, to my knowledge. Now don't get me wrong, I didn't always shop at men's stores of such quality in my previous environment. I can and do do Nordstrom's, Bloomingdale's, or Neiman's, and I look for sales. But when you're used to dressing well, periodically you went the extra mile when you had the cash. Here, having the cash wouldn't matter, there's nothing in the city. But wait, I did see an Allen Edmonds store on Connecticut recently (woo-hoo!). Maybe the lack of city options is why the damn suburban malls are always so crowded. I wonder where the boys who work on "K" Street get their goods? Possibly bespoke?


A great city must also have a viable public transportation system. It must move massive quantifies of people to work and play in a relatively safe and efficient manner. On this count, D.C., does well. Upon moving here, I often remarked that the Metro (train) system was the best thing about this place. I still feel that way. The Metro is clean, safe, and for now, affordable, and will get you to most of the places you need to get to in this town. Now, it does have its problems. It seems to suffer from the usual mismanagement big city transit systems experience. Inexplicably, it doesn't operate on a 24-hour basis. And the ridership has some of the quirkiest transportation behavior I've ever experienced - moving from destination-to-destination in an efficient and comfortable manner doesn't seem to be a priority. But all in all, the Metro works and I can work with it.



As for the town's bus system, I'm almost entirely unfamiliar with its operation. I've seen buses and have been on a handful of "downtown" buses, but I'm not knowledgeable about the services to the neighborhoods. Feel free to comment and inform the discussion. As for the feeder commuter trains into the city, the MARC trains, with which I'm very familiar, are a painful joke. The less said about them, the better. Have never taken VRE. Again, I welcome your comments.

Any great city should also have all the major sports teams - baseball, basketball, football, and hockey - and should have attractive sports venues that can suck up consumer surplus from the residents. Here again, D.C. is spot on. Although I have entirely no interest in its sporting teams, you have the Nationals, Wizards, Redskins, and Capitals, with the attractively new Nationals Park, Verizon Center, FedEx Field, and Verizon, respectively. No problem here.




When I made the decision to relocate to D.C., I thought the move would be lateral in terms of arts, culture, and nightlife. I mean, this was the nation's capital, wasn't it? I couldn't have been more misinformed. For all it offers to the nation in terms of museums and galleries, it lacks in other areas. First, the city has no resident symphony orchestra. Although I'm not a huge classical music or opera patron, I do appreciate the music and managed to attend two to five performances per year in Chicago. The Kennedy Center and its offerings are overrated. The jazz scene is also lacking, although Twins Lounge does try. There are no jazz festivals in the city and the area festivals are more R&B oriented than jazz. Blues Alley, which has a wholly undeserved national reputation, would have to pay me to set foot in their venue for most of their sorry lineups.



As for major popular entertainment, in can be curiously inexplicable why many performers choose to totally bypass D.C., when they make stops only hours away in New York or Philadelphia. Maybe it's because of the tastes of the resident D.C. crowd, which can lend itself to Peaches and Herb retrospectives at Constitution Hall.

The theatre scene is similarly disappointing, but perhaps this is my issue. I basically want available to me good quality local theatre, coupled with a venue that offers major plays that tour from Broadway. I'm fairly certain that the economics of Broadway have limited the number of plays that go out on the road these days, but you hardly ever see a major work coming down to D.C. from New York. I've recently learned that the D.C./MD/NOVA region is second only to New York in the number of community theatres, which was surprising. The collective quality of all those theatres, however, is another matter. About a year ago, I was able to catch a good production of an August Wilson work, "Jitney," at Ford's Theatre.

Although I love movies, I usually don't attend film festivals (too lazy), but I do appreciate them. I hear the D.C. Independent Film Festival and Filmfest D.C. (International) are pretty good. Kudos to the town.

To its credit, D.C. does seem to have more than its share of clubs for young people to get their dance on, and even an old fuddy like myself has caught an act or two at the seemingly excellent 9:30 Club. I'm sure their are many others like it for the young'uns.

The nightlife is a mixed bag. Being over 50, I've lost my old desire to party like I did when was age twenty to forty. However, I still like to occasionally move among the shadows, if you know what I mean. However, there are no shadows in D.C. - the town is so small and provincial that if you're on the scene, the whole town will eventually know your business. While D.C. seems to be a great party town for college students and younger people under forty, it seems to lack similar scene, venues, or niches for more mature people. Your choice: either party with the kids or stay at home. I'll stay at home, thank you, for the most part. I don't want to be the old guy in the club.

A great city should also have first-class institutions of higher education, and again, D.C. hits the mark with Georgetown and American Universities and, to a lesser degree, the vastly overpriced George Washington University.

Washington is woefully lacking in its absence as a center for headquarters of major business(es), or the presence of a financial sector (the Fed doesn't count). Its local politics are uninteresting, and the local politicians are comically amateurish. This isn't surprising for a city which has only had a local government since 1974. Many D.C. residents don't know it, but their current mayor isn't particularly bright (I used to work with him when he was an aide to a Councilmember, albeit on opposite sides of the fence). Fortunately, brains aren't a prerequisite to becoming a great mayor. The jury is definitely still out on Adrian.

Is D.C. a great city? In a word, No. Is it close? Maybe. For young people and those fascinated by the machinations of politics, and government, it's great. D.C. represents one of the better playgrounds in the nation for young people - it's a great place to be in your 20s and 30s, and D.C. has per capita more attractive women than any city in the country (my personal opinion). But is it held back from greatness by a variety of factors - lack of style, lack of shopping, its parochialism, it's lack of sophistication, its lack of neighborhoods of identity, and so on.

To my credit, I've not used the words or phrases "country," or "southern" or "unjustified pretentiousness" in my narrative. I've come a long way.

In the interest of full disclosure, I've never lived in D.C. But I have worked there for over 12 years, and I have lived close enough to D.C. (Arlington) to walk across its border. For this particular post, I'd like comments from those who may disagree with my views. I'd like for D.C. to be great. As any "born and raised D.C. native," a vastly overrated badge of honor here, will tell you, "it's the Nation's Capital." It should be great. It just isn't.

No Diggity