By Erin Evangela Gannie

Crunk’s City Lights feature is none other than Washington, D.C., better known as the District of Columbia or DC. Washington is the nation’s capital and the home of the first black president of the United States (and all the presidents before him).

Washington has a lot of history that’s sometimes hidden in its neighborhoods. DC is a large tourist destination, due to all the government buildings and museums and, of course, the White House, where the president resides. The city’s also widely known for all the memorials located here.

DC is considered small compared to other major cities. Well, technically DC isn’t a city, it’s a district and it has several sub names for certain areas of its four quadrants, which are Northeast, Northwest, Southeast and Southwest. Let’s begin our tour of Washington, D.C.!

The Mall, Memorial and Monuments/Downtown and Beyond. Tourists and residents alike enjoy visiting all the memorials and monuments in Washington. Monuments and museums are spread throughout the downtown and southwest area of DC. Some memorials are located on the outskirts of the District in Arlington, Va., and they’re spread throughout the area called The Mall.

Shaw/U Street Corridor. The U Street Corridor is located in the northwest sector of DC.  This area extends from 9th Street on the east, up to 18th Street and Florida Avenue on the west. The U Street Corridor is called the Shaw neighborhood. There’s a mixture of homes, retail and clubs. The area is rich in history and known for the sweet sounds of jazz, due to the late great Duke Ellington. Jazz and big band music have a long history in the U street area, which was known as “Black Broadway” long before Harlem took the title. It had the largest African-American community in the country.

Adam’s Morgan. Adam’s Morgan is mainly 18th Street in northwest DC. The area houses the Latino community and is a local hot spot to hang out on weekends. This place is off the hook when the sun goes down on a Friday or Saturday night. The streets are filled with rowdy people hanging out or hitting up one of the clubs or bars. It’s got a mix of music in the bars and clubs from house bands to reggae.

Dupont Circle. Dupont Circle is another historic district within DC. The area includes the traffic circle (hence Dupont Circle), and the neighborhood within. Dupont Circle runs east on 15th Street NW to the east, M Street NW to the south, and Florida Avenue to the north. The history of the area records that one of its parts was originally designed by Pierre L’Enfant, the architect who designed DC. Historically, Dupont Circle was known for being the residential area for upscale African-Americans. Dupont Circle today houses many embassies and is considered an area for posh living. It houses some of DC’s most expensive apartments and condominiums. There are also a few small businesses and some commercial firms located on Dupont Circle. The streets have a free-flowing bohemian vibe to them, while the neighborhood is filled with coffeehouses, bars, restaurants and upscale retail stores. To locals, it’s known as a comfort and party zone for the homosexual community. This is where gays can let loose and have fun without prejudice. It holds one of the nation’s largest LGBT Pride festivals and the Dupont Circle High Heel Race, a running event for drag queens in heels. The area houses places where you can get palm readings, body piercings and tattoos. Its “prestigious” sites include the Peterson Institute and the Eurasia Center. 

Georgetown/Foggy Bottom. Georgetown is part of swanky northwest DC consisting of M Street NW and Wisconsin Avenue NW. This area is considered to be where the wealthy live, shop and dine. Georgetown has a number of exclusive boutiques, high-end retail stores, restaurants, bars and coffeehouses. It’s a place where people like to shop, find exclusive accessories and clothing or simply take a nice walk.

Anacostia/East of the River/Southside. The Southside of DC is considered to be the hood of hoods area of the city. Anacostia is the quadrant that runs along the Anacostia River. This area is associated with having its share of housing projects and seriously rundown ghettos. The southeast area of DC has a long history of being the most underdeveloped portion of the city. It’s where crime was high and the drug and sex market thrived. Crime occurs all over Washington, but it’s at its’ highest east of the river.

Northeast. The Northeast quadrant of DC is part of the original DC as Pierre L’Enfant drew it. Northeast consist of places like Union Station, which is DC’s version of New York’s Penn Station. This is one of the most visited places in the city and is the unofficial “welcome to the District.” Inside Union Station are some boutique retail places to suit the needs of locals and tourists leaving town or coming into town. It’s also a local hangout for teens and young adults. There’s a movie theater and food court that serves many styles of food and there are also a few local pubs in the neighborhood around Union Station. This is a business district filled with court houses, dentist offices, attorneys, lobbyists and federal investigators. 

Chinatown. Chinatown is the mini New York City of Washington, complete with New York City-type traffic. Chinatown has been heavily revamped into a commercial area over recent years with coffeehouses, restaurants, a high-end bowling alley, movie theater, the Verizon Center and more. Some parts of Chinatown are still true to its roots with about 20 Chinese and Asian restaurants, almost all of which are owned by Asian-American families. Among the most famous are Szechuan Gallery, Burma, Eat First, Full Kee and Tony Cheng’s. One of the restaurants, Wok & Roll, occupies what was once Mary Surratt’s boarding house. It was the meeting place for John Wilkes Booth and his conspirators as they plotted Abraham Lincoln’s assassination.

Seeing the Stars. Now that you’ve taken a stroll through some of the most notable hoods in DC, it’s time to pinpoint the major local hot spots in town where the celebrities hang out. If you want to shop and don’t want to hit Georgetown traffic (it gets pretty crowded due to the tiny streets and cobblestone sidewalks), go to Pentagon City. Pentagon City is a big mall on the outskirts of the District. The mall has a mixture of retail to fit all budgets. Grab some fly gear and hit the infamous Dream nightclub if you want to dance and be seen. If you’re a fan of Go-Go (DC music) you can visit one of the smaller clubs in the downtown area like Fur or Lima. These are just some of the places where locals go for a night of drinking and dancing and to catch celebrity sightings.
DC is small in size, but it packs a punch. There’s simply too much to do to include in one article. But there’s plenty to enjoy for good family time, including shopping, sightseeing, museums, arts and culture, music, government, education, sports, relaxation and strolling through history.
The best part of Washington is that you don’t need a car to get around. DC has a fully function metro system complete with trains, a subway system, trolleys, buses and private and public taxi services. So get out and see the hoods in your nation’s capital today.

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