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113-537: The American Planning and Civic Association ( APCA ) was an American organization for improving living conditions in the United States, with an emphasis on improving the physical and structural growth of communities. Its purpose was briefly stated as "the cultivation of higher ideals of civic life and beauty in America, the promotion of city, town and neighborhood improvement, the preservation and development of landscape and

226-488: A cascading waterfall with Italian Renaissance -style architecture. Modern , Postmodern , contemporary , and other non-classical architectural styles are also seen in the city. The National Museum of African American History and Culture deeply contrasts the stone-based neoclassical buildings on the National Mall with a design that combines modern engineering with heavy inspiration from African art . The interior of

339-550: A smart growth agenda which the Committee of 100 disapproved of. The Committee of 100 has voiced considerable opposition to Frank Gehry 's design for the proposed Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial . The committee was active in attempting to shape the design criteria adopted by the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission. The committee strongly opposed locating the memorial on Maryland Avenue SW between 4th and 6th Streets SW. This location,

452-481: A 2023 population of 6.3 million residents. A locally elected mayor and 13-member council have governed the district since 1973, though Congress retains the power to overturn local laws. Washington, D.C., residents are, on the federal level, politically disenfranchised since the city's residents do not have voting representation in Congress; the city's residents elect a single non-voting congressional delegate to

565-480: A center of the nation's internal slave trade . After its survey, the new federal city was constructed on the north bank of the Potomac River, to the east of Georgetown centered on Capitol Hill . On September 9, 1791, three commissioners overseeing the capital's construction named the city in honor of President Washington. The same day, the federal district was named Columbia, a feminine form of Columbus , which

678-455: A commercial zones). The committee testified in a city council hearing that the changes would "disrupt" neighborhoods and orderly economic development. In 2012, the Committee of 100 on the Federal City expressed its concern over plans to cover over the railway tracks north of Union Station and construct a number of mixed use residential, office, retail, and hotel buildings there. Along with

791-463: A federal town". In Federalist No. 43 , published January 23, 1788, James Madison argued that the new federal government would need authority over a national capital to provide for its own maintenance and safety. The Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783 emphasized the need for the national government not to rely on any state for its own security. Article One, Section Eight of the Constitution permits

904-408: A garden-lined grand avenue about 1 mile (1.6 km) long and 400 feet (120 m) wide in an area that is now the National Mall inspired by the grounds at Versailles and Tuileries Gardens. In March 1792, President Washington dismissed L'Enfant due to conflicts with the three commissioners appointed to supervise the capital's construction. Andrew Ellicott , who worked with L'Enfant in surveying

1017-415: A member of the Committee of 100 and the budget director for the city council, for the decision. Campbell vehemently denied the accusation, saying she did not oppose overhead wires but was concerned that the city had not come up with an adequate funding method for the project yet. A month later, the city council passed legislation allowing overhead wires along Benning Road and H Street NE, but banning them from

1130-496: A modern glass exterior and heavy curvature. CityCenterDC is home to Palmer Alley, a pedestrian-only walkway, and houses several apartment buildings, restaurants, and luxury-brand storefronts with streamlined glass and metal facades. Outside Downtown D.C., architectural styles are more varied. Historic buildings are designed primarily in the Queen Anne , Châteauesque , Richardsonian Romanesque , Georgian Revival , Beaux-Arts , and

1243-431: A relatively high homelessness rate, despite its high living standard compared to many American cities. Washington, D.C., is divided into four quadrants of unequal area: Northwest (NW) , Northeast (NE) , Southeast (SE) , and Southwest (SW) . The axes bounding the quadrants radiate from the U.S. Capitol. All road names include the quadrant abbreviation to indicate their location. House numbers generally correspond with

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1356-577: A snowstorm in January 1772. Hurricanes or their remnants occasionally impact the area in late summer and early fall. However, they usually are weak by the time they reach Washington, partly due to the city's inland location. Flooding of the Potomac River , however, caused by a combination of high tide, storm surge, and runoff, has been known to cause extensive property damage in the Georgetown neighborhood of

1469-657: A special committee charged with beautifying Washington's ceremonial core. What became known as the McMillan Plan was finalized in 1901 and included relandscaping the Capitol grounds and the National Mall, clearing slums, and establishing a new citywide park system. The plan is thought to have largely preserved L'Enfant's intended design for the city. By law, the city's skyline is low and sprawling. The federal Height of Buildings Act of 1910 prohibits buildings with height exceeding

1582-468: A variety of Victorian styles. Rowhouses are prominent in areas developed after the Civil War and typically follow Federal and late Victorian designs. Georgetown 's Old Stone House , built in 1765, is the oldest-standing building in the city. Founded in 1789, Georgetown University features a mix of Romanesque and Gothic Revival architecture . The Ronald Reagan Building is the largest building in

1695-522: Is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization . Its members are primarily white collar professionals, although not necessarily professionals involved in urban planning, real estate development, or architecture. The Committee of 100 is one of the oldest citizen-based urban planning groups in the United States. It is generally considered one of the most effective and highly influential private planning bodies in Washington, D.C. Reporter Lydia DePillis, writing for

1808-469: Is available. To live in this 'smart' vision of the District, you should be willing to forego elbow room and to accept that a neighbor who enlarges his house may be literally an arms length away." Organization chairman George Clark Alpert accused GGW of wanting to "turn D.C. into a Manhattan-esque metropolis". Meg Maguire, chair of the Committee of 100's subcommittee on street cars, blamed Alpert for caricaturing

1921-861: Is generally popular among tourists and locals. In 2007, six of the top ten buildings in the American Institute of Architects ' ranking of America's Favorite Architecture were in the city: the White House , Washington National Cathedral , the Jefferson Memorial , the United States Capitol , the Lincoln Memorial , and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial . The neoclassical , Georgian , Gothic , and Modern styles are reflected among these six structures and many other prominent edifices in

2034-408: Is to promote responsible land use and planning in Washington, D.C. The Washington Post has characterized the committee's approach as conservative, which is to say desiring to maintain the status quo. The committee believes its goals can best be achieved by adhering to the 1791 L'Enfant Plan and the 1902 McMillan Plan. The committee is also strongly interested in historic preservation. The group

2147-494: Is water. The district is bordered by Montgomery County, Maryland , to the northwest; Prince George's County, Maryland , to the east; Arlington County, Virginia , to the west; and Alexandria, Virginia , to the south. The south bank of the Potomac River forms the district's border with Virginia and has two major tributaries, the Anacostia River and Rock Creek . Tiber Creek , a natural watercourse that once passed through

2260-535: The Washington City Paper said in 2010, "Thanks to their relentless advocacy, D.C. remains a walking-scale city, retaining many of the elements of a healthy urban environment..." The committee is credited with keeping superhighways from being built in the city, and for winning passage of the Washington Metro in the face of intense congressional opposition. But it has also been criticized as too wedded to

2373-602: The American Civil War in 1861 led to the expansion of the federal government and notable growth in the city's population, including a large influx of freed slaves. President Abraham Lincoln signed the Compensated Emancipation Act in 1862, which ended slavery in the district, freeing about 3,100 slaves in the district nine months before the Emancipation Proclamation . In 1868, Congress granted

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2486-435: The Anacostia River to the east. Washington, D.C.'s street grid was extended, where possible, throughout the district starting in 1888. Georgetown's streets were renamed in 1895. Some streets are particularly noteworthy, including Pennsylvania Avenue , which connects the White House to the Capitol; and K Street, which houses the offices of many lobbying groups. Constitution Avenue and Independence Avenue , located on

2599-450: The Anacostia River waterfront and around outlying Metro stations without harming the city's character. The Wall Street Journal reported in May 2012 that relaxation of the height act was being advocated by developers. With 24,000,000 square feet (2,200,000 m ) of development in the downtown core between 1997 and 2010, only 5,000,000 square feet (460,000 m ) of space remains. Yet, with

2712-591: The Capper-Cramton Act , that funded park expansion across D.C. Washington D.C. Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C. , is the capital city and federal district of the United States . The city is on the Potomac River , across from Virginia , and shares land borders with Maryland to its north and east. It was named after George Washington ,

2825-538: The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park , the National Mall and Memorial Parks , Theodore Roosevelt Island , Columbia Island , Fort Dupont Park , Meridian Hill Park , Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens , and Anacostia Park . The District of Columbia Department of Parks and Recreation maintains the city's 900 acres (3.6 km ) of athletic fields and playgrounds, 40 swimming pools, and 68 recreation centers. The U.S. Department of Agriculture operates

2938-599: The Committee of 100 on the Federal City from elite Washingtonians, to exert social pressure on congressional representatives. Their campaign was successful, leading to the creation of the National Capital Park Commission. The subsequently campaigned to expand its powers to form the National Capital Park and Planning Commission . Finally, their campaign would help pass a massive bond issuance, known as

3051-568: The House of Representatives in 2021 but was not adopted by the U.S. Senate . To become law it would have to be passed by the Senate and signed by president; it would have renamed the city Washington, Douglas Commonwealth and shrunk the Federal District to about the size of the national mall. Designed in 1791 by Pierre Charles L'Enfant , the city is divided into quadrants , which are centered around

3164-611: The International Monetary Fund , the Organization of American States , and other international organizations. Home to many of the nation's largest industry associations, non-profit organizations, and think tanks , D.C. is known as a lobbying hub, with K Street as the industry center. The city had 20.7 million domestic visitors and 1.2 million international visitors, ranking seventh among U.S. cities as of 2022. The Algonquian -speaking Piscataway people , also known as

3277-523: The National Mall , was fully enclosed underground during the 1870s. The creek also formed a portion of the now-filled Washington City Canal , which allowed passage through the city to the Anacostia River from 1815 until the 1850s. The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal starts in Georgetown and was used during the 19th century to bypass the Little Falls of the Potomac River, located at the northwest edge of

3390-542: The Washington Metro stations and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden are designed with strong influence from the 20th-century Brutalism movement. The Smithsonian Institution Building is built of Seneca red sandstone in the Norman Revival style. The Old Post Office building, located on Pennsylvania Avenue and completed in 1899, was the first building in the city to have a steel frame structure and

3503-582: The White House , the Capitol, the Supreme Court Building , and multiple federal departments and agencies . The city is home to many national monuments and museums , located most prominently on or around the National Mall , including the Jefferson Memorial , the Lincoln Memorial , and the Washington Monument . It hosts 177 foreign embassies and serves as the headquarters for the World Bank ,

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3616-540: The 1830s, the district's southern territory of Alexandria declined economically, due in part to its neglect by Congress. Alexandria was a major market in the domestic slave trade and pro-slavery residents feared that abolitionists in Congress would end slavery in the district . Alexandria's citizens petitioned Virginia to retake the land it had donated to form the district, a process known as retrocession . The Virginia General Assembly voted in February 1846, to accept

3729-438: The 2012 zoning regulation revision debate, found itself pitted against New Urbanism advocates who wanted zoning rules to permit denser development that emphasized walking and a reliance on mass transit. The Washington Post reported that most of the Committee of 100's membership lived in the wealthy Upper Northwest residential area, where people rely primarily on personal automobiles (rather than mass transit) and curbside parking

3842-463: The 446-acre (1.80 km ) United States National Arboretum in Northeast Washington, D.C. Washington's climate is humid subtropical ( Köppen : Cfa ), or oceanic ( Trewartha : Do bordering Cf downtown). Winters are cool to cold with some snow of varying intensity, while summers are hot and humid. The district is in plant hardiness zone 8a near downtown, and zone 7b elsewhere in

3955-526: The 9,122 acres (36.92 km ) of city land owned by the U.S. government. Rock Creek Park is a 1,754-acre (7.10 km ) urban forest in Northwest Washington, which extends 9.3 miles (15.0 km) through a stream valley that bisects the city. Established in 1890, it is the country's fourth-oldest national park and is home to a variety of plant and animal species, including raccoon, deer, owls, and coyotes. Other National Park Service properties include

4068-832: The American Civic Association. J. Horace McFarland , a civic leader and newspaper editor in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, spearheaded the Association's activities and broadened its scope of action to campaign for state and national parks. The general offices of the American Civic Association were established in Washington, D.C. , in January 1910. Its principal founding officers were J. Horace McFarland , President; Clinton Rogers Woodruff of Philadelphia, vice-president; William B. Howland of New York, treasurer; and Richard B. Watrous of Washington, secretary. Under McFarland's hand, and with

4181-854: The American Planning and Civic Association. After the merger, the leadership changed. Frederic A. Delano became president and Harlean James was recruited to the role of executive director. The organization was well-connected nationally at the height of its activities. In 1926, its board included J. C. Nichols , John Nolen , Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. , Lorado Taft , Eleanor Roosevelt , Harland Bartholomew , George Dealey , John Barton Payne , Vance C. McCormick , Albert Shaw (journalist) , Henry Barnes (traffic engineer) , Harold Caparn , Frank Albert Waugh , Charles H. Wacker , John Campbell Merriam , Warren H. Manning , Electus D. Litchfield , Maie Bartlett Heard , Alice Ames Winter , Caroline Bartlett Crane , and Henry Drinker . Between 1923 and 1933, it

4294-623: The Canadas , the British set fire to government buildings in the city, gutting the United States Capitol , the Treasury Building , and the White House in what became known as the burning of Washington . However, a storm forced the British to evacuate the city after just 24 hours. Most government buildings were repaired quickly, but the Capitol, which was largely under construction at the time, would not be completed in its current form until 1868. In

4407-480: The Capitol Building and include 131 neighborhoods . As of the 2020 census , the city had a population of 689,545. Commuters from the city's Maryland and Virginia suburbs raise the city's daytime population to more than one million during the workweek. The Washington metropolitan area , which includes parts of Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia , is the country's seventh-largest metropolitan area , with

4520-633: The Capitol Hill Restoration Society, the D.C. Preservation League, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation , the Committee of 100 formed the Union Station Preservation Coalition. The coalition immediately issued an eight-point plan aimed at preserving the train station in its current form, ensuring that the public had frequent and significant input into the project, and restoring pedestrian areas. In 2015,

4633-502: The City of Washington in 1895. However, the city had poor housing and strained public works, leading it to become the first city in the nation to undergo urban renewal projects as part of the City Beautiful movement in the early 20th century. The City Beautiful movement built heavily upon the already-implemented L'Enfant Plan , with the new McMillan Plan leading urban development in

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4746-468: The Committee of 100 as "anti" everything. In November 2010, GGW began lobbying incoming D.C. mayor Vincent Gray to retain Gabe Klein (the outgoing administration's transportation director) and Harriet Tregoning (the former administration's planning director). The Committee of 100 immediately began a campaign to get Gray to dump both officials. Gray declined to keep Klein, but retained Tregoning. During

4859-443: The Committee of 100 is that the need to preserve the city's aesthetics (low buildings, wide avenues, vistas) was the overriding cause. In 1988, when Congress considered legislation to allow building heights to rise slightly, Committee of 100 chairman Don McGrath claimed Congress and developers wanted to "skyscraper this city." The New York Times called this "hyperbole". The committee vigorously opposed in 2012 any move to relax

4972-485: The Committee of 100. The committee also opposed numerous changes proposed in 2011 to the city zoning code. In the first wholesale revision to the zoning code in 54 years, the mayoral Office of Planning and Economic Development proposed eliminating minimum parking requirements in residential neighborhoods; permitting buildings on small lots to build to the very boundary of their land; and eliminating zoning for different commercial uses (to allow unlimited any commercial use in

5085-504: The Committee on 100 as "a barrier to positive change". Richard Layman, a D.C. transportation planner, accused Alpert and other New Urbanism advocates in 2013 of not appreciating all the positive things the Committee on 100 had accomplished. The feud with Greater Greater Washington (GGW) erupted in 2008, when the Committee of 100 claimed (without naming names) that GGW had slurred the organization as "a gaggle of aging couch potatoes bitterly clinging to cars and big houses". In its newsletter,

5198-584: The Committee unsuccessfully sought to block CSX Transportation 's reconstruction of the Virginia Avenue Tunnel in Southeast Washington . The Committee of 100 on the Federal City has had a long-running dispute with advocates of the New Urbanism urban design movement, and in particular with the blog Greater Greater Washington and its founder, David Alpert. Alpert routinely characterizes

5311-511: The Conoy, inhabited the lands around the Potomac River and present-day Washington, D.C., when Europeans first arrived and colonized the region in the early 17th century. The Nacotchtank , also called the Nacostines by Catholic missionaries , maintained settlements around the Anacostia River in present-day Washington, D.C. Conflicts with European colonists and neighboring tribes ultimately displaced

5424-653: The District. A guiding principle is that planners follow the vision of the McMillan Plan and the city's original planner, Pierre Charles L'Enfant , while responding to modern challenges." Nominees are suggested by the public, and the award is generally bestowed in June. Usually, anywhere from two to five Vision Awards are distributed. Additionally, one or two Lifetime Achievement Awards are also bestowed, as well as one Barbara Zartman Award for Planning and Zoning Advocacy. The Lifetime Achievement and Zartman awards are granted solely at

5537-415: The Federal City has instead pushed for battery-powered streetcars or installation of a conduit current collection system, in which a metal prong (known as a "plow") draws current from an electrified rail buried in the street. In May 2010, the D.C. City Council removed all $ 49 million in streetcar funding from the city budget. The Washington Post reported that streetcar supporters blamed Sarah Campbell,

5650-481: The Federal City was founded in 1923. The Committee's goal was to support the 1791 L'Enfant Plan and the 1902 McMillan Plan for the development of the capital. One of its first legislative goals was to establish a parks and planning commission for the District of Columbia, which it achieved in 1924 when Congress created the National Capital Park Commission . Delano stepped down as chairman at

5763-711: The Height Act should remain undisturbed and should be enforced vigorously." Richards implied that city residents overwhelmingly supported retaining the height limitation as is, and that the legislation made "the frantic life of our modern world...more bearable." In November 2012, the National Capitol Planning Commission said it would study the effect which the building height limitations had on redevelopment in Washington, D.C. Committee of 100 chairman George Clark categorically ruled out any change as acceptable. The wealthy attorney said he spoke for residents of

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5876-619: The Piscataway people, some of whom established a new settlement in 1699 near Point of Rocks, Maryland . Nine cities served as capitals to the Continental Congress and under the Articles of Confederation . New York City was the first capital upon the adoption of the Constitution , succeeded by Philadelphia , which was capital from 1790 to 1800. On October 6, 1783, after the capital

5989-527: The U.S. House of Representatives. The city's voters choose three presidential electors in accordance with the Twenty-third Amendment , passed in 1961. Washington, D.C. anchors the southern end of the Northeast megalopolis . As the seat of the U.S. federal government , the city is an important world political capital . The city hosts the buildings that house federal government headquarters, including

6102-649: The advancement of outdoor art." For the first ten years of its existence, it was known simply as the American Civic Association or ACA. The ACA was a municipal reform organization, and one of the few such organizations, national in its scope, that had no set parameters for its goals, but instead operated for the general betterment of municipal administration. In the latter part of the 19th century, rapid industrialism and urbanization had appeared to spawn an inordinate desire for material and commercial aggrandizement. Urban dwellers turned elsewhere to regenerate

6215-491: The area around the National Mall and Pennsylvania Avenue NW. The legislation also created a process for soliciting public input on the use of overhead wires elsewhere in the city. The Committee of 100 said the legislation was an improvement, but still pressed for no overhead wires and for an improved funding plan. In 2011, the Committee of 100 issued its own report on the DC Streetcar system. The report generally approved of

6328-498: The area. Blizzards affect Washington once every four to six years on average. The most violent storms, known as nor'easters , often impact large regions of the East Coast . From January 27 to 28, 1922 , the city officially received 28 inches (71 cm) of snowfall, the largest snowstorm since official measurements began in 1885. According to notes kept at the time, the city received between 30 and 36 inches (76 and 91 cm) from

6441-530: The borders of the federal district and placed boundary stones at every mile point; many of these stones are still standing. Both Maryland and Virginia were slave states , and slavery existed in the District from its founding. The building of Washington likely relied in significant part on slave labor, and slave receipts have been found for the White House, Capitol Building, and establishment of Georgetown University. The city became an important slave market and

6554-483: The building height limit. When the United States House of Representatives held hearings on the height limit's effect on redevelopment in the District of Columbia, Laura Richards testified for the Committee of 100 against any changed. "[L]ifting the height limit will alter irretrievably the District's historic, welcoming scale without producing upside benefits," she said. "The Committee of 100 therefore believes that

6667-550: The care of GWU's Special Collections Research Center, located in the university's Estelle and Melvin Gelman Library . The Committee of 100 on the Federal City is active on a wide range of issues. The Committee of 100 on the Federal City has been a vocal opponent of the DC Streetcar system. Although not opposed to streetcars per se, the group has taken issue with what it calls poor planning and inadequate financial planning for

6780-458: The city , primarily in the U ;Street, 14th Street, 7th Street, and H Street corridors, which were predominantly black residential and commercial areas. The riots raged for three days until more than 13,600 federal troops and Washington, D.C., Army National Guardsmen stopped the violence. Many stores and other buildings were burned, and rebuilding from the riots was not completed until

6893-472: The city at the Atlantic Seaboard fall line . The highest natural elevation in the district is 409 feet (125 m) above sea level at Fort Reno Park in upper northwest Washington, D.C. The lowest point is sea level at the Potomac River. The geographic center of Washington is near the intersection of 4th and L streets NW. The district has 7,464 acres (30.21 km ) of parkland, about 19% of

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7006-490: The city but bankrupted its government. In 1874, Congress replaced the territorial government with an appointed three-member board of commissioners. In 1888, the city's first motorized streetcars began service. Their introduction generated growth in areas of the district beyond the City of Washington's original boundaries, leading to an expansion of the district over the next few decades. Georgetown's street grid and other administrative details were formally merged with those of

7119-534: The city established Advisory Neighborhood Commissions (ANCs) to empower local citizens on a wide variety of zoning, planning, and other issues. Grinnell became the first chair of his local ANC . Grinnell was elected chair of the Committee of 100 on the Federal City in 1983 and served until 1987. As chairman, he opposed the construction of Techworld and pushed for the restoration of Glover-Archbold Park . The Committee of 100's records were donated to The George Washington University in 1986. They are currently under

7232-806: The city throughout the movement. Much of the old Victorian Mall was replaced with modern Neoclassical and Beaux-Arts architecture ; these designs are still prevalent in the city's governmental buildings today. Increased federal spending under the New Deal in the 1930s led to the construction of new government buildings, memorials, and museums in the district, though the chairman of the House Subcommittee on District Appropriations, Ross A. Collins of Mississippi , justified cuts to funds for welfare and education for local residents by saying that "my constituents wouldn't stand for spending money on niggers." World War II led to an expansion of federal employees in

7345-422: The city to the width of the widest street in front of it plus 20 feet (6.1 m), or 130 feet (40,000 mm) on any "business" street. The organization strongly disputes the rationale generally offered for the law's enactment. Committee members in 2010 largely rejected a historian's study that concluded fire safety limitations (such as the height of ladders) was the reason for enactment of the law. The position of

7458-477: The city would eliminate many existing billboards, which were grandfathered into the law banning billboards in the city. A compromise to eliminate some billboards from the city? Committee of 100 chairman George Clark called the proposal a "sellout to the billboard industry" and said the proposal "makes me think it is 1984 or that we are in Wonderland with Alice ". The proposal was defeated, largely due to lobbying by

7571-696: The city's classical-style architecture include buildings constructed in the French Second Empire style, including the Eisenhower Executive Office Building , and the modernist Watergate complex . The Thomas Jefferson Building , the main Library of Congress building, and the historic Willard Hotel are built in Beaux-Arts style , popular throughout the world in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Meridian Hill Park contains

7684-414: The city's population increasing more than 8 percent since 2000 and surrounding neighborhoods likely to be completely built up and built out within 10 to 15 years, the only place for construction to go is up. D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray has proposed allowing buildings in the old Federal City to rise by just 15 feet (4.6 m) (to accommodate mechanical equipment), although buildings constructed further away from

7797-416: The city's total area, the second-highest among high-density U.S. cities after Philadelphia . The city's sizable parkland was a factor in the city being ranked as third in the nation for park access and quality in the 2018 ParkScore ranking of the park systems of the nation's 100 most populous cities, according to Trust for Public Land , a non-profit organization. The National Park Service manages most of

7910-421: The city, was then tasked with completing its design. Though Ellicott revised the original L'Enfant plans, including changing some street patterns, L'Enfant is still credited with the city's overall design. By the early 20th century, however, L'Enfant's vision of a grand national capital was marred by slums and randomly placed buildings in the city, including a railroad station on the National Mall. Congress formed

8023-408: The city. Summers are hot and humid with a July daily average of 79.8 °F (26.6 °C) and average daily relative humidity around 66%, which can cause moderate personal discomfort. Heat indices regularly approach 100 °F (38 °C) at the height of summer. The combination of heat and humidity in the summer brings very frequent thunderstorms, some of which occasionally produce tornadoes in

8136-530: The city. Many of the government buildings, monuments, and museums along the National Mall and surrounding areas are heavily inspired by classical Roman and Greek architecture. The designs of the White House, the U.S. Capitol, Supreme Court Building , Washington Monument , National Gallery of Art , Lincoln Memorial, and Jefferson Memorial are all heavily drawn from these classical architectural movements and feature large pediments, domes, columns in classical order, and heavy stone walls. Notable exceptions to

8249-462: The city. Precipitation occurs throughout the year. The highest recorded temperature was 106 °F (41 °C) on August 6, 1918, and on July 20, 1930. The lowest recorded temperature was −15 °F (−26 °C) on February 11, 1899 , right before the Great Blizzard of 1899 . During a typical year, the city averages about 37 days at or above 90 °F (32 °C) and 64 nights at or below

8362-654: The city; by 1950, the district's population reached its peak of 802,178 residents. The Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified in 1961, granting the district three votes in the Electoral College for the election of president and vice president, but still not affording the city's residents representation in Congress. After the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968, riots broke out in

8475-524: The closed competition and called for a new competition open to all. The Committee of 100 has also been deeply critical of the Gehry design itself. It called the approved design "a drive-in movie screen displaying a black-and-white image of Kansas". The Committee of 100 on the Federal City has for decades rejected any changes to the Heights of Buildings Act of 1910 . The law, enacted by Congress, limits buildings in

8588-407: The committee attacked GGW as wanting "to recreate Washington, DC as a highdensity destination for the healthy, wealthy and young" and demanding "multi-family mixed-use development on every available scrap of land without regard to need, scale, balance, or the opinions of impacted District residents. This is coupled with hostility toward all automobile use, whether or not any other form of transportation

8701-604: The core could see significantly higher height limits. Developers argue that without the higher building limitations, the city will become too expensive to conduct business in. Christopher Leinberger, a real estate developer and visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution argued, "This is purely a supply-demand question, and we need more supply." The Committee of 100 has criticized the placement of Capital Bikeshare stations for not asking for citizen input and for poorly advertising stations when they are established, opposed

8814-405: The creation of the capital district along the Potomac River. The city was founded in 1791, and the 6th Congress held the first session in the unfinished Capitol Building in 1800 after the capital moved from Philadelphia . In 1801, the District of Columbia, formerly part of Maryland and Virginia and including the existing settlements of Georgetown and Alexandria , was officially recognized as

8927-501: The discretion of the Board of Trustees, and in some years no award is granted. On December 8, 1886, a group of businessmen residing in Washington's Northwest quadrant convened a meeting to appoint a "Committee of 100 Representative Citizens" to promote development of the city (then largely undeveloped woodlands). Although formed to promote the needs of citizens only in the Northwest quadrant,

9040-467: The district with a total area of about 3.1 million square feet (288,000 m ). Washington Union Station is designed in a combination of architectural styles. Its Great Hall has elaborate gold leaf designs along the ceilings and the hall includes several decorative classical-style statues. Committee of 100 on the Federal City The goal of the Committee of 100 on the Federal City

9153-480: The district's African American male residents the right to vote in municipal elections. By 1870, the district's population had grown 75% in a decade to nearly 132,000 people, yet the city still lacked paved roads and basic sanitation. Some members of Congress suggested moving the capital farther west, but President Ulysses S. Grant refused to consider the proposal. In the Organic Act of 1871 , Congress repealed

9266-643: The east and north of the Potomac and the County of Alexandria to the west and south. After the Act's passage, citizens in the district were no longer considered residents of Maryland or Virginia, which ended their representation in Congress. On August 24, 1814, during the War of 1812 , British forces invaded and occupied the city after defeating an American force at Bladensburg . In retaliation for acts of destruction by American troops in

9379-458: The end of 1944, and Owen Roberts , Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States , was appointed his successor. The Committee of 100 on the Federal City has been involved in numerous campaigns (pro and con) regarding buildings, roads, memorials, parks, and other architectural and planning features of Washington, D.C. Although the organization was less active in the 1960s than in

9492-535: The establishment of a "District (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular states, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United States". However, the constitution does not specify a location for the capital. In the Compromise of 1790 , Madison, Alexander Hamilton , and Thomas Jefferson agreed that the federal government would pay each state's remaining Revolutionary War debts in exchange for establishing

9605-424: The establishment of a minimum number of parking spaces in each neighborhood, supported the right of neighborhood residents to have parking rights in their neighborhood, and opposed tax incentives for real estate developers. The committee won a 2011 battle to change the city's billboard advertising laws. The city had proposed allowing some large buildings to hang advertising from their exterior walls. In exchange,

9718-551: The federal district was a square measuring 10 miles (16 km) on each side and totaling 100 square miles (259 km ). Two pre-existing settlements were included in the territory, the port of Georgetown , founded in 1751, and the port city of Alexandria, Virginia , founded in 1749. In 1791 and 1792, a team led by Andrew Ellicott , including Ellicott's brothers Joseph and Benjamin and African American astronomer Benjamin Banneker , whose parents had been enslaved, surveyed

9831-408: The federal district; initially, the city was a separate settlement within the larger district. In 1846, Congress returned the land originally ceded by Virginia , including the city of Alexandria. In 1871, it created a single municipality for the remaining portion of the district. There have been several unsuccessful efforts to make the district into a state since the 1880s; a statehood bill passed

9944-402: The first president of the United States . The district is named after Columbia , the female personification of the nation . The U.S. Constitution in 1789 called for the creation of a federal district under the exclusive jurisdiction of the U.S. Congress . As such, Washington, D.C., is not part of any state , and is not one itself. The Residence Act , adopted on July 16, 1790, approved

10057-666: The first to use electrical wiring in its design. Notable contemporary residential buildings, restaurants, shops, and office buildings in the city include the Wharf on the Southwest Waterfront , Navy Yard along the Anacostia River , and CityCenterDC in Downtown . The Wharf has seen the construction of several high-rise office and residential buildings overlooking the Potomac River . Additionally, restaurants, bars, and shops have been opened at street level. Many of these buildings have

10170-404: The freezing mark (32 °F or 0 °C). On average, the first day with a minimum at or below freezing is November 18 and the last day is March 27. Washington, D.C., was a planned city , and many of the city's street grids were developed in that initial plan. In 1791, President George Washington commissioned Pierre Charles L'Enfant , a French-born military engineer and artist, to design

10283-436: The individual charters of the cities of Washington and Georgetown , abolished Washington County , and created a new territorial government for the whole District of Columbia. These steps made "the city of Washington...legally indistinguishable from the District of Columbia." In 1873, President Grant appointed Alexander Robey Shepherd as Governor of the District of Columbia. Shepherd authorized large projects that modernized

10396-503: The influence of powerful industrialist and conservationist Stephen Mather who was an ACA member, the organization was one of the big supporters of the United States' national park policy. The ACA was an early supporter of the push to have the national park system organized and administered under a single dedicated government body. In 1921, the American Civic Association and the National Conference on City Planning merged to become

10509-437: The late 1990s. In 1973, Congress enacted the District of Columbia Home Rule Act providing for an elected mayor and 13-member council for the district. In 1975, Walter Washington became the district's first elected and first black mayor. Since the 1980s, the D.C. statehood movement has grown in prominence. In 2016, a referendum on D.C. statehood resulted in an 85% support among Washington, D.C., voters for it to become

10622-491: The name Washington, Douglas Commonwealth (thus keeping the same abbreviation Washington, D.C.). The legalities, reasons, and impact of statehood have been heavily debated in the 2020s. Washington, D.C., is located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. East Coast . The city has a total area of 68.34 square miles (177 km ), of which 61.05 square miles (158.1 km ) is land and 7.29 square miles (18.9 km ) (10.67%)

10735-499: The nation's 51st state . In March 2017, the city's congressional delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton introduced a bill for statehood. Reintroduced in 2019 and 2021 as the Washington, D.C., Admission Act , the U.S. House of Representatives passed it in April 2021. After not progressing in the Senate, the statehood bill was introduced again in January 2023. The bill would have made D.C. into a state with one representative and two senators, with

10848-496: The new capital. He enlisted the help of Isaac Roberdeau, Étienne Sulpice Hallet and Scottish surveyor Alexander Ralston to help lay out the city plan. The L'Enfant Plan featured broad streets and avenues radiating out from rectangles, providing room for open space and landscaping. L'Enfant was also provided a roll of maps by Thomas Jefferson depicting Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Strasbourg, Paris, Orleans, Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille, Turin, and Milan. L'Enfant's design also envisioned

10961-580: The new national capital in the Southern United States . On July 9, 1790, Congress passed the Residence Act , which approved the creation of a national capital on the Potomac River . Under the Residence Act, the exact location was to be selected by President George Washington , who signed the bill into law on July 16, 1790. Formed from land donated by Maryland and Virginia, the initial shape of

11074-541: The north and south sides of the National Mall, respectively, are home to many of Washington's iconic museums, including many Smithsonian Institution buildings and the National Archives Building . Washington hosts 177 foreign embassies ; these maintain nearly 300 buildings and more than 1,600 residential properties, many of which are on a section of Massachusetts Avenue informally known as Embassy Row . The architecture of Washington, D.C., varies greatly and

11187-404: The number of blocks away from the Capitol. Most streets are set out in a grid pattern with east–west streets named with letters (e.g., C Street SW), north–south streets with numbers (e.g., 4th Street NW), and diagonal avenues, many of which are named after states . The City of Washington was bordered on the north by Boundary Street (renamed Florida Avenue in 1890); Rock Creek to the west, and

11300-487: The organization quickly broadened its organizational structure and promoted a plan for the entire city. Its first meeting was May 16, 1887. this Committee of 100 disbanded in 1917. However, in 1922, Frederic A. Delano (uncle of Franklin D. Roosevelt ) became president of the American Civic Association . Delano organized the Committee of 100 on the Federal City as a successor to the group which had disbanded in 1917, and became its first chairman. The Committee of 100 on

11413-522: The organization says, blocks L'Enfant's planned vista of the U.S. Capitol along Maryland Avenue, and disrupts the character of the L'Enfant Plaza /Federal Center area. The Committee of 100 also compared the competition which led to the selection of the Gehry design to the two competitions in the 1950s and 1960s which resulted in monumental, Modernist designs for the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial . The committee harshly criticized

11526-480: The previous three decades, it became more active in the 1970s and 1980s. Among the campaigns it was involved in were: One of the Committee of 100's most influential chairmen was Charles David Grinnell. A worker with an electrical firm, Grinnell became involved in the committee's efforts in the 1960s and 1970s to stop construction of the Inner Loop . When the District of Columbia achieved home rule on January 1, 1975,

11639-514: The proposed routes, although it had concerns about three routes and the H Street route's connection with Union Station. The report concluded that the city had not adequately thought through the construction and operational costs of the system, and that the city should take measures to ensure that housing remains affordable along streetcar routes. It called for the city to purchase only those streetcars that could be easily upgraded to wireless power, and for enactment of new laws to ensure citizen input into

11752-419: The return of Alexandria. On July 9, 1846, Congress went further, agreeing to return all territory that Virginia had ceded to the district during its formation. This left the district's area consisting only of the portion originally donated by Maryland. Confirming the fears of pro-slavery Alexandrians, the Compromise of 1850 outlawed the slave trade in the district, although not slavery itself. The outbreak of

11865-494: The spirit of man, and this they found in the wonders and beauties of nature which alone could "sustain life and make life worth sustaining." Many organizations arose in the larger cities to campaign for more city parks, new recreation areas, development of outdoor art, and the elimination of advertising billboards. In 1900 these groups joined to form the American League for Civic Improvement, and four years later this group became

11978-561: The status quo. Washington City Paper reporter Lydia DePillis characterized it in 2011 as "crusty" for its vehement opposition to change and its members as "civic worthies" for representing only wealthy, white residents. The Committee of 100 has strongly denied it is anti-development. Rather, it claims to merely want well-planned development. In 2002, the Committee of 100 on the Federal City began awarding an annual "Vision Award". The award recognizes "innovations and lifetime achievement in planning and land use by individuals or organizations in

12091-529: The streetcar project. Claiming that it and other citizen groups had been kept out of streetcar planning, in January 2011 the Committee of 100 asked incoming mayor Vincent C. Gray to fire Gabe Klein, D.C. Department of Transportation (DDOT) director, and Harriet Tregoning, Office of Planning director. Lydia DePillis, writing for the Washington City Paper , said the group's demand was because it believed Kleing had disregarded their input and pursued

12204-458: The system, which city officials wish to build throughout the District of Columbia. Additionally, the Committee of 100 is absolutely opposed to constructing overhead lines to power the streetcars. Although federal law prohibits overhead lines in the boundaries of the Old Federal City and in historic Georgetown , the city has proposed using them everywhere else in D.C. The Committee of 100 on

12317-473: The wealthy Hillcrest enclave and the poor of neighborhood of Anacostia and said that citizens of Anacostia do not want to be treated "as second class citizens and have their view sheds blocked". Clark also said he spoke for visitors to the city, none of whom wanted to see tall buildings. Others, such as University of Maryland professor of architecture Roger K. Lewis , argue that the height limits constrain redevelopment and could be relaxed in areas such as

12430-532: The width of the adjacent street plus 20 feet (6.1 m). Despite popular belief, no law has ever limited buildings to the height of the United States Capitol or the 555-foot (169 m) Washington Monument , which remains the district's tallest structure. City leaders have cited the height restriction as a primary reason that the district has limited affordable housing and its metro area has suburban sprawl and traffic problems. Washington, D.C., still has

12543-419: Was a poetic name for the United States commonly used at that time. Congress held its first session there on November 17, 1800. Congress passed the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801 , which officially organized the district and placed the entire territory under the exclusive control of the federal government. The area within the district was organized into two counties, the County of Washington to

12656-489: Was closely involved in the establishment of planning in Washington, D.C., and the implementation of the McMillan Plan . It ran several nationwide campaigns overseen by Harlean James. Given that the District of Columbia lacked self-government , they established "Federal City Committees" in multiple cities across the country to influence Congress. Within D.C. itself, they worked with the Washington Board of Trade to organize

12769-564: Was forced by the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783 to move to Princeton, Congress resolved to consider a new location for it. The following day, Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts moved "that buildings for the use of Congress be erected on the banks of the Delaware near Trenton , or of the Potomac , near Georgetown , provided a suitable district can be procured on one of the rivers as aforesaid, for

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