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Originally Posted by aquablue
Dublin feels far denser than DC. It feels much bigger downtown than DC does, not in terms of building mass, but as a city. There are throngs of people on the sidewalks. I reason this is because Dublin is a destination, downtown DC isn't. People from all over the Dublin metro area come into the city to shop/play and not just work. Most bus lines go through the city. DC has too much retail in the suburbs and far too little in the city to meet a critical mass. I would reckon that DC needs to rezone it's downtown and move federal and other office functions elsewhere to other areas of the city. Many of those buildings downtown could be converted to residences and retail since it's not possible to build up and space is scarce.
As for pop ups, I'm fine with it. DC is just too conservative in terms of design and some modern additions in old neighborhoods are fine as long as they are not dominating or ruining the beauty of the old streets.
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I agree with you that DC is conservative in some areas related to architecture, but I don't necessarily agree with you about DC's density levels. On paper, is is less dense than Dublin, sure, but not far less dense. This likely has something to do with DC actually having taller buildings in certain areas. DC does almost double in population during the day. It's certainly not ideal that DC has a CBD that is dominated by commercial office space and not enough residential and retail spaces, but I don't think the activity level in DC should be measured by what's Downtown before and after working hours. Again, I can't help but feel as though that's a perspective that people who don't actually live in the city have.
I think the width of the streets and the setbacks in some areas contributes to the feel of less density, even though as mentioned, there does need to be more large retail and residential space.
Honestly, to me, there's not a whole lot wrong with the density levels seen around Dupont as far as residential neighborhoods go. It could be denser, sure, but I don't know if it'd contribute much in the grand scheme of things. It's really much of the eastern half of the city that's an abomination and contributes to the lower density level.
Quote:
Originally Posted by aquablue
Yes. Downtown Dublin can feel like a mini nyc sometime with the crowds of folks walking on the streets.
I always considered Georgetown as the real city center of DC.
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And I completely disagree with this. How on earth is Georgetown the real city center?