A recent war of adverts broke out last week over who can claim the moniker "The City that Never Sleeps." I'd always associated that phrase with New York, NY. Having lived there, I know first hand that its a 24 hour city. It's not the largest in the world, its not a political capital, and its probably been passed in financial significance by several cities. However, it can still stake the claim as capital of the cultural world and certainly of the United States. If there is a archetypal 24 hour city, it is New York City.London is now trying to co-opt that image. As it prepares to become the next host of the Summer Olympics, the city is trying to appear as cosmopolitan and relevant as possible. New York Times City Room blog recently featured a post about an advertisement billing London as "the city that never sleeps." Really London? Come on now. They desperately want to top Beijing as host city of the Olympics. Part of that is the city's image. Remember the flap over the 2012 Olympic logo? That was all over perception and branding. Topping Beijing will be tough, but Beijing did what China does best, go big.
Well, can DC ever go big? Will we ever be a 24 hour city? We only have one reputable 24 hour restaurant, the Diner in Adams Morgan. Where are the other 24 hour spots? Where should there be? My vote is for Metro to stay open 24 hours from Thursday night until Sunday night. And maybe a place like Ben's Chili Bowl or Tryst. They could pull it off, on the weekends anyway. Then maybe we could steal the moniker, too.
Well, can DC ever go big? Will we ever be a 24 hour city? We only have one reputable 24 hour restaurant, the Diner in Adams Morgan. Where are the other 24 hour spots? Where should there be? My vote is for Metro to stay open 24 hours from Thursday night until Sunday night. And maybe a place like Ben's Chili Bowl or Tryst. They could pull it off, on the weekends anyway. Then maybe we could steal the moniker, too.
5 comments:
No, not the city that never sleeps. But I think DC's niche is its beauty and "best of both worlds" attributes. It is a city with great night life (I've been to most US big cities, and only NYC, Miami, and Chicago surpass) but it's also very liveable because it's more low-rise, treed, and architecturally interesting than other US cities. Southern cities are new, soulless and sprawly. Northeastern cities are large and dingy-looking. Western cities, with the notable exceptions of San Fran and Seattle, are super-sprawly. DC is well-positioned to be a top 3 US city if we continue the rate of improvement the same as the last 15 years. Having grown up here, it is truly remarkable how far it has come and closed the gap on cities like NYC and Chicago in a relatively short period of time.
As for your ideas, 24 hr metro on weekends would be a good first step, but until Metro has dedicated funding, it's not gonna happen. Also, I don't think the City Council will ever approve bar hours to be 24/7. Most big cities' bars close at 2 am, which is really lame.
Do we really need bars to be open 24/7? There are a few late night places and the uniquely DC phenomenon - the house party.
It's what makes the night life here kind of interesting. In big high-rise cities, nobody lives in houses. Either there aren't any in central city areas, or they are so fabulously expensive that they wouldn't be rentable or ownable by mere mortals. So, you HAVE to go to bars to socialize, since most people don't have enough space or will annoy their neighbors to do so in their own quarters.
Not so in DC -- in fact the majority of people living, er, on a budget will find their best deal in a group house. Which breeds the house party.
I very much agree with anon. The cityscape is cool and beautiful. It's dense enough that we (mostly) have good restaurants and services but still spread out enough to be comfortable and neighborhoody.
nyc will always be "the city that never sleeps" me. another 24 hour city can't claim that saying.
but dc, yeah, i long for later night things, not just bars, but everything.
shops, restaurants, metro, museums, galleries.
yea, bars will never stay open past 3am or thereabouts. i think metro may go 24 hours on the weekend at some point.
they don't seem to have the infrastructure or $$$$ to go all day every day.
perhaps a 24 hour diner downtown somewhere? penn ave or metro center/chinatown?
i wouldnt bet on it... dc is still too southern....
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