The New District of Columbia
I’m spending the weekend in DC, and although the cherry blossoms are still weeks away from coming out, it’s very pleasant and temperate over here. The District of Columbia is one of my favorite US cities, I love the abundance of debate and discussion that I always encounter here. Saturday afternoon, we had the opportunity to roam around downtown and visit the Newseum, one of the most recent renovations on the mall (I’ll post pictures from the visit shortly). While downtown we noted that the DC atmosphere seems to be a little lighter and more enthusiastic since the last time I visited, during the summer of last year. Although I recognize that my anecdote does not really constitute anything meaningful, it does present an interesting, but limited, observation. As the District of Columbia often skirts economic downturns due to the abundance of governmental jobs here, this observation may be due to the difference in local economies experienced here when compared to San Francisco, where many of my colleagues are either unemployed or soon to be. It will be fascinating to discuss this with locals and those that work in the government.
