Southwest (Washington, D.C.)
Southwest (SW or S.W.) is the southwestern quadrant of Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, and is located south of the National Mall and west of South Capitol Street. It is the smallest quadrant of the city, and contains a small number of named neighborhoods and districts, including Bellevue, Southwest Federal Center, the Southwest Waterfront, Buzzard Point, and the military installation known as Joint Base Anacostia–Bolling.
Geography
Southwest has the following districts and neighborhoods:
- the Interstate 395).
- Southwest Federal Center contains the United States Botanical Gardens, L'Enfant Plaza and a large concentration of federal executive branch office buildings for departments as well the House office buildings;
- Southwest Federal Center is in Ward 2.
- Southwest Federal Center contains the
- the Southwest Waterfront, also called Near Southwest, is between I-395 and Fort Lesley J. McNair.
- Southwest Waterfront is a primarily residential neighborhood. It also is home to several Washington DC marinas, including the Washington Marina, The Capitol Yacht Club, the Gangplank Marina, and the James Creek Marina.
- It is also home to the World War II Memorial, both of which straddle the Southwest/Northwest boundary);
- Southwest Waterfront is in Ward 6, except for the unpopulated East and West Potomac Parks, which are in Ward 2.
- Buzzard Point, a largely under-developed industrial area between South Capitol Street and Fort McNair.
- Buzzard Point contains Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling to a building renamed the Douglas A. Munro Coast Guard Headquarters Building.
- Buzzard Point contains
- the area of Southwest that is south and east of the Anacostia River contains Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling together with the Naval Research Laboratory and the Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant, Job CorpsCenter, and Fire Department Training Center.
- Bolling is in Ward 8.
- the Bellevue neighborhood occupies all of the Southwest land between South Capitol Street (to the east) and the Anacostiaand Potomac rivers (to the west and north). Included is the small Hadley Hospital.
- Bellevue is in Ward 8.
Transportation
The
The
History
This section needs additional citations for verification. (January 2018) |
Before 1950
Southwest is part of
Before 1847, much of the Virginia portion of the District of Columbia, including the town of Alexandria, was included in Southwest.
After the
Waterfront developed into a quite contradictory area: it had a thriving commercial district with grocery stores, shops, a movie theater, as well as a few large and elaborate houses (mostly owned by wealthy blacks). However, most of the neighborhood was a very poor
1950s rebuilding
In the 1950s, city planners working with the
Only a few buildings were left intact, notably the Maine Avenue fish market, the Wheat Row townhouses, the Thomas Law House, and the St. Dominic's and Friendship churches. The Southeast/Southwest Freeway was constructed where F Street, SW, had once been.
The rebuilt Southwest featured a large concentration of office and residential buildings in the brutalist style that was then popular. It was during this time that most of the Southwest Federal Center was built. The heart of the urban renewal of the Southwest Waterfront was Waterside Mall, a small shopping center and office complex, which housed satellite offices for the United States Environmental Protection Agency. The Arena Stage was built a block west of the Mall, and a number of hotels and restaurants were built on the riverfront to attract tourists. Southeastern University, a very small college that had been chartered in 1937, also established itself as an important institution in the area. Following a proposal by Chloethiel Woodard Smith and Louis Justement,[4] renewal in Southwest marked one of the last great efforts of the late Modernist movement. Architect I. M. Pei developed the initial urban renewal plan[5] and was responsible for the design of multiple buildings, including those comprising L’Enfant Plaza and two clusters of apartment buildings located on the north side of M St. SW, initially called Town Center Plaza). Various firms oversaw individual projects and many of these represent significant architectural contributions. Modernist Charles M. Goodman designed the River Park Mutual Homes complex. Likewise, Harry Weese designed the new building for Arena Stage and Marcel Breuer the Robert C. Weaver Federal Building,[6] located at 451 Seventh Street, SW, to house the newly established U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Hubert H. Humphrey Federal Building. The Tiber Island complex, which was designed as a replica of the adjacent Carollsburg Condominium and Carrollsburg Square, were designed by Keyes, Lethbridge & Condon, and won an American Institute of Architects award in 1966.[7]
However, urban renewal did not fully succeed in Southwest for many of the reasons that plagued other Modernist renewal efforts. Areas of the neighborhood remained run-down, low-income, and somewhat dangerous. This situation intensified in the 1980s and the 1990s, when Washington had among the lowest per capita incomes and highest crime rates in the nation. The Southwest urban renewal has been called "a case study of everything urban renewal got wrong about cities and people."[8]
Recent redevelopment
While many of the residential neighborhoods of Southwest remained both highly mixed-race and mixed-income, around 2003, the wave of new development occurring throughout D.C. reached Southwest including a number of apartment building renovations and
On April 16, 2010, the new Waterfront Safeway (including a sushi bar).[9]. 38°52′52″N 77°00′58″W / 38.881228°N 77.01622°W Along Water Street, "The Wharf" includes restaurants, shopping, theaters, public piers, hotels, and high-rise housing; the first phase opened in October 2017 (see Redevelopment of Southwest Waterfront) with phase two[10] slated to deliver in early 2022.[11]
Notable residents
Notable past and present residents of Southwest Washington, D.C. include:
- John Conyers, former U.S. Representative
- Marvin Gaye, Motown singer and songwriter[15]
- Denyce Graves, opera singer
- Dennis Hastert, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
- U.S. vice president and U.S. Senator[16]
- Kay Bailey Hutchison, former U.S. Senator and U.S. Permanent Representative to NATO[17]
- Al Jolson, former singer and actor
- Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, U.S. Representative
- Thurgood Marshall, former U.S. Supreme Court associate justice
- Lewis F. Powell Jr., former U.S. Supreme Court associate justice
- Charles H. Ramsey, former Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. police commissioner
- Paul Simon, former U.S. Senator and U.S. Representative
- David Souter, former U.S. Supreme Court associate justice
- Strom Thurmond, former U.S. Senator
See also
- NE – Northeast, Washington, D.C.
- SE – Southeast, Washington, D.C.
- NW – Northwest, Washington, D.C.
References
- ^ Olitzky, Kerry. The American Synagogue: A Historical Dictionary and Sourcebook. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 92.
- )
- ^ Berman v. Parker, 384 U.S. 26 (1954). Archived April 19, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "U.S. Army Corps of Engineers" (PDF). usace.army.mil. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 9, 2008. Retrieved March 23, 2008.
- ^ "Pei Cobb Freed and Partners". pcf-p.com. Archived from the original on July 5, 2008. Retrieved March 23, 2008.
- ^ "Robert C. Weaver Federal Building (HUD), Washington, DC". gsa.gov. Archived from the original on October 12, 2007. Retrieved April 11, 2007.
- ^ "AIA Honor Awards 1960–1969". aia.org. Archived from the original on April 12, 2008. Retrieved March 23, 2008.
- ^ Do posh waterfronts make a city world-class? D.C. is betting hundreds of millions on it., The Washington Post, June 26, 2018
- ^ "Waterfront Safeway Open for Business". NBC Washington. Retrieved May 5, 2010.
- ^ Wharf, The. "Construction Begins On Second Phase Of The Wharf". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved August 21, 2019.
- ^ (1) "About District Wharf". District Wharf. PN Hoffman; Madison Marquette. 2018. Archived from the original on January 4, 2018. Retrieved January 4, 2018.
(2) Freed, Benjamin (March 19, 2014). "The Wharf Breaks Ground in DC's Southwest Waterfront: The first phase of the $2 billion project will include hundreds of new residences, shops and restaurants, and a massive concert venue". Washingtonian. Washingtonian Media Inc. Archived from the original on January 4, 2018. Retrieved January 4, 2017.
(3) Sadon, Rachel (October 2, 2017). "The Wharf's Grand Opening Involves Four Days Of Events, And Kevin Bacon Is Involved". DCist. Gothamist, LLC. Archived from the original on January 4, 2018. Retrieved January 4, 2018.
(4) Iannelli, Nick (October 12, 2017). "The Wharf opens along DC's Southwest waterfront". WTOP. Archived from the original on January 4, 2018. Retrieved January 4, 2018. - ^ "Overview". L'Enfant Plaza. Archived from the original on March 7, 2013. Retrieved January 4, 2018.
- ^ (1) "Environmental Assessment: Benjamin Banneker Park Connection" (PDF). National Mall and Memorial Parks. Washington, D.C.: National Park Service. March 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 16, 2017. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
(2) Koster, Julia; Staudigl, Stephen (April 6, 2017). "NCPC Approves Banneker Park Pedestrian and Cyclist Access Improvements" (PDF). Media Release. Washington, D.C.: National Capital Planning Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 13, 2017. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
(3) "Banneker Park Pedestrian Access Improvements" (PDF). Executive Director's Recommendation: Commission Meeting: April 6, 2017 (NCPC File No. 7551). Washington, D.C.: National Capital Planning Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 13, 2017. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
(4) Voigt, Eliza. "Benjamin Banneker Park Pedestrian Access Improvements". National Mall and Memorial Parks. Washington, D.C.: National Park Service. Archived from the original on November 13, 2017. Retrieved November 13, 2017. - ^ "Construction on Benjamin Banneker Park Pedestrian and Bike Access Project begins ahead of The Wharf's October 12 Launch". Washington, D.C.: Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development: Government of the District of Columbia (DC.gov). September 8, 2017. Archived from the original on November 13, 2017. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
- ^ "Southwest Neighborhood - Fun Facts". Southwest Neighborhood Assembly. November 25, 1966. Archived from the original on July 28, 2011. Retrieved December 9, 2010.
- ^ "With a Good Cough". time.com. November 25, 1966. Archived from the original on February 20, 2008. Retrieved December 13, 2007.
- ^ "Kay Bailey Hutchison Sells Her Southwest digs". UrbanTurf. November 2, 2012. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 23, 2015.