Public Spaces
Close 13th Street all day next July 4th
The National Mall is a great place to watch DC's July 4th fireworks celebration. But it's also such a tremendous hassle that many Washingtonians prefer to watch from more local neighborhood spots. A street festival on 13th Street, NW would instantly become the prime non-Mall celebration.
Photo by the author.
Every year thousands of Washingtonians watch the fireworks from somewhere along the Meridian Hill escarpment. Cardozo High School's football stadium is a popular choice, as is Meridian Hill Park.
The best vantage points, though are from the roadways of north-south streets, where they slope up the escarpment between Florida Avenue and Euclid Street. Unfortunately for fireworks watchers, an active street is not a safe place to put down a blanket.
But surely every single north-south street is not needed for transportation purposes on the 4th. 16th Street is probably too important as a traffic artery, but what about 13th? If the city were to close it to cars for a day, it would provide a fantastic viewing spot, right in the heart of the residential city. 14th Street could also work, but the views from 13th are significantly better.
Closing 13th Street would also provide another benefit: it could easily accommodate a street festival.
Instead of spending the 4th camping out for a good spot on the National Mall, imagine spending it strolling up and down a car-free 13th Street, lined with food, shopping, and art vendors south of Florida Avenue. Then just before dark, imagine hiking north of Florida Avenue to watch the fireworks from the sloping hill.
For years many DC residents have lamented that we have nothing like New York's Summer Streets program, which closes Park Avenue to cars on 3 Saturdays each summer, resulting in a 7-miles-long walking and biking street fair. New York's program has been hugely popular, and a DC version surely would be as well.
Why not kill two birds with one stone? Close 13th Street between Logan Circle and Euclid Street, providing DC residents with both a mile-long summer cyclovia, and an awesome new place for thousands to watch the fireworks, hassle-and-impediment-free.
Update: According to Pedro Ribeiro, Director of Communications for the DC Mayor's Office, DC did in fact close 13th Street this year, between Euclid Street and Florida Avenue, beginning at 8:00 pm. That's a great first step! Now let's extend the closure down to Logan Circle, and make it all day.
 | Dan Malouff is a professional transportation planner for the Arlington County Department of Transportation. He has a degree in Urban Planning from the University of Colorado, and lives a car-free lifestyle in Northwest Washington. His posts are his own opinions and do not represent the views of his employer in any way. He runs the blog BeyondDC and also contributes to the Washington Post Local Opinions blog.   |
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by Russell on Jul 9, 2012 1:18 pm • link • report
by Charles on Jul 9, 2012 1:22 pm • link • report
The only problem in the past has been that on July 4th it becomes like a war zone. Mostly this is because of limited seating and zero police presence, so people including young children set off fireworks and it becomes very dangerous. I've avoided it for the past few years.
Perhaps something more intentional can work, but it needs a heavy police presence and well thought out plan for restrooms and safety. Cooling stations would also be good, perhaps set up in the school, because the heat is usually extreme, even at night, in July.
Note that closing off 13th alone will probably not do it. You'd need to open up Cardozo's grounds and perhaps block off parts of Euclid. The problem is that 13th St. is so steeply sloped that you can't do much on it or have people walking up and down. Any "festival" activities would need to be staged at the top of the hill.
Perhaps bleachers would be needed for fireworks viewing. THere are so many obstacles that most places will not work, so people would jockey for position and trample each other unless order is maintained. Meridian Hill/Malcolm X is always a complete zoo, so I usually avoid that too.
by Ward 1 Guy on Jul 9, 2012 1:29 pm • link • report
Anyway, I've added a note to the bottom of the post to reflect this fact.
by Dan Malouff on Jul 9, 2012 1:44 pm • link • report
by Jack Love on Jul 9, 2012 2:15 pm • link • report
Also, the Dupont paint store at 13th & Clifton has a large (for the area) parking lot that could be utilized for a street fair as well.
This could be preferable to closing down 13th from U to Florida because there's a few East-West routes that are relatively well-used that cross that stretch of 13th.
(Full disclosure, I live at 13th & Clifton)
by Matthew B on Jul 9, 2012 2:29 pm • link • report
Duron*
by Matthew B on Jul 9, 2012 2:30 pm • link • report
by Will on Jul 9, 2012 3:28 pm • link • report
by tour guide on Jul 9, 2012 5:53 pm • link • report
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