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Southwest DC

Paul K. Williams and Gregory J. Alexander with the Southwest Neighborhood Assembly

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 96


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Southwest DC is a unique quadrant in the nation's capital. After a massive 1950s and 1960s urban renewal project demolished much of the area's buildings, Southwest DC began anew with a clean slate. Capitalizing on the waterfront location and utilizing modern architecture, large high-rise buildings were constructed to house thousands of new residents, who would later fight to preserve the architecture in this new planned community located close to the US Capitol. This tight-knit community would once again witness a large-scale construction boom after the turn of the 21st century, as upscale hotels, most noticeably the Mandarin-Oriental, and high-end condominiums were built, complemented by new restaurants, shops, and services. The waterfront area--home to a community of live-aboard houseboats and sailboats--would also later completely transform, anchored by The Wharf project. Biking and walking trails also introduced Washingtonians to this hidden jewel in the capital. Southwest DC remains a community-minded neighborhood with a thriving arts scene, important religious institutions, and nonprofit organizations, as well as government offices.
Southwest Washington, D.C., is a defined neighborhood even without a proper name; the quadrant has a clear border southwest of the U.S. Capitol Building, nestled along the oldest waterfront in the city. Its physical delineations have defined it as a community for more than 250 years, beginning in the mid-1700s with emerging farms. By the mid-1800s, a thriving urban, residential, and commercial neighborhood was supported by the waterfront where Washingtonians bought seafood and produce right off the boats. In the 1920s and 1930s, an aging housing stock and an overcrowded city led to an increase of African Americans and Jewish immigrants who became self-sufficient within their own communities. However, political pressures and radical urban planning concepts in the 1950s led to the large-scale razing of most of SW, creating a new community with what was then innovative apartment and cooperative living constructed with such unusual building materials as aluminum.