Washington DC's Map - EXPLAINED
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 มี.ค. 2022
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I recently moved to DC so making this video was a really fun way to learn about my new home! There is LOADS of information I had to leave out for the sake of time… so I guess that means I’ll just have to make videos about this city. Lmk what ideas you have for DC or for another city!
So cool eh! Brings back my memories of living in D.C. :)
Something about how the city's original streetcar system influenced its development could be interesting. For example, many of the city's busiest bus routes today follow old streetcar lines (superimposing new maps over old ones to illustrate the influence could be interesting?) But maybe I'm just biased bc neighborhoods like mine owe their very existence to the OG streetcars!
@@christophermonaco1213 oooh I’ve been wanting to do more research about this. Great idea
@@DanielsimsSteiner Well I'd absolutely consider myself an enthusiast/amateur historian on this topic. Happy to be a resource 🙂
lol okay but why would you move there
As DC native I’ve been arguing for years that we need to manifest our destiny and take back Alexandria
Nah MD need to take our land back. We missing Billioms of dollars and 700K ppl to our population
@@JC-gg8foright!😂😂😂
Exactly
My favorite is actually what happens when the street names run out after “W.” After the first alphabet runs out of letters, street names restart alphabetically with two-syllable names. “Adams Street” follows “W Street.” Once the second alphabet is exhausted, the system repeats with words of three syllables. “Webster Street” is followed by the third alphabet’s “Allison Street.” However, the Fourth Alphabet does not use words of four syllables. Instead, the Fourth Alphabet, most of which are in the Northwest quadrant (DC’s largest), uses the names of plants in increasing alphabetical order. Thus “Aspen” follows “Whittier.”
Also, all the states have an Avenue named after them, except for California Street and Ohio Drive.
Such a cool way to name the streets!
@@BrightTripTravel You were wrong about Robert E. Lee because he was against slavery and the Confederacy but joined it because he was born and raised in Virginia and was proud of it too.
I have lived here since 1986, and it's hard to emphasize how useful that has been to me (and still is!).
As a native of northern Virginia, this was a top notch overview of DC boundary history and street design. Quality information with great editing make this a must see for anyone new to the hectic DC area! Great work!
Another interesting thing about DC is its border with MD. Even without the "Welcome to WDC" and "Welcome to MD" signs, the name of the street that separates the DC/MD border is either gonna be Western Avenue, Eastern Avenue, or Southern Avenue. And once you cross that street you're either in DC or MD.
Facts live off southern Ave in capital heights we call that side of town ward 9 😂
Another fun fact from a local: as you get further out from downtown, street names continue to be arranged alphabetically but also by number of syllables. So first alphabetical with 2 syllables (Lowell, Macomb, Norton, Ordway) and then three (Appleton, Brandywine, Chesapeake, Davenport).
Of course over time they didn't stick to this system 100%, but it's fun to notice where they did as you're out and about.
I live in DC and this part of the grid always surprises people. Locals will refer to these sometimes as the second, third & fourth alphabets (so I live between Decatur and Emerson Sts, NW, in the third alphabet). The 4th alphabet includes plant and tree names (Aspen, Butternut, etc.) because there are too few 4 syllable words. No alphabet includes any letter past W, but the third & fourth include a J street. Knowing this grid, you can also find any address in the city, by counting blocks. The 4800 block of 7th ST NW, for instance, is 48 streets north of the Capitol & 7 streets west, while the 2400 block of P St, NW is 24 blocks west of the capitol, but 15 blocks north (P being the 15th letter if you don't include J).
@@CPTDoom I think you mean Z? There's definitely a W in NW; it's the south side of Meridian Hill/Malcolm X Park, and there's a Webster near you, too. You must live around 13th if you've not seen it. The more interesting thing is that you can tell if someone's from east or west of the park NW by the 2nd alphabet onward names they use. Most street names differ with west of the park street names usually coming alphabetically before east of the park names (so Albemarle and Allison, Brandywine and Buchanan) although there are exceptions (Klingle on both sides, Garrison and Gallatin).
And if you want weird...4th suddenly becomes 5th on the reservoir side of Howard U.
@@d6robert Poor editing - what I originally wrote was "not alphabet goes past W." Must have inadvertently deleted that part.
Don’t leave out the fact that Benjamin Banneker surveyed the land as a replacement and laid the first land marker in Arlington VA
meh, who cares about him?
@anapoda3081 Because Banneker was a free, educated black of mankind in the 1700s.
@@anapoda3081everyone does because without him, there would be no DC
A good start, but some of the most interesting parts of the DC map are not even touched upon. For starters, it may sound obvious, but how the street/block number informs the cross-street (1600 Pennsylvania will be at 16th and Pennsylvania), how after the letters are used up the grid moves to two syllable words in alphabetical order (Adams, Belmont, Clinton, Douglas, Euclid, Fairmont...) and then three syllable (Allison, Buchanan, Crittenden, Decatur, Emerson, Farragut...)like how you can pretty accurately guess where in the city a state avenue can be found in function of the year of admittance to the union (hint, Alaska and Hawaii Aves are quite a distance from the Mall), multiple repeats for two Canadian provinces (Ontario Place NW, Ontario Road NW, Québec Street NW, Québec Place NW -- but yet nothing for Canada's other two founding provinces, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia), the absence of J street or a J two/three syllable street (and no, its not to spite Chief Justice John Jay), Puerto Rico Avenue NE (to the dismay of Guam, Virgin Islands, Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa), why one writes EYE Street not I Street...
Again, a good intro, but hardly "explained"
The video is basic info 😂
You’re so rude lmao, this was a great video. I’m positive there are things missing in your explanation as well. Educating people is great, but being a know it all jerk is very different.
@@ThecrazyJH96 his comment was in reference to the thread title, and was a valid critique. The video was an excellent short overview and brief explanation of the city's shape. It is not (though the title can lead one to think it was maybe supposed to be) a proper explanation of the DC map.
tell me more 🙏🏽
I would be so interested to see how DC compares to Indianapolis as Pierre Charles L'Enfant was also its city planner.
There’s a lot of similarities, gridiron, angled road leading towards the city center, a large mall (not the shopping kind), and lots of open green space
French Classicism 🤤
Longtime DC resident here. I enjoyed the video. Even learned a few things. I suggest you have an editor take a look at it. I noticed a number of misspellings in the text, including in "Washington" at the opening. Thanks for doing this!
Please include the contributions of Benjamin Banneker to the configuration of the city.
I am a 20-year DC/VA resident, and love the history of this town. Very well done, Daniel.
I'm a new Yorker who loves and visits DC regularly ...I'm hungry for more of your page and may have to watch this several times bravooooo
Great to see you guys are back uploading here :) big fan of your videos, We would love to help you make something like this for Mexico City :)
love this channel
Visiting DC for the first time in a couple of weeks and this was so helpful! Thank you!
We need more Daniel content!!! This is so helpful and informative!!!
I 100% agree! Never enough Daniel content.
Love these types of videos! keep it up!
This is a really good channel. Should get more subs
Awesome! I'm heading to DC for a trip and this video sure did explain alot! Thanks!
I watch a lot of videos, like very few, and I would give this two likes. As someone who moved to DC nearly 10 years ago, and loves this city this is brilliant.
Awesome Video! I just moved to Pittsburgh last year and it would be amazing to see a video breaking down the organization of the city.
I would love to see more of these city maps videos, they’re really interesting
Great video! Would love to see y'all do a Map Explained episode on Toronto!
YESS I've been waiting for this video for months!
It is finally here 🙌
As a DC native I enjoyed the video
My nana used to live in DC. I loved visiting her! She went to prison for gran larceny but I was already at college by then so it was ok. Anyway cool video! Abrupt end but cool nonetheless!
she sounds awesome
"gran" larceny lmao
This video deserves orders of magnitude more views than it has today. This is incredible, thank you so much!
Thank YOU! ❤
🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Amazing job 👌
learnt a few new things today about DC
Please breakdown a map of Tokyo! Your map breakdown videos are so clean and informative
Breaking down Tokyo would take at least half an hour lol
Awesome video, an additional fun fact; in the late 1880s and early 1890s there was Buffalo behind the Smithsonian Institution Building. They were part of the Smithsonian's Department of Living Animals, started by William T. Hornaday.
Imagine Bison roaming around the mall.
Mindblowing!
Right? 🤯
Currently living in the Cairo - great view from the roof
Cool video imma dc native who lives in the suburbs now
You should do a Map Explained video for Boston! The layout is insane 😂
Super helpful, thank you!
Thanks for watching!!
Wonderful Video for a C+ city at best.
So helpful!
Glad you think so!
Bro I feel like I'm ready to watch videos like this for hours. That would be so cool to have 40-45 mins eposides with more details. So interesting. 7 mins is just not enought.
Just came back from my first ever trip to DC today, amazing city! Even saw/stumbled upon the stairs form The Exorcist, only knew what they were cuz of your video! Wish this had been posted last week, would have been cool. Also saw the old stone house btw, walked down that entire street from the hotel in Foggy Bottom to Georgetown University.
Now you have a reason to come back, hehe
But did you visit the hoods the real dc?
@@theofficialratchettimez6956 LOL!
4th Generation Washingtonian here; no mention over Benjamin Banneker and his mathematical prowess of the city designed like the Cartesian plane. Great video but please give credit where its due.
great work
Robert E. Lee, did led the Confederate States Army in the Civil War, however opposed both secession and slavery, and never own any slaves. But there reason why he led the South was that he hated the idea of fighting his home state of Virginia.
th-cam.com/video/FMpAmsdFOUE/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=Dr.RichardGardiner
Awesome video!
tks for useful information what i need
Very informative!-- Excluding couple 2 or 4 typos..but more importantly: ●Gen. R E Lee●... Grew up in a boarding house. Educated thru age 14+ in a plantation school house [ plus alot of off-hrs of further learning]. Many, many accolades later, gave up the majority of his' saved earnings- retirement assets to aide 172 indentured, not only from becoming slaves, but for most gaining independence within 2-3 years. Yes, leaving with a full belly and a pocket full of currency. .. Honor Respect fini
cool info!!!
Very cool - linked to this on the Old Time DC Facebook and Twitter today. You have a typo ("Washigton D.C.") at 1:40, however.
Great video...But the follow up should include Benjamin Banneker (a Black Man ) who salvaged the plans for DC from memory after L'Enfant walked off the job
Could you make a map/district/neighborhood guide for Singapore?
Always wanted to go to Singapore! 😏
Adding to the list! ✍
Traffic is horrible. As small as DC is it amazes me that during rush hour Washington DC is 1.5 hours away from Washington DC
Great video
really cool!
This is quite impressive.
I live in Georgetown DC , good & interesting video .
Bruh. Awesome video
Thanks!
I live right over the bridge in Northern VA myself, and this is pretty neat. Although I find myself wishing that the DC map system did something for the f'in horrendous traffic that only seems to die down when the clock says "AM" but its still dark out.
I believe the map you’re looking for is the Metro map, and if it’s not doing it for you, please vote for representatives that will make it better.
Please do St Louis MO next. It has a really interesting history with a lot of interesting and amazing neighborhoods
This video should be longer, or u should do a whole dc episode. This was great
Thank you! Would love to do more on DC!
Can you do a map breakdown of Houston next? Or Los Angeles? This series is dope so far man !
Thank you sm! Adding those to the list for sure
I love these and wish they were longer! Please try Philadelphia
Noted!
Can you guys do a MEXICO CITY MAP EXPLAINED next ? Please.
Good video.
Thank you! Glad you liked it!
you should do a map breakdown of baltimore sometime in the future :)
Noted!
I lived in northern Virginia all my life and let me tell you…. It’s confusing navigating around dc still 😂
Washington, DC is a federate and is a district of it's own. Arlington County, VA is a census-designated county, not a consolidated city county. Alexandria, VA is an independent city in Virginia.
You should do a part 2 and include a history of Jackson City as the precursor to the Pentagon.
This video could have been way longer. Super interesting
I read the official rule is a building cannot be taller than twice the width of the street it faces.
Yes, this is how the current rule is implemented.
I love these videos but they should be 3 times as long
Aww, thanks!
It's fascinating to me that the England vs Spain rivalry lead to this. they took their battle to another continent entirely. England took the north and spain took the south. And you can see from linguistic influence in the continent. the north is English speaking, and the south american countries are Spanish mostly and some Portugese.
“in 1910 the act was amended to restrict building heights even further: no building could be more than twenty feet taller than the width of the street that it faces.”
Dc is the only major city in the US where you don’t know when you enter dc because unlike any other cities it’s no skyscrapers
Just row houses or an apartment and litter. Then the gps says "Welcome to the District of Columbia" lol
Honestly, the DC area has so much geographical complexity to it. Like the fact that Arlington is actually just an unincorporated county -- i.e. there is no city of Arlington -- it's just Arlington County, which is very peculiar. Although that's partially because Virginia is so weird about how counties and cities work.
Wait how do cities and counties work otherwise? There are lots of towns here that are part of counties but I've always thought the county-city distinction was an everybody thing. Never realized it was an outlier
@@fyshwick6032 for example, Houston is within Harris County, Chicago is in Cook County, etc. But in VA, Richmond for example is not in any county. It's an independent city, which only applies to 3 cities outside of VA.
There are some places where a city is in 2 countries: Atlanta being in both Fulton (which it’s also the county seat and the state capital) and DeKalb county. You have futures in 2 states: Bristol Virginia and Tennessee.
@@royboy1984 yea it can be across many counties, but what's special about VA is that the cities are in 0 counties. They're 'independent cities'. Of the 41 independent cities in the US, 38 are in Virginia. I tried to link to the Wikipedia page, but YT blocked me
@@treyshaffer Yep, very reminiscent to how DC is as an independent city. When it Richmond the boundaries of ita bordering counties of chesterfield and henrico remind me of how VA and MD border DC. All 3 separate places and governments
Thanks for an interesting intro to the District. Just two things I might have added: the Beltway (because everyone refers to things being inside or outside it) and that the highest point in the District isn't the top of the Capitol Rotunda, but the top of the tower of Washington National (Episcopal) Cathedral. This was designed to signify that government is still below God.
Lived in DC for 32 years. Beautiful city. Love nature: Rock Creek Park, where you can cycle or walk if you like across the city. The National Zoo. The Georgetown waterfront.The Watergate. The JFK Center. Just a few places you'll find along the route. Also the often omitted Meridian Hill Park, also known as Malcolm X Park, located in the Adams Morgan area, gives you a nice view and the park is really nice.Then the museums. Monuments. Memorials. So much packed in a small space. Another curiousity is that on 16th Street Northwest goinng south you will find many churches and temples, the Scottish Rite House of the Temple.
Also about the height restriction, the " no building can be taller than the Capitol or the George Washington monument, that is a myth. There is the Height of Buildings Act of 1910 that limits buildings to no more than 90 feet (27 meters) on residencial streets and no more than 130 feet ( 40 meters) on comercial corridors. Sorry George.
you completely erased Benjamin Bannaker from this video
Do Los Angeles next!!!!
Adding to the list ✍
Next time show the ppl what’s east of the river 🤣🤣
Have you been to Canberra, Australian Capital Territory?
Can we talk ab how embassy row is Massachusetts ave and Massachusetts turns into Ny ave when u pass the library
I didn't plan on watching the whole vid. Well done.
So is that what the Cure song “Fire in Cairo” is about??
WHAT?! 😱
How do you talk about the creation and design of DC but not once mention Benjamin Banneker? The Black man who was instrumental to the design of DC
Please do City Beautiful Movement next, Burnham and his cities like Chicago, San Francisco, Cleveland, even Manila.
Subbed.
3:14 NY ended up learning that lesson hard, assuming that they've learned
At the time of the Civil War, most people felt a stronger connection to their home State rather than the greater United States (like how today some people will say that they’re Texans before they say they’re American). Robert E. Lee was no exception. He fought for Virginia because of what Virginia’s government decided to do (secede) - as a native Virginian. Only in the 20th century did an “American” identity emerge.
Love bright trip's content so much! I just did a short video recently on Nathaniel Drew's and Johnny Harris's visual storytelling course! Would love for you to check it out if there's anyone looking to get that
Here's a fun fact that I learned in a DC history class: Did you know there is no Letter J street in Washington, DC? You can see it and it doesn't matter if you are in the N.E. or N.W. quadrants of D.C. There is a 'Jay' Street that spans roughly 7 blocks located in the N.E. Quadrant of D.C. in an area called Deanwood. I just wanted to clarify and add a true fact where you mentioned the division of streets in D.C. I was told back in D.C. History class that the reason the letter 'J' does not appear is because during the time D.C. was being planned and surveyed, Supreme Court Justice John Jay was having an affair with Pierre L'Enfant's wife. So he didn't want Jay's name or initials to appear in the creation of Washington, D.C. Why 'Jay' appears is because a lot of areas of D.C. during that time was still open, undeveloped land like current day Tenleytown, so the street was incorporated after L'Enfant's death. Over 200 years of pettiness and counting. Otherwise great video.
Hi there! What u learned may be true, this was what I was taught: So, in the 1700's the letter "J" didn't have the 'umbrella hook' at the bottom. It looked very similar to how we write lower case "i" now. It had the dot on top and city planners said it would confuse ppl. They wouldn't know if they were on "J" St. or "I" St. so they decided to eliminate it all together! Btw, if someone was having an affair with my spouse, I'd wanna block out any reminder of them, lol. His name is all over the place tho, for instance John Jay College of Criminolgy; John Jay Municipal court, just to name a few
I visited back 2016 when they had a construction boom and It left me wondering why are the home prices so high and looked poor especially since it is the nations capital also after 2 days was boring and I realized theirs no night city life like here NY/NJ metro. Its dark not scary but as in no neon florencent sparkles to bar hopp stroll around. Last transportation get a rental and make sure phone is charged for GPS to explore the DMV.
You’re in Arlington, VA not Alexandria
It was interesting to see topography of old DC. The Versailles style layout of city did not respect contours, rather contours were forced to follow artificial grid. This was very typical for city planning back then. Even NYC is laid out in a grid, hills flattened to make room for commercial and residential buildings. Creeks and ponds filled or diverted into pipes.
Always really interesting how plans for a city and physical landscape end up meeting and what compromises are made! Going to talk about that a bit more in another one soon!
@@BrightTripTravel Thank you. That will be one I will want to watch.
👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽DC!!!
Fun fact:
@ 1:41 you spelled Washington, DC wrong.
Sorry I hate being that guy. Great video though lol.
I have been to DC, frankly it was really cold. and some sites were under construction.
Coldness tends to come when it’s winter or fall! That’s how seasons work!
@jaykay1899 oh dang! I couldn't have guessed
Southern avenue eastern Avenue
Everybody was chilling until Dave Thomas came up, but they got rid of it.
Washington is spelled wrong at 1:42 into the video. Was this spelled wrong on the original document? Also pedestal is spelled wrong at 7:38.
No, those were my typos 😬
@@DanielsimsSteiner also cemetery at 7:04 then
@@mayamelchers 🙏🏻🙏🏻