Subterranean Cities

[Count Bobulescu]

Don't expect much comment on this, but in the interests of promoting one of the quieter corners of PW thought I'd post. One of the curious differences between Wash DC and most other US cities is that DC is subject to the Height Act that limits the height of buildings. There’s an overall limit of 130ft. But there are also restrictions that say no building may be more than twenty feet higher than the width of the road/street it faces. The result is, if you can’t go up, you go down. And lots of Washington is below the surface.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/in-the-nations-capital-underground-is-where-its-at/2011/11/22/gIQABFo42N_story.html?hpid=z4

With all that subterranean space, think of the White House not just as a 200-year-old, neoclassical Federal-style mansion, but as the tip of an iceberg. Think of what you don’t see. It’s a building with roots, which in D.C. is not uncommon.
Underground is where it’s at in Washington — and not only for the president, who makes some of his most important decisions while at the altitude of a mole. Thanks to a height restriction that keeps the skyline in a sort of humble genuflection to the Washington National Cathedral, the city’s highest structure, there are no 100th-floor views. The elevators barely make it to double digits. From the rooftops, people on the streets below look like dolls, not ants.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heights_of_Buildings_Act_of_1910

[Gloster Gladiator]

Thanks for that, very interesting.

[Trow]

I did'nt know that about Washington DC. Must look round for a ''skyline view'' of the place. It would have a certain neatness in it's layout i imagine with everything in perspective.

And then there's that unseen Subterranean layout. A curious fact to relate.

[fluffybiscuits]

Reminds me of Cappadpocia in Turkey where people live in caves. First saw it on Lonley Planet a few years back discussing the people who lived there and how its one of the places that is off the beaten track. Read more here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cappadocia

Thanks for the link CB, fascinating stuff :)

[Count Bobulescu]

@Trow


did'nt know that about Washington DC. Must look round for a ''skyline view'' of the place. It would have a certain neatness in it's layout i imagine with everything in perspective.
The core of downtown DC was laid out by Pierre L’Enfant and modeled on various European cities. It has a standard north-south (numbered) and east-west (lettered) street grid. Superimposed on that are fifty avenues named after the states that run diagonally, which results in a lot of traffic circles. This messes with the heads of people from Texas, California, etc. who are scared to death to drive them.

Because the city is divided into four quadrants, called North East, North West, South East, and South West, all radiating out from the Capitol Building, it has four 1st, 2nd, 3rd, A, B, C, streets etc. that never intersect. When they run out of letters, they start the process over with double syllable words, then treble syllable, etc. “Calvert” is the third street in the “second alphabet streets” and “Brandywine” is the second street in the “third alphabet streets”.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington,_D.C.



The architecture of Washington varies greatly. Six of the top 10 buildings in the American Institute of Architects (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Institute_of_Architects)' 2007 ranking of "America's Favorite Architecture (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America%27s_Favorite_Architecture)" are located in the District of Columbia:[66] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington,_D.C.#cite_note-65) the White House (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House); the Washington National Cathedral (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_National_Cathedral); the Thomas Jefferson Memorial (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jefferson_Memorial); the United States Capitol (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Capitol); the Lincoln Memorial (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Memorial); and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_Veterans_Memorial). The neoclassical (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoclassical_architecture), Georgian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgian_architecture), gothic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_architecture), and modern (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_architecture) architectural styles are all reflected among those six structures and many other prominent edifices in Washington. Notable exceptions include buildings constructed in the French Second Empire (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Empire_%28architecture%29) style such as the Eisenhower Executive Office Building (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eisenhower_Executive_Office_Building).[67] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington,_D.C.#cite_note-nps-66)
Outside downtown Washington, architectural styles are even more varied. Historic buildings are designed primarily in the Queen Anne (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Anne_Style_architecture), Châteauesque (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teauesque), Richardsonian Romanesque (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richardsonian_Romanesque), Georgian revival, Beaux-Arts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaux-Arts_architecture), and a variety of Victorian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victorian_architecture) styles. Rowhouses are especially prominent in areas developed after the Civil War and typically follow Federalist (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_architecture) and late Victorian designs.[68] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington,_D.C.#cite_note-67) Since Georgetown was established before the city of Washington, the neighborhood features the District's oldest architecture. Georgetown's Old Stone House (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Stone_House_%28Washington,_D.C.%29) was built in 1765, making it the oldest-standing original building in the city.[69] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington,_D.C.#cite_note-68) The majority of current homes in the neighborhood, however, were not built until the 1870s and reflect late Victorian designs of the period. Founded in 1789, Georgetown University (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgetown_University) is more distinct from the neighborhood and features a mix of Romanesque and Gothic Revival architecture (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_Revival_architecture).[67] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington,_D.C.#cite_note-nps-66) The Ronald Reagan Building (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan_Building) is the largest building in the District with a total area of approximately 3.1 million square feet (288,000 m2).[70] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington,_D.C.#cite_note-69)
DC has some of the best and worst architecture in the US. Ugliest building might be the FBI Headquarters.


http://andrewprokos.com/photos/washington-dc/1

(http://andrewprokos.com/photos/washington-dc/1)
http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/wash/sitelist.htm

[Junius]

Just don't suggest it to any Irish government. They'd probably grant permission for an experimental trial in the Burren in Clare! And then launch tribunals to discuss why the inhabitants drowned!
http://www.quiztron.com/quiz_images/full_611152887.jpg

[Trow]

@Trow

.
The core of downtown DC was laid out by Pierre L’Enfant and modeled on various European cities. It has a standard north-south (numbered) and east-west (lettered) street grid. Superimposed on that are fifty avenues named after the states that run diagonally, which results in a lot of traffic circles. This messes with the heads of people from Texas, California, etc. who are scared to death to drive them.

Because the city is divided into four quadrants, called North East, North West, South East, and South West, all radiating out from the Capitol Building, it has four 1st, 2nd, 3rd, A, B, C, streets etc. that never intersect. When they run out of letters, they start the process over with double syllable words, then treble syllable, etc. “Calvert” is the third street in the “second alphabet streets” and “Brandywine” is the second street in the “third alphabet streets”.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington,_D.C.


DC has some of the best and worst architecture in the US. Ugliest building might be the FBI Headquarters.


http://andrewprokos.com/photos/washington-dc/1

(http://andrewprokos.com/photos/washington-dc/1)
http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/wash/sitelist.htm

I'm intrigued. Can't help but be captured by visions of archaetectural layout and diverse perspective.
Revivalist in some quarters i note. surrounding gothic.

Tell me, do you know of any Myth or Lore surrounding the lay out of the ''complicated'' street surrounds. I'll accepts anything to do with star alignments and symbolism.:)

One image that seems to defy the overall view i perceive stands out most of all.
That Snow capped Mountain in the background of towers in the foreground.

I'll dig you out that picture.

[Yojimbo]

Restricting heights in areas of high demand almost inevitably pushes development underground. One of the less commented upon features of the Celtic Tiger here was the way developers were going down as well as up in an attempt to avoid controversy over higher buildings - there are basements in Dublin docklands so huge they potentially interfere with major groundwater flows - there was at least one proposal for a four storey deep basement in a major commercial building in Cork which stalled for obvious reasons.

The height restrictions have always been a huge problem in Washington, combined with the very wide boulevards its has created a low density city which is problematic for providing public transport. Its one reason that the commuter belt around Washington is so huge, even by US standards.

But there are all sorts of reasons why developers can go deep. In a little town in Colorado called Salida there is an extensive series of tunnels linking shops in the downtown area. Allegedly they were created in the 19th century to allow respectable gentlemen to be able to visit the red light area without being seen!

[Count Bobulescu]

Trow, I’ll likely fall short on the star alignment and symbolism front. But I’ll look around for other stuff on the DC. street alignment. After twenty years, I know it fairly well, but can still get lost. Occasionally, a narrow residential street will unexpectedly dead end due to the boundaries of a large public facility, (think peace wall) and then pick up again 5-10 blocks later. But getting from where it stopped to where it restarts can be a major headache. There are no “snowcapped mountains” anywhere close to DC. Two hours away after a heavy fall, for a few weeks…….maybe. DC is at 38 degrees, same as Rome.

Meantime, looks like this subterranean “meme” is “catching fire” on WaPo. China has apparently built 3,000 miles of tunnels to ferry about their weapons.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/georgetown-students-shed-light-on-chinas-tunnel-system-for-nuclear-weapons/2011/11/16/gIQA6AmKAO_story.html?hpid=z1


The Chinese have called it their “Underground Great Wall” — a vast network of tunnels designed to hide their country’s increasingly sophisticated missile and nuclear arsenalT
hese are clips from Chinese TV news reports and from episodes of a TV docudrama that a group of Georgetown Univ. students used to help assemble the largest public database of more than 3,000 miles of tunnels dug by the Chinese to hide and move their missiles and nuclear arms. (Note: The text in these clips was not written by The Washington Post.)
After a devastating earthquake struck Sichuan (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/20/AR2008072001706.html)province, the chairman of Karber’s committee noticed Chinese news accounts reporting that thousands of radiation technicians were rushing to the region. Then came pictures of strangely collapsed hills and speculation that the caved-in tunnels in the area had held nuclear weapons.I

n December 2009, just as the students began making progress, the Chinese military admitted for the first time that the Second Artillery had indeed been building a network of tunnels. According to a report by state-run CCTV, China had more than 3,000 miles of tunnels — roughly the distance between Boston and San Francisco — including deep underground bases that could withstand multiple nuclear attacks.

[Trow]

Tell me, do you know of any Myth or Lore surrounding the lay out of the ''complicated'' street surrounds. I'll accepts anything to do with star alignments and symbolism.:).


Trow, I’ll likely fall short on the star alignment and symbolism front. But I’ll look around for other stuff on the DC. street alignment. After twenty years, I know it fairly well, but can still get lost.I

Permit me to guide you. Have a wee scroll down this link and tell me if you can recognise any symbols or buildings.

Anything look familiar?...http://secretarcana.com/hiddenknowledge/the-mysterious-connection-between-sirius-and-human-history/

Learn more about the layout of Washington and other Cities here....http://vigilantcitizen.com/sinistersites/mystical-sites-u-s-capitol/

[Captain Con O'Sullivan]

Found Washington a strange city alright.... I recall reading in Gore Vidal's essays somewhere and possibly in his Lincoln/Burr works descriptions of Washington as a fairly pestilential swamplike place most uncomfortable and which the denizens fled in summer.

Sort of reminds me in a minor way of St Petersburg- or rather as I haven't been to the latter but just read of its construction that both sites were equally unpromising as sites for cities with swamplike conditions.

I agree with respect to the FBI building in Washington- and note it was just around the corner from the real centre if power in the United States- 'K' Street. They had a sign on the FBI building -something like 'tours re-opening 2008' or something and I recall wondering what they had planned at the time that made it safe to re-open to tourists in that future time period:)

There is something strange about the American cities I've been in and I think for a european it is the lack of age... I can't exactly describe it but it is like there is something missing or a feeling that the cities are temporary in some way that I don't get when I'm in a European city. European cities feel to me like they have grown up or something whereas US cities feel a bit like an awkward adolescent.

[fluffybiscuits]

Found Washington a strange city alright.... I recall reading in Gore Vidal's essays somewhere and possibly in his Lincoln/Burr works descriptions of Washington as a fairly pestilential swamplike place most uncomfortable and which the denizens fled in summer.

Sort of reminds me in a minor way of St Petersburg- or rather as I haven't been to the latter but just read of its construction that both sites were equally unpromising as sites for cities with swamplike conditions.

I agree with respect to the FBI building in Washington- and note it was just around the corner from the real centre if power in the United States- 'K' Street. They had a sign on the FBI building -something like 'tours re-opening 2008' or something and I recall wondering what they had planned at the time that made it safe to re-open to tourists in that future time period:)

There is something strange about the American cities I've been in and I think for a european it is the lack of age... I can't exactly describe it but it is like there is something missing or a feeling that the cities are temporary in some way that I don't get when I'm in a European city. European cities feel to me like they have grown up or something whereas US cities feel a bit like an awkward adolescent.


Having explored both continents that is a very good point. In the US the cities were nice (especially Austin, TX a personal favourite) but they lack the charachter that other European cities have. Outside the US the only city that comes to mind as having something near the beauty of Europe is Montreal (strong French infuence). Los Angeles was a concrete jungle, San Diego didnt know what it was, Phoenix was a city where everything was bigger and better and Houston was a kip. Loved Flagstaff though, off the wall , spread out and situated in a lovely valley :)

[Count Bobulescu]

Permit me to guide you. Have a wee scroll down this link and tell me if you can recognise any symbols or buildings.

Anything look familiar?...http://secretarcana.com/hiddenknowledge/the-mysterious-connection-between-sirius-and-human-history/

Learn more about the layout of Washington and other Cities here....http://vigilantcitizen.com/sinistersites/mystical-sites-u-s-capitol/

Trow thanks for the reminder I had forgotten to search as I said I would.

There is a whole industry and subculture devoted exploring the alleged symbolism in the Wash DC street design. I’ve pasted some links below, but if you are gonna read please read the first one, and then proceed.
I take em “cum grano salis”.

http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Washington,_D.C._street_design_conspiracy_theory

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streets_and_highways_of_Washington,_D.C.

http://www.helium.com/items/1358147-original-street-plans-of-washington-dc

http://www.dcpages.com/History/Planning_DC.shtml

www.trolleytours.com/washington-dc/photos.as (http://www.trolleytours.com/washington-dc/photos.as)



Alternate conspiracy theories below.


http://www.theforbiddenknowledge.com/chapter3/

http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/False%20Religions/Illuminati/dc.htm

http://www.cuttingedge.org/n1040.html

http://home.hiwaay.net/~jalison/after2.html (http://home.hiwaay.net/%7Ejalison/after2.html)

[Count Bobulescu]

The height restrictions have always been a huge problem in Washington, combined with the very wide boulevards its has created a low density city which is problematic for providing public transport. Its one reason that the commuter belt around Washington is so huge, even by US standards.

But there are all sorts of reasons why developers can go deep. In a little town in Colorado called Salida there is an extensive series of tunnels linking shops in the downtown area. Allegedly they were created in the 19th century to allow respectable gentlemen to be able to visit the red light area without being seen!
That’s exactly right, and the height restrictions are the primary reason DC despite its smaller less vibrant core, compared to Manhattan, still manages to command office rents similar to Manhattan at around $80-100 per square foot, both of which were/are a lot less than Dublin at peak.

[Trow]

Not to take the shine of such a beautiful city but is there an explanation for the sudden spike in violent crime in and around 1st District?

[Quote]..The biggest increase was in the 1st District, which includes Capitol Hill, where violent crime jumped by 69 percent, with 110 incidents reported compared with 65 at this point last year. The highest increase was in the 7th District, east of the Anacostia River, where 181 were reported, up 43 percent from the 127 incidents recorded at this point in 2011 [unquote] http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/feb/19/violent-crime-dc-surges-2012/

Alarming.

[Count Bobulescu]

Not to take the shine of such a beautiful city but is there an explanation for the sudden spike in violent crime in and around 1st District?

[Quote]..The biggest increase was in the 1st District, which includes Capitol Hill, where violent crime jumped by 69 percent, with 110 incidents reported compared with 65 at this point last year. The highest increase was in the 7th District, east of the Anacostia River, where 181 were reported, up 43 percent from the 127 incidents recorded at this point in 2011 [unquote] http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/feb/19/violent-crime-dc-surges-2012/

Alarming.

At first I thought this might just be a typo.


Homicides were the only category of violent crime to decline in the first six weeks this year. As of Thursday, the city had recorded 10 homicides compared with 11 at a similar point last year.

Then this reinforced that they are talking about the first six weeks not the first six months.


Statistics obtained by The Washington Times show that the 578 robberies recorded this year represent an increase of 55 percent compared with figures from the opening weeks of 2011.

Not sure what the current situation is, at six months in, but don’t hear much about it. Kinda strange for WT to be now running a story about stats for the first six weeks. District 7, East of the Anacostia River, the lowest income neighborhood, almost always has the highest crime

[Count Bobulescu]

I did'nt know that about Washington DC. Must look round for a ''skyline view'' of the place. It would have a certain neatness in it's layout i imagine with everything in perspective.

And then there's that unseen Subterranean layout. A curious fact to relate.
Trow, this link has 84 aerial photos of Wash DC. They are old and new, B&W plus color, the quality varies. All are enlargeable. Gives you some idea of the skyline and cityscape.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Aerial_photographs_of_Washington,_D.C.

[Trow]

I did'nt know that about Washington DC. Must look round for a ''skyline view'' of the place. It would have a certain neatness in it's layout i imagine with everything in perspective.

And then there's that unseen Subterranean layout. A curious fact to relate.


Trow, this link has 84 aerial photos of Wash DC. They are old and new, B&W plus color, the quality varies. All are enlargeable. Gives you some idea of the skyline and cityscape.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Aerial_photographs_of_Washington,_D.C.

I've seen the skies long before the big DC map room. [thanks for the link anyway]
Admire that mountain i mentioned before. Snow capped and natural. Takes my breath away, projecting to magestical hight's. [You know me]

I'm a Free Bird/Soul, and i'm from a time long before freemasons/ex- ancient order of druids hopped on a ship.

Come Home, ye all, a Nation once again. [Not that there are many/if any]