A steady stream of politically star-struck celebrities. A fashion icon as first lady. A renaissance in food, drink and the arts. Young people flooding area colleges and Capitol Hill jobs, drawn by the glamour of power.
After decades in the cultural wilderness, it appears that Washington’s moment is finally here.
“There is a growing sophistication,” said Chuck Conconi, who chronicled the D.C. social scene for decades in the pages of Washingtonian and The Washington Post. “Washington has come a long way from a time when there were groups protesting sidewalk cafes because they would encourage prostitutes to solicit men sitting in them. What is wonderful now about Washington is that it is beginning to have a European city feeling.”
And plenty of Americans are noticing. According to a report released by United Van Lines, Washington was the country’s most popular moving destination in the first six months of 2009.
Why the sea change? It starts, of course, at the top. “The previous president was a stay at home, early-to-bed leader,” Conconi said. “There was little excitement in town, and the social scene withered on the vine. The Obama administration has changed that.”
Mike Feldman, a partner with the Glover Park Group and former top aide to Al Gore, put the presidency’s effect in context. Washington and politics have always been “intermittently fashionable” to the rest of the country, particularly at the beginning of a new administration after a partisan shift. The election of John F. Kennedy brought about the era of Camelot. There was a similar reaction to the election of Bill Clinton in 1992. … This dynamic is in overdrive now with the election of Barack Obama.” Yet plenty of observers say it goes much deeper than the occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
“It has a lot to do with the development of the U Street Corridor and extension of Capitol Hill,” said Thomas Quinn, a longtime Democratic lobbyist and a 40-year Georgetown resident, “[And] Georgetown is more sophisticated than it used to be.”
He added that the current climate in Washington reminded him of when Manhattanites “started moving downtown” from the Upper East Side.
With a new sophistication inevitably comes new attention, be it from Us Weekly, “Entertainment Tonight” or reality shows. Tammy Haddad, a media consultant, and editor and co-founder of White House Correspondents Insider, points out that news and entertainment media are not only paying attention to D.C., but they also “believe they can make money off of Washington style.” She knows firsthand. Haddad hosts a brunch in her garden every year before the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner. This year, her front steps were set upon by photographers and the guerrilla videographers of TMZ. “We actually had to call the police to shoo away the paparazzi,” she says.
One of their favorite subjects is Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Ill., a good-looking, 27-year-old freshman member of the House. Last month, he commented that it waws now a “hassle” to leave his house, because he always feels pressure to look good in case the TMZ cameramen are camped outside his front door.
And it’s not just the upper echelons of Washington society who are feeling the change. Even young people are noticing our city’s new lofty perch. Justin Chittams, 19, is a D.C. native and a sophomore at the University of Hawaii. He said that he’s got a lot more cachet with his classmates now that Barack Obama is president.
“The kids at school, they say, ‘Man, I hear the parties [in Washington] are tight. That it’s jumping.’ But you didn’t hear any of that before the president came,” Chittams said.
Chittams said that Obama has helped young people connect with American politics. In that regard, “D.C. hasn’t become cool,” he said. “It has just become relevant.” – Bill Myers contributed to this story
