As part of a series of articles related to the new World War II Memorial, the Washington Post has a piece today about how the wartime population boom affected the city: Employee Explosion Transformed Washington.
The article quotes David Brinkley:
In his book "Washington Goes to War," journalist David Brinkley described the evolution this way: Washington "never did explode. Instead, it began to adjust to a new form of existence: more harried, more crowded, more contentious, faster, lonelier, bigger. And while some of the strains of wartime would subside when the fighting was over, the city would never again live by its old rules."
Washington Goes to War is a great book, and I recommend it particularly to those who live here.
Or perhaps I should say, particularly those who live here but say things like "Washington sucks compared to New York/Chicago/LA/Minneapolis/Boston/Detroit/Buffalo/Charleston/Miami/Podunk."
There are plenty of things about Washington that I don't love, but I'm sure there are plenty of unlovable aspects to everyone's favorite city. That wartime growth spurt here is an interesting chapter to Washington's history and helps explain how the area became what it is.
I have a personal interest too, as the granddaughter of two locals and two government employees who came down for the war and never left. Had this not happened, I might not be.
Posted by Nic at May 25, 2004 12:18 PM