Underground and On the Roof
DC's New Cultural Spirit
2009-08-04
By Eric Easter

From several sources I had been hearing that DC was undergoing a cultural “renaissance” of sorts since the election of President Barack Obama, but I have to admit my skepticism. Having lived in Washington off and on (mostly on) for most of my life, I’d heard that line before – after Bush I, after Clinton, after Bush II - but any renewed sense of energy from a new administration was mostly limited to K Street and Capitol Hill. In the meantime the real DC – the one where people live in more than 4-year cycles, pretty much stayed DC – an intellectual hotbed but slow and comfortable culturally and socially.

So on a recent trip to the Nation’s Capital I took an opportunity to see if the claims had any foundation in truth or were simply post-election glow.

I intentionally avoided friends and family, knowing that it would be too easy to fall into a regular groove. I wanted to fly under the radar and see DC as a tourist might, something not so easy to do when you’re a bit too familiar with every nook and cranny of a city.

The search for a hotel was the first indication that something was happening in Washington that wasn’t happening elsewhere. If the per night prices were any indication, the great national recession has apparently bypassed DC, at least for this period when Federal contractors are trying to curry favor and nab stimulus money.

The desire for a cheaper alternative forced a look at some of the smaller, newer neighborhood-based boutique hotels. On a hunch I found an inexpensive room at The Donovan House, a former Holiday Inn refashioned by the same folks who run 60 Thompson in New York, and located just on the edge of my favorite part of town, Logan Circle. Over the course of 25 years, Logan Circle has undergone a very slow but now nearly complete transformation from a center of prostitution and vice to the most eclectic area in the city.

Gentrification issues and growing pains made that transition difficult but the result has been new condos, stores and food choices, less diversity but enough of the old hood to maintain a sketchy edge amid the luxuries.

Luckily, the Donovan House looks down on all that from a rooftop with a view that is a revelation to even hardened longtime residents.

To my surprise, that view also turned out to be the center of a budding rooftop social scene that’s taken hold in DC and stands as a prime example of a city feeling a new sense of change.

With its painted pool, elegant deck and bar, the top of the Donovan is now to DC what Sky Bar is (or was) to LA and NoMi at the Park Hyatt is to Chicago. As with those spots, most of the scene is not made up of guests, but of the friends and friend of friends of local party promoters and social mavens, like designer Kristi Riggs whose birthday party/ new line launch was in swing the night I checked in.

As is standard practice, hotel guests have free access to the roof. All other comers have to pass muster at the guest list check in at the elevator.

A few blocks down the street, the newly-opened W Hotel in the former Hotel Washington is the perfect example of the conflict inherent in this new shift to hipsterism. The hotel’s roof lounge, with its chandeliers, high style and black-clad hostesses has become the nexus of young, powerful, connected and worldly Washington. But while the name  and design of the hotel have changed, its unique view of the White House has been a major tourist draw for decades, so remains a must-see for visitors who have no idea that the W is supposed to be cool and ironic. Seeing families from Iowa at a velvet rope trying to navigate a bouncer and a VIP list is a bit disconcerting. DC has never done New York-style pretense very well. Once you pass the guy with the suit, however, the payoff is worth it if you’re there on the right night. I’d suggest going early if you want to see the White House. Go later if you want to meet people who work at the White House.

Not surprisingly, the most lively roof party was the one with no conceits – no lists, no ropes, no cover, no pretenses – The Cool Out, a Sunday night staple at the Beacon Hotel, just blocks away from the Donovan on Scott Circle at 16th  St. & Rhode Island Ave. Less like a curated scene and more like an impromptu house party, the event favors old school soul, stiff drinks and an easy mix of colorful people that didn’t feel to segregate among cliques. Definitely something rare in Washington. Like the other rooftops, the crowd was smart, funny, fashionable (as DC fashion goes), successful and striving.

Down on the ground there are also signs of change as well, Performance artists like Holly Bass and W. Ellington Felton and the city’s impressive gang of poets are getting renewed attention. Small businesses are expanding to other parts the city,  and depending on what you’re on, steadily creeping gentrification is making once downtrodden neighborhoods more diverse – or less.

But much more important than the people, the parties and the scene was the conversation. Washington has always been a place for people to dream big ideas, but rather than politics and policy the talk on the roofs centered around entrepreneurship, LEED-certified architecture, venture capital, digital initiatives, innovation and limited partnerships.

As much as the city touts new restaurants and stores, the real cultural shift is a new state of mind, sparked by the example of a Black president and a spirit that suggests no limits.

Where to stay, eat and play in DC. 

Eric Easter writers about politics, culture and technology for EbonyJet.com.