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Welcome to our community, our city, our-dc.

Nation’s Capital
Read the national portrayals of DC that inspired this site.

Events
Check out local performances, festivals, and exhibits beyond the Smithsonian.

Culture
Learn about the music, art, writing, theater, dance, spoken word, and film scenes thriving in the city.

Destinations
Explore your city’s food, clubs and lounges, stores, parks, sites and museums, and sports and games.

Neighborhoods
Discover the stories of the neighborhoods outside the federal city.

Visit
Plan an afternoon or a day visiting some of our favorite spots in DC.

Get Involved
Reach out to your city as a volunteer or as an activist in local politics.

Learn More
Find out more about DC through its newspapers, television, radio, and research.

DC, like any other major city, derives its identity not from its local mall or fast food restaurant or even from its biggest tourist attraction, but from the elements that make it a singular place to live and to visit. Yet these elements—such as DC’s small business owners and volunteers, artists and musicians, history of governance and role in the civil rights movement—are largely unknown to the nation that calls DC its capital. People who don’t live here think the city comprises nothing more than a few trendy Northwest neighborhoods and a strip of museums and monuments. Even many people who do live here are familiar only with their own pockets of the city, wherever they may be. At our-dc, we highlight what you, as a local or as a visitor, may be missing: a culture that is unique to DC, the local city, rather than DC, the symbol of a nation.

To be fair, the national eye is not completely blind to local DC culture, but the attention isn’t exactly favorable. As Let’s Go Washington, DC, a popular guidebook for young people, put it, “Despite their poverty, the dilapidated areas beyond the Northwest Quadrant reward cautious streetwise visitors with a dose of DC’s reality.” However, these areas, unsuitably generalized as “dilapidated,” are the majority of the city. They can give you much more than a dose; they can show you the exciting and diverse reality that DC has to offer.

As you browse our-dc, you will probably think of all sorts of unique places in your neighborhood that aren’t on the site yet. Tell us about them! We want this site to be a dynamic, collective effort, so please contact us to bring your favorite spots to the attention of others. Come back to our-dc often because it is still growing.

We hope that our-dc serves as a way for you to learn about your city and your nation’s capital.







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