The following is related to some things I wrote on the "City Blunder" thread on the US forum:

Please share the common wisdom in DC/VA/MD on the following:

how would Washington as a city and the whole Washington metropolitan area in DC, VA, and MD, been different if the areas of the city west of the Potomac hadn't been returned to Virignia?

Is there any common thinking about how this area would developed? Would it have been a far stronger government presence than the impressive govt presence at the Pentagon, Reagan, Arl Cem, etc.?

Could an expanded government gone west across Arl Mem Bridge to make the areas due west of the river almost an extension of the mall, thus with DC's core being on both sides of the river?

With an expanded amount of land, would the worst economic times in Washington during the 20th century been softened by more middle class residents who conceivably might have been in the west bank of the city (if it had one)?

If L'Enfant had laid out the city west of the river with a street plan and even included sites for future construction, might that have influenced the VA areas and perhaps kept the city together?

How might the whole DC area been different today if that old diamond shaped city had stayed in place?

More urban decay, methinks.

it would be better in ways I think because for sure you'd have and extension of the mall or core in some way. I'm not so sure the pentagon would be there. Rosslyn could have bee an extension of G'town. Alexandria would probably be the same. I think it worked out fine though.

very interesting. I'm not sure myself how it would have been. Like said before, I think it worked out fine like it is. :)

Edge,

This is a coincidence. I was driving through Arlington and Alexandria yesterday and I was asking myself some of the same questions. I think the VA side of DC would have a better street grid than it does now. I think Rossyln development would have stretched down the Potomac all the way to Crystal City instead of Wilson Blvd. I don't think the Pentagon would be there nor Arlington Cemetary. The mall would eventually run out and turned into West Capitol Street. I 395 would have not been built. I also feel that we would have had more bridges and tunnels connecting both sides of the city. But really, it doesn't make a difference one way or another. They consider themselves Washingtonians. People in the DC area don't look at it as a great divide. I think the subway has made the region more cohesive.

Edge,

This is a coincidence. I was driving through Arlington and Alexandria yesterday and I was asking myself some of the same questions. I think the VA side of DC would have a better street grid than it does now. I think Rossyln development would have stretched down the Potomac all the way to Crystal City instead of Wilson Blvd. I don't think the Pentagon would be there nor Arlington Cemetary. The mall would eventually run out and turned into West Capitol Street. I 395 would have not been built. I also feel that we would have had more bridges and tunnels connecting both sides of the city. But really, it doesn't make a difference one way or another. They consider themselves Washingtonians. People in the DC area don't look at it as a great divide. I think the subway has made the region more cohesive.

Could L'Enfant have laid anything similiar to the DC grid on the hillier land west of the Potomac? Could this area have been able of accomodating wide, diagonal streets?

"Could L'Enfant have laid anything similiar to the DC grid on the hillier land west of the Potomac? Could this area have been able of accomodating wide, diagonal streets?"

Definitely,

Believe it or not, the Maryland side of DC is even more hillier than the VA side. Upper NW which consists of major avenues like Wisconsin, Connecticut, 16th Street and Georgia Ave all rise considerable after you leave the downtown area.

"Could L'Enfant have laid anything similiar to the DC grid on the hillier land west of the Potomac? Could this area have been able of accomodating wide, diagonal streets?"

Definitely,

Believe it or not, the Maryland side of DC is even more hillier than the VA side. Upper NW which consists of major avenues like Wisconsin, Connecticut, 16th Street and Georgia Ave all rise considerable after you leave the downtown area.

but, DCBaby, is that true for the immediate areas of central Washington (I'm thinking about the west end of the mall) and VA across the river? Isn't there a major rise with Arlington cemetery that would have had an effect on an extension of the L'Enfant layout if the extension of the Capitol/Wash Monument/reflectng pool/Lincoln Mem was extended across the Potomac?

^^ Capitol/Wash Monument/reflectng pool/Lincoln Mem axis

but then maybe the Redskins would have built their stadium in VA instead of MD; and all those traffic problems on gameday would be VA's headache and not MD's so I guess it all works out in the end

200k more people would bring the DC population to ~800k.