Stadium Madness

DCist has done a great job of keeping us in the loop about the progress of DC's new stadium and the controversy it's creating all across the city.

Most recently, architects have begun working on plans for a brand new stadium. When the National Association to Restore Pride in America's Capital asked DC residents for their ideas on what the new stadium should look like, they were met with some humorous results. These are two of my favorite entries.

The Chili Bowl
The Chili Bowl restaurant on U Street in the heart of DC's once-thriving Black entertainment district (across the street from the famous Duke Ellington outdoor mural) has long represented the symbolic center of Black political power. No candidate for public office in DC would ever fail to make a highly publicized visit to this city landmark. Nevertheless, this part of town is now home to a majority of DC's relatively recent Hispanic arrivals. Hispanic Night at the stadium would no longer accommodate all of this rapidly growing DC population segment.

The Pothole
A favorite gripe of city residents and the multitude of commuters from the suburbs, is the city's supposed inability to keep its almost 1200 miles of freeways, avenues, streets and alleys properly paved. Potholes have for years been a symbol of the inability of the city government to provide even the simplest of city services. Seldom mentioned is the basic contributing factor that DC is a "mid-Atlantic" city, with significant precipitation and winter temperatures cycling above and below freezing dozens of time per winter.