Special Event: DesignDC Walking Tour: Penn Avenue–National Symbol & Local Gem

Join the National Capital Planning Commission and partners for a Pennsylvania Avenue walking tour to learn about, and contribute to, the current conversation about changing conditions, challenges, and opportunities that will inform the avenue’s future. Situated between the National Mall and downtown, Pennsylvania Avenue offers a unique opportunity to integrate the ceremonial needs, monumental core, and local, urban vitality of Washington.

Pennsylvania Avenue and its environs were transformed by the 1974 Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation Plan as a place to live, work, and visit. Substantially completed in the 1990’s, it was a catalyst to help transform Penn Quarter and downtown Washington into the dynamic urban neighborhood it is today. 

40 years after the plan’s release, the avenue faces several challenges including how it competes with emerging neighborhoods and work centers around the city; limited resources to adequately maintain the avenue; increased security needs in the Federal Triangle; and conflicting programming needs. There is also a need to ensure it functions as a sustainable and complete street, reflecting the best planning and design practices of our 21st century capital.

Tour Leaders:

• Sarah Ridgely, Urban Planner, National Capital Planning Commission
• Susan Spain, Landscape Architect, National Park Service
• Eliza Voigt, Park Planner, National Mall and Memorial Parks, National Park Service
• Nancy Witherell, Historic Preservation Officer, National Capital Region, General Services Administration
• Patricia Zingsheim, Associate Director of Revitalization and Design Division, DC Office of Planning