The Union Station is under construction. But even so, it is very falsely designed. There’s no map of the city, no directions for public transportation system in general; service in the subway station is underdeveloped. People get confused as soon as they get out of the station trying to find a way to head to where they want to go, especially for tourists, which is an issue worth considering about the station since tourism is second highest economic factor in Washington DC (only behind Politics). Parts of the city itself are underdeveloped. During the time when special occasions happen (which is a very common thing in Washington DC), the capacity of the station and other transit system is not enough to meet the demand of the people. As we got out of the Acela train from New York City to Washington DC, the pathway took us to the back of the station but not the main hall (which is being reconstructed and expected to also be one of the attractions of the city). The station was designed to look quite luxurious in the daylight but very shabby at night. The
direction is very confusing to all of us. The station makes most tourists who visit Washington DC for the first time feel unsafe while they enter the station at night time. When we visited the station again the following morning under the guide of members of Union Station Executive Board, we felt welcomed as we entered the main hall of the station. The main hall is under reconstruction, designed under the influence of French architecture. The main part of the building is a mixture of dining services, retail stores and the paths to the transit system.
Washington DC falls into the category of both Transit Neighborhood and Special Use/Employment District. For that reason, the Union Station is located near the main attractions of the city such as the Capitol, the complex of national museums, memorials. Because Washington DC does not have enough density to support local-serving retail, economic activity is not concentrated around the station; also, secondary transit is less frequent and less well-connected. As we had seen in Washington DC, not everything is within walking distance. The main public transportation is the light rail/subway system. Bus stations are scattered and far from the residential areas, the buses are not frequent and not many people use bus as their mean of transportation. There’s little, if any, public transportation connecting the important parts of the city such as museums, memorials, the Capitol; City bikes are available, and services are also offered right outside of the Union Station, but biking is not as widely-used as in New York City.
Union Station
Today
Architecture and Design
47 Magazine / January, 2014
We felt welcomed as we entered the main hall
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