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public plaza

Central Place Plaza

People who want to see the region from above without leaving Arlington find themselves alone up there, looking out over the Potomac and the whole sprawl of DC from the highest vantage point around.

public plaza

Union Square

People come here to stand before the Grant Memorial and contemplate the sweep of American history, with the Capitol rising behind them and the Reflecting Pool stretching out like a moment of pause between ambition and consequence.

public plaza

The Mall

University of Maryland

A sprawling campus green where undergrads hurry between classes and researchers cross paths between labs, animated by the particular energy of a place where people are actually trying to solve something.

public plaza

Freedom Plaza

Ronald Reagan Building Parking, 1300 14th St NW

People come here to stand on L'Enfant's original city plan laid into the pavement and realize how much of Washington they're looking at all at once—the government building, the historic theater, the whole ceremonial corridor stretching out.

public plaza

McKeldin Mall

7998 Regents Dr

This sprawling nine-acre quad at the heart of UMD's campus gives you the feeling of being inside an institution with real history—the kind of place where students have crossed the same grass for generations and where you can actually see the architecture doing what it was meant to do. Come here if you want to understand what a college campus feels like when it's working as a genuine public space.

public plaza

Mcpherson Square

McPherson Square, 958 15th St NW

People who work nearby come here to eat lunch on a bench and watch the city move around them, which is the whole point of a downtown square doing its job right.