December 5, 2005
DCist Book Review: The NFT Guide to Washington, D.C.
Moving to a new city can present a daunting challenge to even the most well-worn of urbanites -- how to quickly and painlessly learn of the city's neighborhoods and nightlife without resorting to an embarrassing and attention-grabbing tourist guidebook. Into that void steps the Not For Tourists guidebooks, which describe themselves as such:
Our philosophy is simple: people need to use the cities they live in, commute into, or travel to effectively. They need to use their city’s transportation systems; its governmental infrastructure; its shops, restaurants, and nightspots—and they need all of this information while they’re on the move in a format that’s more accessible than the Yellow Pages, more informative than Zagat’s, and more useful than any tourist’s guide.The first NFT guidebook was released in 2000 and covered Manhattan; since then guides have been added for Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and, in its second year, the District.
DCist managed to get its grubby little hands on a complimentary copy (we're not that special; 300 of them were handed out at NFT's launch party last week at Local 16), and we dove right in, not knowing what to expect but excited to find out. By way of brief conclusion, the District's NFT guide tries more than it succeeds in breaking the mold of the traditional tourist guide, while suffering from one surprising omission that may well throw into question its status as the more urbane and well-informed alternative.
From the outside in, the NFT guide purposely tries to set itself apart from the competition. Its 350-pages are bound by a plain black cover, a welcome departure from the tired practice of plastering tourist guides with stock pictures of Washington memorials and monuments (such as the Lonely Planet guide, at right). The guide's introduction sets the tone for the information and maps contained within, noting:
This book is not meant for people who sport fanny packs and visors, order overpriced sandwiches, and ask people how to get to "Foggy Bottoms." However, if you're a newbie to the area and are eager to jump in with both feet; if you're a capitol city veteran who wants to elevate to the rank of insider; even if you're a (we cringe to use the word) tourist who wouldn't mind breaking away from mom, dad and sis to step into the shoes of the movers, shakers, hipsters and rockers that make this city the most powerful -- and one of the most dynamic -- in the world, then this book is for you.To that end, the guide contains 46 maps covering different areas of the District, Maryland, and Northern Virginia. Each map is prefaced by a brief, hipster-sounding description of the neighborhood in question (Dupont Circle is described as having an "undeniable European vibe," while Columbia Heights is identified as the District's "long-blighted Latin quarter"), and followed by a corresponding list of local bars, restaurants, businesses, and attractions. The guide's latter 150-pages features more specific information on local parks, universities, venues, transit options, hotels, history, and government.
The guide is comprehensive, easily accessible, and best of all, fun to read. It attempts to present the District and the surrounding area as something more than just a federal city packed with state-funded memorials, monuments, and museums (ironically enough, though, the first map is of the National Mall), and it quickly becomes clear that those providing the majority of the fodder for it are both informative and self-deprecating. The guide falls short in how it approaches the city's many neighborhoods, though. While it dares to include some areas that other guidebooks are yet learning exist (Trinidad in Northeast, for one), its brief blurbs probably won't be of much use to those using it to house-hunt or become more acquainted with the different personalities that make up the District's urban fabric. The more DCist flipped through it, the more the guide seemed like a traditional guidebook with less filler and sharper presentation.
Probably most damaging to the guide's claim to being something other than traditional is its complete omission of neighborhoods across the the Anacostia River. Spare a narrow slice of Southeast across from where the new stadium is to be built, the majority of Wards 7 and 8, encompassing the city's eastern-most fringes, are nowhere to be found, as if Maryland had swallowed them whole. For a guidebook that pays lip service to the District's stark socioeconomic divisions, its failure to include two wards (pictured at right, in orange and green) whose 140,000 residents are by-and-large African-American and from which the city's most famous (and infamous) mayor, Marion Barry, rose is telling. How can a guidebook purporting to offer readers an insight into the "real Washington" so spectacularly fail to present the city in its entirety? How would we react to a comprehensive guide to American history that excluded the period of slavery?
If you need a handy guide to the District that doesn't instantly pin you down as a fanny-pack wearing tourist ripe for pick-pocketing, the NFT guide is for you. It's not a dramatic alternative to traditional guidebooks; it's just less overtly decorated and less stuffed with needless factoids on monuments and memorials to America's presidents than the competition. If you want better inside information on the city from people who live in it, you can, well, keep visiting us. Yes, we know, shameless plug.
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Perhaps because about the only activities in those neighborhoods are buying drugs and being shot at? Yes, they're part of DC, but they're parts that most people avoid at all costs.
nice comment, j. there are real people that live east of the anacostia in real neighborhoods, and they don't shoot at each other and deal drugs. that's just as likely to be found in the u street or columbia heights areas (trust me, i know, i live there).
how about heading down to SE and taking a look around, you might find it isn't all the horrible place that it's been made out to be in the popular opinion of others.
with regards to the NFT book, they are going to be getting a lot of comments from me on updating their maps. they're horrible. computer generated crap, says i. missing a lot of recent changes...
I love you dcist, I really do. But criticizing a publication for not being more inclusive of Anancostia, and then offering yourselves as an alternative is about an 11 on the unintentional comedy scale.
imgoph:
Yes, I recognize that plenty of "real" people live there (are there fake people?), but that doesn't mean there's a compelling reason to go there if you don't live there. In fact, there are compelling reasons *not* to go there if you don't have to.
And, yes, I've been to SE on many occasions.
I agree with "the comment by "uh," insofar as it points out that DCist coverage of SE, barring brief links to news stories, are so wanting as to be nearly nonexistent. How many SE residents does DCist pull in as readers? How many SE residents regularly read DCist for information on happenings, restaurants, and arts in their communities?
(1) Pretty telling that the book release party was at Local 16; pretty "insider"---if you live in Fairfax, VA.
(2) Didn't Marion Barry say (during his re-election campaign) something along the lines of "We need to get businesses to Ward 8. We don't even have a restaurant in Ward 8." Obviously, it's an overstatement, but the fact remains that there really isn't a lot that I would recommend people I don't know, who are reading a guidebook, to check out in Ward 8. And I certainly would NEVER equate leaving out a discussion of Wards 7 & 8 to a denial of (or exclusion of discussion on) slavery (shame on you, Martin). That said, I would have made sure to include the one-time World's largest chair that's in Ward 8.
(3) Can the posters on DCist please take a stand one way or another on something? Have a well-formed opinion for chrissakes and don't treat your audience like idiots that can't form their own opinions and see the other side of an argument/issue. Either you like the book or you don't---don't hedge your bets with this "The book's new and fun to read and comprehensive, but it's not comprehensive and isn't that different, but if you need a handy guide 'it's for you'" crap.
I'll be the first one to admit that we could cover the city better, especially areas far removed from our daily lives. Of course, most of us are limited by time and resources. I am planning on doing a tour of Anacostia and the greater Southeast area soon, though.
And while Anacostia and areas across the river do have their fair share of crime, they are also neighborhoods steeped in history. The guide bothered to mention Trinidad and Near Northeast (which I applaud), so why not Anacostia? And by not mentioning it, don't they simply further the image of a city divided that they should be fighting against? That was my point.
children shoot each other with guns. in broad daylight. during school hours. in SE right? so maybe tourists shouldnt go by the schools, right? OR maybe drive through the neighborhood at night looking for a hip restaurant and a trendy bar? i think the guide negates the area because yes it is still "scary" for DC residents and far more terrifying for your uncle mort, aunt steffy and your cousins. even during the day. maybe one day those neighborhoods will become hipster-fied. but not yet.
I think it's difficult to cover areas EOR if you're a guidebook. If you paint a realistic picture (and yes there is a high crime rate there, and yes not everyone there is shooting and dealing -- the two statements aren't mutually exclusive), then you run the risk of offending residents. If you try to describe it in glowing terms, and that convinces newbies to move there, then they will likely have a negative reaction to your guide.
How would you handle it if you were writing the guide? How would you describe an area that is short on grocery stores and non-fast food restaurants, and big on gun violence and blight?
Finally, I agree with the poster who mentioned unintentional comedy. I have actually always been interested in learning more about the areas east of the river, and haven't found DCist to be such a great source for that.
DC Lounger,
My opinion was this: I find the guide good in that it has a good amount of info and is well-written, but doesn't live up to its own billing as a true alternative to traditional guidebooks.
Ward's 7 and 8 are short on restaurants, but they do feature some museums and parks I wish had been mentioned. They are also slowly moving up, and the city has dedicated resources to improving some of the area's most important arteries through the Great Streets program.
Martin
DCist.com
Chipie,
Last I checked, children were shot in broad daylight in many hipster areas of town, including Columbia Heights. Being hip is not, in my opinion, the reason a neighborhood should be included in a guidebook, especially a guide like this.
Martin
DCist.com
Martin,
Your slavery analogy is very inappropriate and not quite relevant to your post. Please consider removing it. It's a guide book, for heaven's sake.
And if there are people outside of NW that don't shoot and steal all the time, presumably at least some might start asking their neighbors and fellow community members to stop it.
At least in NW, developers like PN Hoffman can purchase formerly crap slumland and turn it into something decent. Sure, they gouge the people who move in -- but our economy has so much money floating around that everything just works! Then people move in, and the neighborhood picks up (for some). Until eventually, the others start mugging and shooting the new neighbors. Yet the popular thing isn't to blame the real source of the problem, but to call the wealthier new neighbors "gentrifiers" and just blame them. Why blame them? Because they're wealthy and white.
Truth is, it's just easier to say that the people with money that you see in neighborhoods like U St., Capitol Hill, and Columbia Heights aren't typically so evil. And they would be willing to help those less fortunate in their neighborhood. What you call gentrification is a bigger problem than anyone describes, but not because the rich residents are taking advantage of the poor. It is because neighbors are seeing eachother as the enemy.
We live in a society that values the dollar more than the smile, and at a corporate/governmental level rely on hoarding and trickery rather than sharing and compassion in order to strengthen our position for the future. It is time we take a step back, pause from our own routines, and simply think if maybe there is something we can do to help. I would argue that few problems are shared by people moving out of the neighborhood. Rather, a neighborhood in which people of all cutures, and socioeconomic groups are able to find common venues and social ground is one that can thrive with vibrancy. Now, how can we all come together to pull ourselves up?
lets ease off the gentrification issue for a bit, and stick to the Guidebook:
Martin: the hip issue isnt what i meant. its the Safety issue. ::: yes anyone can be attacked or shot in any part of dc or its suburbs, BUT would you knowingly lead tourists to parts of the city where these crimes are more likely to happen? this is the purpose of a guide book, to give tourists a review of or sell a city's neighborhood and its attractions. the district STILL has a very bad reputation for crime, homicide in general. it may be a stereotype for anacostia and SE to be crime-ridden neighborhood where nothing thrives, but until it shakes off its reputation, i really dont want tourists to have the stereotype proven true to them. or worse, to have a tourist SHOT at because they thought there was some attraction worth seeing in such a dangerous neighborhood.
now, please, if dcist readers can suggest things to do and see in anacostia and SE dc, i would welcome the opportunity to have my mind opened. i desperately need a new neighborhood to explore.
The NFT Guide to New York City is great. It includes about every neighborhood in the city, including ones where natives much less tourists fear to tread. I even used the NFT as a resource when I had to venture into such neighborhoods.
Note: I have not seen this years NFT for DC but last year was disappointed that it fell so far short of the NYC version.
I have a copy of an earlier edition of the NFT DC guidebook, and it's pretty clearly aimed at hipsters. We get the requisite putdowns of bland inner ring suburbs, breathless cheerleading for the Ward 1 neighborhoods, and nada for both East-of-the-River and all but the closest-in suburbs.
So it's useful if you're new here and aren't interested in much beyond hipster DC.
DCist makes a good point, in my humble opinion. It would be nice to know more about the museums and other venues east of the river. For some ideas all the guidebook authors had to do was check out the African American Heritage Trail.
Click on the attached link if you want to see the places included on the trail.
I don't know if any of you have seen any of the other NFT books, but the NY version includes information on several neighborhoods in Queens and Bronx that are as "bad" as Anacostia. They aren't a traditional tourist guidebooks as the name indicates. The entire point is to show current residents or intrepid travellers reasons to go to interesting neighborhoods that people like J seem to think there is no reason to visit.
Anacostia is steeped in City history. While it is not downtown, there are plent of sites that could have been included (e.g. The Fredercik Douglas house, the farmers market in Peace Park, Player's Lounge, St. Elizabeths, and many more). While it's not a huge deal, that's sort of their mantra, and it's just slightly disappointing they didn't spend more time trying to find interesting, lesser known destinations like they've done in other cities.
It seems most of the people commenting here haven't seen other NFT books, or perhaps even the DC one. Checking them out might help for some context before offering your opinion.
the fact is that Dcist is aimed at people in NW washington...and maybe a little downtown and capitol hill. I would like to see more inclusion of events happening in SE. There are always events at Anacostia museum, and during the summer there are plays and concerts at Ft. Dupont park, plus of course various Go-Go concerts. If you want to see whats going on across the river and NE pick up a East of the River or DC North magazine. They are hard to find in Dupont or glover park though, so goto http://www.capitalcommunitynews.com/publications/eotr/2005_nov/html/index.cfm or http://www.capitalcommunitynews.com/publications/dcnorth/2005_nov/html/index.cfm
Wouldn't it be against the average Anacostia resident's interest for DCist to start cheerleading for the SE? Wouldn't that just lead to more white people feeling comfortable enough to move in, which will "ruin" the neighborhood, according to so many DCist readers?
Not saying I agree with this, I'm just confused how people can scold white people for "ruining" places like Columbia Heights, while at the same time scold white people for avoiding Anacostia.
I feel like this book pretty much misses the mark. The "Not For Tourists" implies to me that the book should offer something new, and offer the reader (presumably not the tourist) with lesser known facts and destinations throughtout the city. Instead this book is just a watered down version of other guide books, and while it may not make one standout as a tourist, that is hardly worth the price one pays for the inferior product. I mean this book misses some major things, for example, it doesn't even list all the radio stations or newspapers in its media page, and it even misclassifies a few. Furthermore, in my very own neighborhood (cleveland park) the book fails to mention a rather large park (rosedale) and almost completely glazes over the importance of the uptown. I have not met anyone from the dc area who doesn't know what the uptown is, and I have even met people people who live in chicago who know what the uptown is. When I describe where I live I usually tell people "by the uptown," because I realize that it's a pretty recognizable landmark (I realize I'm just harping on one major location here but I think it underscores how this guide is lacking).
Furthermore the book seems to neglect the fact that some people aren't christian as it does not mention one synogogue (the one in chinatown actually has some interesting history behind it), mosques, or that the founding church of scientology is on dupont circle (its actually a pretty cool building; I would recommend making a visit). On top of this I is the fact that anacostia is pretty much completely neglected.
Frankly, it seems to me that the people who made this book sent someone here for a few weeks and had them drive around and list somethings that they thought stood out. To be fair this book does offer some useful information, like the stuff about the dog parks, but for the most part this book does nothing that other guide books don't do better. I could continue talking about this thing, but I recommend that everyone go to the website and read the whole book to draw your own conclusions (you can read it for free; its posted up as a pdf).
I agree with Ryan, the "Nor For Tourists" name does imply that this guidebook is made for people who are not tourists. I have had similiar difficulties with other guidebooks in the past. For example, Lonely Planet directed me to some of the most visited and popoular historical sites in all of Rome. I most certainly did not feel lonely at all; they should rename it Crowded Planet. And don't even get me started on Rough Guides. I had the best night's sleep in my life at a hotel they recommended. Idiots.
anyone else notice that if you check out the page devoted to metrorail, on the large map they have placed the green line between congress heights and l'enfant plaza south of the potomac?
matt:
Wow, that Metro map is awful. It looks like they had a map layer and a metro-line layer in Photoshop (or, more likely, InDesign or Quark) and couldn't be bothered to line them up correctly.
Definitely looks like the book isn't worth the money or time to pick up.
I am a single woman transplant and have been in DC for 7 months. I moved right smack dab into the middle of Southeast, my choice. I have a nice house with a substantial fenced in yard in the back (for my two big dogs), nice neighbors who mow their yards and pick up trash, and an 8 minute commmute to work. My car has not been broken into nor have I been accosted, attacked, harrassed or molested. I can walk my dogs to Anacostia park without being scared. There are low-income residents in my area and they try to live just as I do.
As a newbie, I think you all are too harsh on certain neighborhoods. By all media accounts and by listening to some people on this site, I should be scared and should have never moved here.
The Guide shouldn't exclude any areas of town. Every area has something to offer. Some more than others. There are restaurants like Miss Charlottes Crabcakes on Minnesota Ave to visit, historic sites like Frederick Douglas'home to visit, churches, stores and people.
I have confidence in my block leaders and my neighbors, who all want the same thing I do... to live life peacefully and comfortably and to make our homes a castle while we are there.
I don't know anything about this book, but ward 8 is not just one big ghetto. Until the 1920s it was actually mostly farmland, and large sections are still relatively suburban.
There are actually some pretty nice neighborhoods in ward 8. Try driving out PA avenue a couple of miles...there's not a lot going on, but it's pretty nice.
the slavery correlation seemed a bit off-base. not sure of its relevance and seems rather offensive, whether intended or not.
Good point Odam. I didn't understand what you were referring to at first, but for reference you mean the following statement:
"How can a guidebook purporting to offer readers an insight into the "real Washington" so spectacularly fail to present the city in its entirety? How would we react to a comprehensive guide to American history that excluded the period of slavery?"
seems to be implying, based on the rest of the text, that Anacostia is to Washington DC as Slavery is to American History.
I wholeheartedly agree this seems offensive and inaccurate in a number of ways.
I bought the 1st edition of the DC NFT, and its maps DID NOT SHOW THE NATIONAL GALLERY. Idiots!
The writing in this thing is terrible. The neighborhood profiles are fatuous, and the too-cool-for-your-parents tone comes across like a hipster McDonald's ad. (I'm lovin' it.)