Does D.C. Need a Gondola?

To start, let's correct a bit of a D.C. urban legend: Retailers in the tony shopping district of Georgetown would like nothing more than to have at least one Metro station there in the future. For a neighborhood too long cut off from the region's central transit system—and not by some purposeful decision to keep out the rabble—Georgetown hopes to connect to the grid soon. Shop-owners and residents have pinned their ambitions to a future Blue Line path that would wind right through the historic residential neighborhood.

Those dreams are a long way from coming true, though. At a recent community meeting detailing the area's 15-year plan—dubbed Georgetown 2028—planners said that, while they're holding out hope for a Metrorail station sooner rather than later, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority isn't going to move on any such plans before 2040. Until then, Georgetown is focusing on the steps it can take now, from improving wayfinding throughout the neighborhood to planning the western-most leg of a citywide streetcar system.