Thousands of federal employees traipse to and from it every day, even in the age of telework. Some parts of it look like a major world capital, some like tony suburbs, and some like shantytowns. That’s our Washington, D.C. Portions of it have been shaped for a century by the National Capital Planning Commission. Joining the Federal Drive with Tom Temin for a centennial retrospective is the commission’s executive director, Marcel Acosta.

Interview transcript:

Tom Temin  Mr. Acosta, good to have you back.

Marcel Acosta  Thank you very much, Tom.

Tom Temin  And it’s 100 years of the commission, huh?

Marcel Acosta  Yes, it is. The Commission was created by Congress in 1924. We were originally a parks planning agency. So, we acquired many of the parkways such as George Washington Parkway, that big C that makes the nation’s capital so wonderful, the Ford circle park system. But two years later, the Congress added planning responsibilities to the National Capital Planning Commission as we know it today. And basically, we had the oversight over development of the region planning for the region, especially when it comes to the federal city and federal portions of Washington D.C.

Tom Temin  Right. I think people sometimes mistake the commission for only having purview over say, you know, the Pennsylvania Avenue monumental corridor area, but actually your reach is to all corners of D.C.

Marcel Acosta  Yes, our jurisdiction also includes the counties that are next to Washington, D.C., and there are many important federal installations there, such as the National Institutes of Health, that are important to our nation. So, we cover that, the Pentagon, military bases. So it’s not just about the monumental core in the Mall. But there’s all these important things that makes our country’s government work well.

Tom Temin  Sure, yeah. The Pentagon would have still been in D.C. until 1848, I think it was. Virginia part receded back to Virginia. That is right. I never understood that one. I like the square idea. But I mean, what are the challenges in this day and age of urban planning in a city that’s diverse in terms of the types of people but it’s also a use diverse type of city, because there is this big federal footprint, but there’s also neighborhoods?

Marcel Acosta  Yes, we’ve worked very closely with our local partners, including the District of Columbia government, our local jurisdictions, the private sector. And you know, we kind of look at this as this is one city, one region, at the end of the day. And so to the extent that the federal government contributes to that is a hugely important part of our mission. But we also look at it in terms of how could it not only support the operational needs of the federal government, the symbolic value of Washington D.C. as the nation’s capital, but how can we make it work for the people who live here, who work here on a daily basis? So, to that extent, we played very closely with efforts such as everything you see around the Anacostia waterfront, for example, the new development that’s going on there. But there’s also the Department of Transportation headquarters, the Navy Yard is still there. But you know, how we blend those things in a place that is wonderful for the citizens of this region, but also for people who come and visit it, and for the workers who who have to come there every day, I think is something that we work on with our local partners in order to ensure that these things are planned well, but also are wonderful when they’re completed.

Tom Temin  And like so many cities, you know, there’s always this tension for people that want pedestrian and bicycle access. Tourists come in, especially in D.C., with huge buses. And over the years, the city government has changed the way the traffic lanes disappear, bike lanes start to appear. What’s the traffic and traffic planning outlook looking like?

Marcel Acosta  Well, we’re looking at kind of a balance transportation network for this region. I mean, of course, you know, people will drive to places but we want to provide more opportunities for other types of modes of transportation, including walking, bicycling. Taking transit is an important one, especially for the federal workforce in order to get to work. The effort has really been how can we maximize and optimize our transportation resources, the roads, the sidewalks, and how to just allow people to make a choice to get to where they want to go in the most convenient way possible for them. So I think that’s been kind of the most recent practice in terms of how we move people around. It’s not just about moving cars. It’s about how do we move people. And I think that’s really kind of been the focus of all the transportation planning in this region.

Tom Temin  Right. I guess it’s a sort of hybrid for most people. They’re glad to take public transit in to the city, but you have to get to the public transit. And, usually, that means a car.

Marcel Acosta  It’s a car, but a lot of people walk. They walk to their bus stops, they walk to their metro stations, and then they take a bus to the metro rail station. So again, you know, it’s a network as people move in different ways along their trips. So, that’s kind of what we look at with respect to transportation and how people move throughout this region.

Tom Temin  Yeah, that’s an interesting point. I’ve lived in my house in Montgomery County for 32 years. And this year, I discovered that the bus that runs outside of my neighborhood, which is about a five minute walk to the mouth of the neighborhood, the bus picks me up there and drops me off across the street from the studio that we’re talking in. I should do that instead of drive every day. But, you know, people have habits, I guess. It’s hard to give it up.

Marcel Acosta  Yeah, I think you’re absolutely right. I mean, part of it is how do we communicate this very complex network and transportation modes that we offer, but it really is kind of read what allows all that to occur.

Tom Temin  We’re speaking with Marcel Acosta, executive director of the National Capital Planning Commission. And you mentioned you work closely with the county governments, the D.C. city government, and so on. Decision making is difficult when it’s matrixed. How do decisions get made among the Commission, the county commissions, and so on?

Marcel Acosta  Well, our commission is actually an interesting mix of both federal stakeholders. But the mayor has appointees to our commissions. We have representatives from Virginia and Maryland, on our commission. So, really, it’s through those conversations as they review plans or review projects that hopefully they come to consensus as to what the best course of action is. So, by its constitution, as a board, we have all the stakeholders that you need there in order to make good decisions. So, I think that really helps us in terms of looking out for, you know, if we have a federal development that’s occurring, how will it impact their surrounding neighborhoods. We also have public meetings where the public is able to testify and kind of bring forward any comments or concerns that they might have with respect to the project. So, it is kind of a very open process. And I really think that helps us.

Tom Temin  And if you look at the evolution of the government, I mean, we’re still talking about a possible FBI headquarters that would be in Prince George’s County. That’s one of one of the counties you’re involved with. And then as you mentioned, NIH is in Bethesda. So is Walter Reed, and you’ve got the NIST that’s in Gaithersburg. And on and on it goes. The MARC center in Northern Virginia, and the Pentagon increasingly in recent decades, it’s been become a suburb to suburb ringing situation that may not have a D.C.-centric view. How has that affected the way the commission looks at things?

Marcel Acosta  Well, I think, again, we’re a regional commission at the end of the day. And, you know, obviously, the monumental core at the heart of downtown is always going to be a very important aspect of our work, because not only is it home for federal workers and federal agencies, but also it’s what people come to visit when they come to D.C. And I think the nation and our citizens take a great deal of pride in terms of how that looks and how that’s maintained, and how that’s planned. And so that’s always going to be a focus of our commission’s work. As you said, there are a lot of regional developments that are going on, a lot of it is they’re there because they need the land for laboratories, for instance, or they need security for the missions that they have to accomplish within that workplace. So, we have seen over time, many more, some of these agencies move out to different counties near D.C. And, so, again, we work very closely with the county governments in terms of things like how do we access the facilities from our roadway network? What are some of the environmental issues that may affect neighboring property, as well as the development itself? So, we do work very closely with the local jurisdictions in terms of how to plan that facility properly, in order to both minimize its impact on that community, but also make it a good neighbor at the end of the day.

Tom Temin  Sure. Yeah. The sad part is that, you know, when places like DHS end up in what used to be a fairly open area, it becomes really, you could call it for to DHS, you know, for the way for public access to you know, Homeland Security, likely when the FBI, you know, ends up somewhere, it’s going to be for FBI, which is just, I guess, commentary on the times. And meanwhile, to celebrate your own centennial, the commission has a pretty good exhibit going on.

Marcel Acosta  Yes, we have an exhibit about 100 years of planning, our federal planning in the nation’s capital. Basically, it tells a series of stories in terms of Washington D.C. being a planned city from its inception in 1791, but also the 100 years of Commission’s activities. In this region, we had talked a little bit about the park system that the commission plan very early on, and how it got to the point where it is one of the most admired and most heavily used park systems in the entire country. That’s the legacy of the commission, but also the stories behind it in terms of how it impacted the neighborhoods to some extent. Some people were displaced from these neighborhoods. So, the story is, I believe, very balanced in terms of what it represents. And we talked a little bit about transportation during the mid 20th century, the commission and our regional partners had a big discussion about how do we move people around this region. And that’s really when a lot of these stories and the impacts of highways community actually happen. So, the centennial presentation really tells that story about how it ended up how we ended up with a metro system at the end of the day. So, I think people who want to understand the city in this region and how it operates and how it functions and why is this here? Why is this not here? Will learn a lot from the exhibition.

Tom Temin  Right, and if you want to see a vestige of the old Washington and railway system or whatever they called it the trolleys. There’s some still some pieces of track at Glen Echo embedded in the driveway there, but that’s about the only vestige I think left of it. And finally, how is the commission thinking about a phenomenon that many cities are dealing with, and that is the seeming relative emptiness of office space because of the advent of telework that’s affected Washington, probably not as bad as some cities? And yet, there’s still this horrible traffic and the lack of vitality in some areas of the streetscape retail that was supported by the office worker.

Marcel Acosta  Well, I think many cities are going through this discussion today in terms of the future of their downtowns, the impact of a changing workplace, the impacts on the real estate market. So, I think Washington is certainly not unique with respect to that. But in terms of our efforts, and kind of, again, working with our local partners, some of the things that we’re looking at is, kind of, what is the future of the federal footprint in terms of the buildings that may be necessary for future federal agencies, or not? And so how do we deal with those things over time, I think is a big question, not only for local jurisdiction, but also for agencies such as the General Services Administration, and these individual agencies that are trying to figure out how to consolidate and reconfigure their workplaces for the next century. I also believe that one of the other key aspects that we’re looking at that you raised was really, what do we do about the ground floor of our downtowns and kind of the public spaces in downtown and how do we reconsider them in the absence of federal office workers who have been coming in day to day, so both the district and NCPC.

Tom Temin  And the lobby firms, the nonprofits, the law firms?

Marcel Acosta  You’re absolutely correct. It’s not just a phenomena of government, but many private businesses are also looking at hybrid work as a solution for their workforce. So, you know, how do you rethink downtown, you know, kind of given the changes in terms of who comes there and to a great extent, downtowns are resilient in terms of, they’re places where people still want to come for other reasons. I mean, part of the importance of downtown D.C., for instance. There is an arena, there were there are concerts or sporting events, and other things that go on. So, having that diversity of activity in downtown’s is hugely important. We also have a number of very important cultural institutions, that other cities would die for, frankly, with this facility museums area, as well as the local art scene that D.C. in this region has. So, that cultural aspect to downtown really is hugely important in terms of making sure that there’s an attraction for people where they want to come and be a part of. So, I think it’s going to become much more of a 24-hour downtown. And I think the district’s very focused in terms of looking at how do we bring in more housing and residential downtown, which will also make it much more lively, we also to a great extent, will become one of the great neighborhoods to live in when you’re in the Washington D.C. region. So, I think there’s a lot of optimism in terms of what this place can become. And I think being the seat of the federal government and being at all the things that it brings in terms of the splendor and the glory of the National Mall and these unique places, you could only get in D.C. And I think that’s going to be a huge attraction for people who may want to live there. And of course, people who want to be part of this experience of a place.

Tom Temin  Well, I hope the prime rib is always there.

Marcel Acosta Absolutely. Right.

Tom Temin Marcel Acosta is Executive Director of the National Capital Planning Commission. Always great to talk with you. Thanks so much.

Marcel Acosta Thank you, Tom.

Tom Temin And again, that live exhibit will remain on display at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in Northwest until Sept. 1, and it will be moving to the Arena Stage and to the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in coming weeks. We’ll post this interview along with a link to more about centennial exhibit at federalnewsnetwork.com/federaldrive. Take the Federal Drive with you. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

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