DBWI: What if the US had retroceded only Virginia portion of the Federal District in 1846?

Many people today do not realize that when the United States Capitol was first moved to the Potomac it was 100 miles square and had land ceded from both Virginia and Maryland. There was a push from the commercial interests in what is now Alexandria to have the Virginia portion retroceded to the Commonwealth. In 1846 Congress agreed, but surprised everyone by also retroceding what is now Washington City to Maryland. What would have happened to Washington City had it remained a Federal enclave?
 
Hey, the federal district doesn't have any permanent residents exept the president and the FP*1 but that doesn't mean it's nonexistant.

The reason for the near-complete retrocession was because Congress decided that the federal government "should not have direct control over any land currently or in the future inhabited except needed to rightfully administer the country", so the federal district was limited to a small area containing the white house, capitol, mall, washington oblix*2, Smithsonian federal museum complex, and other federal buildings and monuments, and forbidden to have people live there aside from the president himself (and later the fp*1). If this failed then it is probable that the vast Western lands under federal control wouldn't have been ceeded to their respective states, though I imagine this would happen at some point anyway. At least, the great basin wouldn't be quite as environmentally devistated.

Washington county, Maryland wouldn't even exist, and as a resident of Georgetown city*3 in that very county my life would have been different too, I suppose. Maybe CAT*4 line five station: Georgetown would be finished faster if the feds could order the city to stop obstructing? Maybe the gca*5 wouldn't have two different distinct business districts in downtown Alexandria/Arlington and confluence city center*?

OOC:
*1 federal police
*2 Washington monument
*3 remains a city in Washington county due to lack of consolidation of otl DC
*4 capitol area transit, ttl's Washington metro. Somewhat plagued by nymbys
*5 greater capitol area
 
One of the most interesting repurcussions is the weird interplay of Georgetown's commercial district and all the federal office buildings. I expect most federal offices (and the War Department General Headquarters) would be near the capitol rather than scattered across the country. So there'd probably be an even stronger concentration of federal employees. I doubt that a Congress-controlled federal district would have the same desire to make their city a big commercial hub for tech and industry, so we'd probably have fewer of those garish steel and glass monstrosities on the Potomac and more classical architecture. Or maybe not - it's not as if government architects have the best track record.
 
One of the most interesting repurcussions is the weird interplay of Georgetown's commercial district and all the federal office buildings. I expect most federal offices (and the War Department General Headquarters) would be near the capitol rather than scattered across the country. So there'd probably be an even stronger concentration of federal employees. I doubt that a Congress-controlled federal district would have the same desire to make their city a big commercial hub for tech and industry, so we'd probably have fewer of those garish steel and glass monstrosities on the Potomac and more classical architecture. Or maybe not - it's not as if government architects have the best track record.

I forget exactly when the shrunken F.D. ran out of space for new offices, maybe it was around 1920? Regardless it certainly was a boon for the cities that got new federal infastructure, especially detroit.

As a resident of Georgetown, the reason is because the residents wanted to keep "the asthetic" of their city intact, so they refused to adjust their zoning to match the the rest of the county. Considering how expensive confluence city center is I sure wish they had chosen differently. Then again we have the least pollution in the county in places of the Potomac and anacostia rivers, so keeping out the dirty factories was good in hindsight.

I agree that had Washington county had not been retroceeded, the gca would be known more as a center of power than the industrial area is today, aside from being the place of the president and Congress it's basically no different than other industrial cities like Baltimore, Philadelphia, Detroit, and Pittsburgh.
 
I mean I wouldn't say that - its still a damn sight prettier than the postindustrial belt - whatever you think of gentrification, the GCA isn't exactly dying. It's places like Bethesda and Alexandria I'm worried about. It seems like a lot of the outskirts are struggling to find a new identity for themselves. So I guess in that way it mirrors Baltimore and some of the other midatlantic cities.
 
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