Union Station smells like urine, has a homeless problem, and is half deserted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it mind boggling that Bowser wants to spend over $10 billion on the station. Renovation to make it less dingy and make the passenger areas easier to navigate? Fine by me. But that’s the kind of money DC badly needs for new transportation infrastructure, not a vanity project improving a waiting area.

I don’t. I remember the station in multiple iterations. There’s a strong argument to be made for what revitalizing the station can do for tourism, for the neighborhood, and for the city as a welcoming destination as well as as a critical transportation hub.

This! This station needs serious help and is a disgrace for our nation's capital.

Okay, it could use some help. Does it need $10 billion dollars in “help”? No, it does not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it mind boggling that Bowser wants to spend over $10 billion on the station. Renovation to make it less dingy and make the passenger areas easier to navigate? Fine by me. But that’s the kind of money DC badly needs for new transportation infrastructure, not a vanity project improving a waiting area.

I don’t. I remember the station in multiple iterations. There’s a strong argument to be made for what revitalizing the station can do for tourism, for the neighborhood, and for the city as a welcoming destination as well as as a critical transportation hub.

This! This station needs serious help and is a disgrace for our nation's capital.

Unless you allow police to evict the homeless, it won't matter how much money they pour into the station. I doubt you can do that though because they have a right to be anywhere open to the public

[Anonymous]

I used to hate Penn Station, but the Moynihan Train Hall is wonderful. Same with LGA. That was a horrible airport but now it is beautiful. So things can improve if there is the will to do so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What are the places in DC that are retail destinations now?

I recall visiting City Center DC a while after it opened and it was bizarre - some really high-end retail stores with very few customers and a lot of security guards. It wasn't inviting at all.

Apparently they don't get many customers at all... that creepy City Center DC commercial is running non-stop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it mind boggling that Bowser wants to spend over $10 billion on the station. Renovation to make it less dingy and make the passenger areas easier to navigate? Fine by me. But that’s the kind of money DC badly needs for new transportation infrastructure, not a vanity project improving a waiting area.

I don’t. I remember the station in multiple iterations. There’s a strong argument to be made for what revitalizing the station can do for tourism, for the neighborhood, and for the city as a welcoming destination as well as as a critical transportation hub.

This! This station needs serious help and is a disgrace for our nation's capital.

Unless you allow police to evict the homeless, it won't matter how much money they pour into the station. I doubt you can do that though because they have a right to be anywhere open to the public

Why do they have a right to just lay down, urinate and sleep in public? I'm not a fan of loitering.

[Anonymous]

It's scary now. I was there a few weeks ago for a business trip - the bathrooms were scary, homeless everywhere, so many stores closed

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are the places in DC that are retail destinations now?

I recall visiting City Center DC a while after it opened and it was bizarre - some really high-end retail stores with very few customers and a lot of security guards. It wasn't inviting at all.

Apparently they don't get many customers at all... that creepy City Center DC commercial is running non-stop.

It’s part of a larger malaise. Post-Covid there just isn’t enthusiasm for public (in person) life. Dating, socializing, shopping, meetings… they’re all done online. We’re starting to turn into Ready player 1… so maybe it doesn’t matter that downtowns and public spaces are turning to rot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it mind boggling that Bowser wants to spend over $10 billion on the station. Renovation to make it less dingy and make the passenger areas easier to navigate? Fine by me. But that’s the kind of money DC badly needs for new transportation infrastructure, not a vanity project improving a waiting area.

I don’t. I remember the station in multiple iterations. There’s a strong argument to be made for what revitalizing the station can do for tourism, for the neighborhood, and for the city as a welcoming destination as well as as a critical transportation hub.

Loitering isn't illegal in DC
This! This station needs serious help and is a disgrace for our nation's capital.

Unless you allow police to evict the homeless, it won't matter how much money they pour into the station. I doubt you can do that though because they have a right to be anywhere open to the public

Why do they have a right to just lay down, urinate and sleep in public? I'm not a fan of loitering.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it mind boggling that Bowser wants to spend over $10 billion on the station. Renovation to make it less dingy and make the passenger areas easier to navigate? Fine by me. But that’s the kind of money DC badly needs for new transportation infrastructure, not a vanity project improving a waiting area.

I don’t. I remember the station in multiple iterations. There’s a strong argument to be made for what revitalizing the station can do for tourism, for the neighborhood, and for the city as a welcoming destination as well as as a critical transportation hub.

This! This station needs serious help and is a disgrace for our nation's capital.

Unless you allow police to evict the homeless, it won't matter how much money they pour into the station. I doubt you can do that though because they have a right to be anywhere open to the public

Why do they have a right to just lay down, urinate and sleep in public? I'm not a fan of loitering.

There's no law against loitering in DC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just walked through Union Station on my way to an appointment. While US used to be a destination/ meetup for me — anyone else remember the awesomeness that was B. Smith’s? — I wouldn’t describe it that way anymore. There were lots of closed storefronts, which I’m guessing are at least partly related to COVID. The large store that replaced the book shop is gapingly vacant, and the cheerfulness that I remember from pre-COVID holiday seasons just wasn’t there (yet). But I did not, at any point, feel unsafe. There was visible security— including a dog. People lined up for their trains. People like me wove ourselves through the lines to get where we needed to go. It was fine. It wasn’t pretty, or festive like it has been, but it was fine.

Yes, I remember! That was a great place. (I get sad thinking about what happened to her though.) I haven’t been to Union Station in years, but it was a fun place to pop in especially with out of towners. Sad to hear that it is mostly vacant now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just walked through Union Station on my way to an appointment. While US used to be a destination/ meetup for me — anyone else remember the awesomeness that was B. Smith’s? — I wouldn’t describe it that way anymore. There were lots of closed storefronts, which I’m guessing are at least partly related to COVID. The large store that replaced the book shop is gapingly vacant, and the cheerfulness that I remember from pre-COVID holiday seasons just wasn’t there (yet). But I did not, at any point, feel unsafe. There was visible security— including a dog. People lined up for their trains. People like me wove ourselves through the lines to get where we needed to go. It was fine. It wasn’t pretty, or festive like it has been, but it was fine.

Yes, I remember! That was a great place. (I get sad thinking about what happened to her though.) I haven’t been to Union Station in years, but it was a fun place to pop in especially with out of towners. Sad to hear that it is mostly vacant now.

Its primary function is as a train station. The 'festival marketplace'/shopping mall is a secondary function.

Like the top PP, I use Union Station as a train station, and I have never felt unsafe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just walked through Union Station on my way to an appointment. While US used to be a destination/ meetup for me — anyone else remember the awesomeness that was B. Smith’s? — I wouldn’t describe it that way anymore. There were lots of closed storefronts, which I’m guessing are at least partly related to COVID. The large store that replaced the book shop is gapingly vacant, and the cheerfulness that I remember from pre-COVID holiday seasons just wasn’t there (yet). But I did not, at any point, feel unsafe. There was visible security— including a dog. People lined up for their trains. People like me wove ourselves through the lines to get where we needed to go. It was fine. It wasn’t pretty, or festive like it has been, but it was fine.

Yes, I remember! That was a great place. (I get sad thinking about what happened to her though.) I haven’t been to Union Station in years, but it was a fun place to pop in especially with out of towners. Sad to hear that it is mostly vacant now.

Its primary function is as a train station. The 'festival marketplace'/shopping mall is a secondary function.

Like the top PP, I use Union Station as a train station, and I have never felt unsafe.

Give me a break. I never said I felt unsafe. I grew up in the Murder Capital of the World before it shared that title with DC. So many people living in the city today are just suburbanites. They aren’t really urban people.

Central stations like Union Station were built to be more than train stations. They were office buildings and retail too. And yes, they were meant to provide a positive vibe as a gateway to the city. These central stations were not solely a ticket office with a platform for those built for hopping the train in less populous areas like the Herndon station.

Fine that you just use Union Station for the trains, however, you are ignorant of the building’s larger purpose.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just walked through Union Station on my way to an appointment. While US used to be a destination/ meetup for me — anyone else remember the awesomeness that was B. Smith’s? — I wouldn’t describe it that way anymore. There were lots of closed storefronts, which I’m guessing are at least partly related to COVID. The large store that replaced the book shop is gapingly vacant, and the cheerfulness that I remember from pre-COVID holiday seasons just wasn’t there (yet). But I did not, at any point, feel unsafe. There was visible security— including a dog. People lined up for their trains. People like me wove ourselves through the lines to get where we needed to go. It was fine. It wasn’t pretty, or festive like it has been, but it was fine.

Yes, I remember! That was a great place. (I get sad thinking about what happened to her though.) I haven’t been to Union Station in years, but it was a fun place to pop in especially with out of towners. Sad to hear that it is mostly vacant now.

Its primary function is as a train station. The 'festival marketplace'/shopping mall is a secondary function.

Like the top PP, I use Union Station as a train station, and I have never felt unsafe.

Give me a break. I never said I felt unsafe. I grew up in the Murder Capital of the World before it shared that title with DC. So many people living in the city today are just suburbanites. They aren’t really urban people.

Central stations like Union Station were built to be more than train stations. They were office buildings and retail too. And yes, they were meant to provide a positive vibe as a gateway to the city. These central stations were not solely a ticket office with a platform for those built for hopping the train in less populous areas like the Herndon station.

Fine that you just use Union Station for the trains, however, you are ignorant of the building’s larger purpose.

Even using it "just as a train station" it is really awkward/uncomfortable to visit the bathroom, as we sometimes need to do. Smelly, small, urine soaked stalls to squeeze into with a suitcase. It's the stuff of nightmares .

[Anonymous]

Just came back through Union Station from NYC the other night. Just walked through from the train to the cab stand. It wasn’t scary or anything but what was noticeable was a strong odor of unwashed bodies when you walked through. It did smell like homeless shelters I’ve volunteered in before. Like big areas of the whole station did. Been going through there for years and that’s something new

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it mind boggling that Bowser wants to spend over $10 billion on the station. Renovation to make it less dingy and make the passenger areas easier to navigate? Fine by me. But that’s the kind of money DC badly needs for new transportation infrastructure, not a vanity project improving a waiting area.

I don’t. I remember the station in multiple iterations. There’s a strong argument to be made for what revitalizing the station can do for tourism, for the neighborhood, and for the city as a welcoming destination as well as as a critical transportation hub.

This! This station needs serious help and is a disgrace for our nation's capital.

Unless you allow police to evict the homeless, it won't matter how much money they pour into the station. I doubt you can do that though because they have a right to be anywhere open to the public

Why do they have a right to just lay down, urinate and sleep in public? I'm not a fan of loitering.

Charles Allen.