The Gimlet Eye

Mr. Ferguson is an editorial writer for the Scripps Howard News Service.

WASHINGTON is not a city of great character or charm. There are no funky dives where bookmakers belly up to the bar with tax attorneys, no dim little shops with unsold inventory from the Fifties. Washington was swept clean of these a generation ago, in a particularly tasteless fit of urban renewal. Today you can stand on many downtown streetcorners and see nothing that was there before, say, 1965.

About the Author

Andrew Ferguson

Andrew Ferguson, a former columnist for NR, is a contributing writer at The Atlantic and a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

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Mr. Ferguson is an editorial writer for the Scripps Howard News Service.

WASHINGTON is not a city of great character or charm. There are no funky dives where bookmakers belly up to the bar with tax attorneys, no dim little shops with unsold inventory from the Fifties. Washington was swept clean of these a generation ago, in a particularly tasteless fit of urban renewal. Today you can stand on many downtown streetcorners and see nothing that was there before, say, 1965.