Observations
First Impressions
Capitol Hill is a colorful and vibrant city full of art and hidden gems!
When we visited Capitol Hill, we first observed the streets and parks that were near the station. Initially, our first observation walking through Capitol Hill Station was the amount of graffiti as soon as you walked out of the station and all over the streets. There was a lot of it everywhere; all different kinds-political statements, murals, and other random stuff. We also noticed that there was a lot of different shops everywhere which made it nice and convenient. We then explored the shops, restaurants, and residential areas that surrounded the area. The city had much more litter and graffiti than the residential areas, and it was much more decorated with LGBTQ+ symbols.
Community
Our observations matched up with the data that there were public connections through the city. On the lamp posts, many were covered top town with events, help lines, and community connection posters. Furthermore, they even had stickers with interactive QR codes that led you to fun quizzes on the postage boxes.
It was similar in the fact that the town has a lot of pop culture surrounding it and acknowledgement/involvement of current issues. You can see this through the types of signs they have up, the pride flags in most window shops, and the murals splattered throughout the city. Although, it was different because there were some areas that were quite dirty and felt unsafe. We did encounter a good amount of sketchy people and we noticed that some areas of the city were not maintained and were empty.
Interconnectedness
It was similar that they had interconnectedness through the interweb. However, it was different in the fact that they had much more social connections with the LGBTQ+ community, and that not many of the resources posted online were able to be present in the streets or provided easy access to the resources online. Most of the research we did show a very open, clean, and vocal city. It highlighted what Capitol Hill is mostly known for which are the bars, gay clubs, coffee shops, and pop culture environment. We believe our observations matched a good amount of my research through how welcoming most of the area is and how liberal is it.
Night Life
What surprised us the most on our visit was how barren it was in the morning and how empty the streets seemed to be. We would’ve expected it to a bit fuller and full of vibes. Although, in their defense, we did go in the middle of the day which could be a reason why. Based on what we know and observed, it seems as if this city’s prime time is at night- hence the clubs and bars. Therefore, it would make sense that not a lot of people would be walking around at 12-2 pm. We believe that this place would have more nightlife, because most areas were commuting residents, and everyone had left for work. However, we were sure that it has nightlife, because there were many bars and restaurants that were closed until later hours.