9/11 Impact on Washington, DC

My youngest son is not so impressed with this article on how 9/11 has changed the architecture and landscaping in our Nation's Capitol, but I think it is worth skimming and thinking about.

I didn't like the idea of Pennsylvania Avenue being closed in front of the White House and I worry about our Congressmen and women being further isolated from the Citizens, although there might be something to be said for upping the number of Representatives.  The number has been 435 for the last century.♠  Currently the 435 breaks down to roughly 716,782 people per Representative, less if you only count voting age people, more if you count illegal immigrants.  If we bounced the size of the House of Representatives up to 500 it would shave almost 100,000 off the size of a district (one for every 623,600 people).  Massachusetts might not just get its 10th seat back, but might even get another, although I am doubtful.

I seem to have drifted a bit on this blog post.  But, anything that impacts our relationships with our Representatives is important.

Back to Washington, DC.  It is a beautiful city.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  It did go to 437 for a couple of years, when Alaska and Hawaii were admitted to the Union between Census years.