[Photo by Scott Ableman]
Between the Kennedy Center, the Smithsonian and multiple large theaters like Woolly Mammoth and Arena Stage, D.C. is rife with cultural attractions, many of them free to the public. That's somehow enough to make D.C. the number 10 city for cultural institutions in the United States. The fine folks at Property Shark put together this list which looks at not just the sheer number of culturally specific places in a metro area (libraries, zoos and stadiums included) but also the ratio of such institutions to number of residents. This measurement works against large and super-dense cities like New York and Chicago, but would seemingly shoot this little 68.3 square mile diamond to the top of this list. Not so much. Our 267 cultural properties equals out to one institution per 2,422 permanent residents, which puts us behind Philadelphia, Boston, Indianapolis and...Columbus, Ohio. For what it's worth, Seattle took the top spot.
To quote the Property Shark article: "While the U.S. capital only has about 640,000 residents, commuters from surrounding areas bring the city's population up to over 1,000,000 during workdays. The city accommodates 267 cultural & recreational locations, including the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts - the busiest performing arts facility in the U.S. - with over 2,000 performances a year." (H/T Curbed Boston)
· Top 20 U.S. Cities for Culture: Cultural Venues Density per City Population [Property Shark]
· Report: Boston Is Culturally Inferior to Houston, Miami [Curbed Boston]