Is adding “Kennedy Center” to the Foggy Bottom Metro station name useful, or is it false advertising?

Last year, the WMATA board approved changing the name of the Foggy Bottom - GWU Metro station to include “Kennedy Center.” Signs were changed back in December, but with Metro recently updating its maps, the subject popped up in the news again, and our contributors got to talking about the name change.

Some were concerned that it sets a bad precedent for Metro to make station names longer and include random destinations— one, Matt Johnson, has written about this problem before.

Others felt that the Kennedy Center belonged in the name, as it’s a major cultural attraction and not too far from the station.

The Kennedy Center isn’t that close to the Foggy Bottom Metro. But is it that far?

Ben Ross was among those the skeptics of the move. He worried about what might happen if other stations changed their names:

This is actively misleading, since the station is quite a ways from the Kennedy Center. Next thing, we'll get Greenbelt BWI Airport or Branch Avenue National Harbor.

On the other hand, Edward Russell thought that the Kennedy Center was close enough for the name to make sense from a public transit perspective.

I don't like adding names but I very much disagree that Foggy Bottom Station is “nowhere near” the Kennedy Center - it very much is. If you Metro to the Kennedy Center this is where you get off. Plus it's within the half-mile walkshed of the station, which is a good definition of transit-oriented.

For Neil Flanagan, the real problem is that the route from the Foggy Bottom to Kennedy Center is not very walkable. “I agree that it's not actually that far,” he said. “It's just an unpleasant and somewhat confusing walk.”

Patrick Kennedy, a resident of the area and chairman of ANC 2A, alluded to this in defending the name change.

Some have mentioned that the pedestrian infrastructure in the area is less-than-optimal. That's true, and something that the neighborhood is actively trying to change for the better —but certainly all the sidewalks along the route are there and are of a similar size to anywhere else in the area. Crossing Virginia Avenue is the worst part, but it's a heavily-trafficked route.

Personally, I don’t think the distance is a big deal. The Kennedy Center is only a 10-minute walk from the Foggy Bottom station, and I don't see much of a downside to the change if it helps people to find their way around the city. I think the bright line between a major attraction worthy of being included in a station name (like the Kennedy Center or the National Mall) and a minor one is clear enough.

I’ll probably continue to refer to the station as just “Foggy Bottom,” though.

Speaking of what people actually call this in practice, David Alpert wondered: “The biggest question is whether the train announcers be saying it every time.”

Either way, the route to the Kennedy Center isn’t immediately obvious

Gray Kimbrough echoed the worry that the walk would not be intuitive to visitors, drawing an analogy to the walk from Woodley Park station to the National Zoo.

I think the key issue (like with Woodley Park-Zoo) is that once these baffled tourists exit the station, they have no idea how to get to whatever location was implied to be nearby. And yes, a 10-15 minute walk is not much, but including it in the name of the station implies that it's very close. These destinations are certainly not very close to the stations.

If the Kennedy Center wants to provide clear signage that tourists can use to get there from the station, that's one thing, but I doubt that this proposal goes beyond simply changing the name. And changing the name should at a minimum happen because the destination is right by the station or there is an extremely clear route from the station to the destination.

I’ll digress here: One of the best insider tips I've heard is to use the Cleveland Park stop for the zoo, since it's downhill, and also less crowded than Woodley Park.

Joanne Pierce agreed that the name change should be accompanied by improved directions, and also felt that WMATA could promote awareness of major destinations through other methods.

I second (or third) everyone who said KC isn't far at all. There needs to be more signage telling tourists how to get inside KC though.

If they want to show tourists the attractions nearby every station, a sign next to the map with the station name and a list of attractions under it would be more useful. Adding to the station name clutters the main metro map and it only points out one attraction.

Stephen Hudson noted that Metro does have information for tourists, but could do more to make it available as an alternative to longer station names.

Although saying they're “widely posted” may be another matter, WMATA does have a chart (at least on its digital brochures).

I have no issue with including Kennedy Center in the name, but anymore than two pieces of information in the name, and it becomes too much. U St's whole name is a great example of this. If you want to name it Kennedy Center, fine, but take off one of the other two names.

Nearby residents wanted this change

“ANC 2A voted unanimously to support this name change in 2015,” said Patrick. “I was on the Commission at the time, and in my role as ANC chairman testified before the WMATA Board in support of the change.”

Eve Zhurbinskiy, a current commissioner of ANC 2A, felt the length of the name wasn’t a major issue, since it would get shortened in everyday conversation no matter what.

To Stephen's point, a commissioner did propose adding the Kennedy Center and getting rid of the GWU name, but GW students on the ANC successfully defeated that idea.

As someone who lives in the neighborhood, I'll continue calling it “Foggy Bottom,” as practically everyone does already. I think on the whole it's a good addition, as the Kennedy Center is a major landmark that people have trouble finding.

Patrick acknowledged that station names can be unwieldy, but felt the addition was justified in this particular case.

I feel like station name debates generate a lot of discussion and strong opinions— to a degree far greater than their actual importance. In general, I am receptive to the argument that shorter names are better for clarity's sake; certainly some station names have sprawled to absurd results.

I suppose superseding that is my sense that Metro stations are landmarks of a given area, and that through their names very much can define a place in the public's perception. That being the case, I feel that the surrounding community really should be given a great deal of deference— within limits— in station naming. Obviously, for a regional system you want wayfinding guidance that it useful at a regional scale— but in this case, I should hardly think that anyone would argue that the Kennedy Center isn't a landmark of regional/national prominence and a destination of great interest for many people.

Patrick went on to say a bit more about why the ANC supported this name change

Trying to encourage the usage of public transit for trips to/from the Kennedy Center. As has been mentioned earlier— the Kennedy Center is a ten minute walk from the station; in practice, this is only slightly further than the walk from Woodley Park to the Zoo and, importantly, there is no steep grade in-between. It's actually shorter than the walk from Cleveland Park to the Zoo. What's more, there is regular shuttle bus service to the Kennedy Center literally right at the curb directly in front of the station entrance next to the hospital. You walk a dozen paces and you're to the shuttle bus door.

Foggy Bottom has a reputation as being home to GW students mixed in with tired housing stock and aging retail, the Watergate being a prime example of the latter. The Kennedy Center is a huge asset to our area; many of our residents work as docents there, still more take in shows, and people who attend performances there or visit are a huge contributor to our local economy (restaurants, bars, shops, etc.) Yet, it's viewed often as an entity separate and apart from our neighborhood. That's a big perception issue that we wanted to address, and tying the institution's name to one of the busiest Metro stations in the system— a Metro station that otherwise is labeled “Foggy Bottom-GWU,” is a way to do that.

We were especially comfortable moving forward with this addition as a subtitle on the station name, because that format lends itself best to displaying names that are important for the public to know, but that are perhaps of secondary importance relative to the larger neighborhood area. Essentially, I think the subtitles qualify as good wayfinding information for people to know about a given station area, but which generally aren't meant to be pronounced as part of what would be a larger, more unwieldy name. I know that some feel the subtitles should have been reserved for “grandfathered” name sprawl from previous additions; to me they serve a continuing use for the evolution of certain names as appropriate.

What do you think? Does the name change matter to you?