The plan recenters Washington on the U.S. Capitol and promotes extending federal offices, museums and memorials to the city's four quadrants.
The U.S. Capitol dome provides a stunning backdrop for night life on the new South Capitol Street.
A memorial gateway and park enhances East Capitol Street’s terminus at the Anacostia River.
A 12 by 18-foot model helps convey the Legacy Plan’s ideas to the public. The model is shown at its Dulles International Airport debut in 1998. Now on display in NCPC’s offices, it was restored in October 2014.
Background and Context
Washington is shaped by visionary plans that express the functions and relationships of the nation's capital and promote a thriving local city. Pierre L'Enfant's 1791 plan overlaid prominent avenues, ceremonial public spaces, and key institutions over a city grid. While the city's early development drifted from L'Enfant's plan, the 1901 McMillan Plan built upon this framework. It established the National Mall as we know it today; designated sites off the Mall for new parks, public buildings, and memorials; and restored sight lines and sweeping vistas.
The Legacy Plan is the third chapter in Washington's planning history. It departs from previous plans that concentrated facilities and investment around the National Mall by shifting the city's perceived center to the U.S. Capitol and directing federal development outward into all city quadrants. Channeling new museums, memorials, and federal office buildings outward along ceremonial corridors and along the waterfront will ease congestion in the monumental core; help revitalize neighborhoods; expand public transit's reach; eliminate obsolete freeways, bridges, and railroad tracks that fragment the city; and reclaim Washington's historic waterfront. It also proposes new parks, plazas, and other amenities.
Key Information
- Prepared by:
National Capital Planning Commission
- Published: 1997
Download Full Plan
Current
NCPC uses this vision plan, which celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2017 (see the blog post in Related Resources below), as a high-level guide for new initiatives and policy development – it influenced Comprehensive Plan updates, and set the stage for the Memorials and Museums Master Plan (2001) and the Monumental Core Framework Plan (2009). Many of Legacy’s goals that relate to new federal facilities, enhanced transportation, reconnecting Washington to its waterfronts, and improving gateways into the city are becoming reality.
Federal offices, including the U.S. Department of Transportation (Southeast) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (NoMa) were constructed outside of the monumental core and serve as neighborhood anchors. The Circulator bus began in 2005, providing convenient and accessible transit around the city, and expanded service in 2015 to include the National Mall. Federal and local plans embrace the Potomac and Anacostia waterfronts as important assets. These include the Anacostia Waterfront Initiative, projects to connect the Kennedy Center to the Potomac and create waterfront parks at the Southeast Federal Center, Georgetown, and the new Wharf development in Southwest. New development and transportation improvements enhance gateway corridors, including the Nationals baseball stadium and 11th Street Bridge redevelopment along South Capitol Street, and proposals for the RFK Stadium site along East Capitol Street.
Plan Chapters
Acknowledgements & Introduction
How the plan addresses problems in Washington's monumental core.
A Framework for Change
The Legacy Plan represents the third act in a continuing planning drama that began over 200 years ago.
Building on the Past
The Legacy Plan enlarges Pierre L'Enfant's vision for the city and builds upon the McMillan Plan's precedents.
Unifying the City and the Core
At the heart of the plan is a new definition of the monumental core.
Museums, Memorials, and the Federal Workplace
Finding sites beyond the National Mall for new museums and memorials will be important to meet future needs. New federal buildings incorporated into mixed-used districts with a range of public activities will help modernize the federal workplace.
Waterfronts and Open Spaces
Legacy aims to recapture the vision of Washington as a vital river city.
Transportation
Improved transportation is a core component to achieve the plan's broad goal of a unified, beautiful, and equitable city.
Hometown and Region
What makes Washington's situation unique is its double life as America's capital and a hometown.
Implementation
Even though Legacy looks ahead 50 to 100 years, the first decade will be decisive.
Conclusion and Planning Policies
The Legacy Plan offers a framework for change.
Map of Key Locations
Twenty-nine important sites in Washington set the stage for future improvements.
