Washinton DC needs to be broken up and have all its individual agencies spread out across the nation. Let’s discuss the reasons why.
First, the cost of living is very high around the DC area. Home prices are higher in the area and the area is so over-developed that supply may never satisfy demand. Demand doesn’t seem like it’s ever going to decrease either, as our federal government seems to grow larger every year. Many federal employees reside hours away from work and face hours of commuting every day.
Second, the area around DC is physically too developed, cluttered, busy. As previously mentioned, many federal employees that must physically work in DC live hours away and take a train in to work or drive hours each day. This takes a toll on quality of life, even though many will do it regardless. When driving in DC, parking is limited and often requires payment. The streets are cluttered with hustle and bustle similar to New York City, with everyday people and tourists crowding the landscape. I would argue that humans were not meant to live this way, but to each their own.
Third, the entire alphabet soup of federal agencies that reside there make the entire area a giant terrorist target. Why we would lump so many federal agencies together such that one catastrophic event could wipe out so many agencies that are deemed important? Diversifying locations would limit the impact of any single event in the area.
Fourth, the jobs the federal government provides could boost many local economies rather than just DC and the surrounding area. This is perhaps the best reason to break up DC. The employment opportunities the federal government provides and the very nice paychecks that go along with it would be better off spread throughout the country. If a government agency relocated to a small town and hired workers from there, it would employ locals who would in turn spend their paycheck in that local economy. And then scale this idea by however many sizeable agencies there are.
So why not break up DC? One argument is that it’s critical for people to physically see each other and work together every day. There may be some jobs that are better done collaborating in person; however this is not the case for many jobs. We have tools like videoconferencing, instant messaging, email, phone conferences, collaborative web services, and telework which allow us all to communicate without being physically present. Many federal workers currently telework frequently or work remotely full time. And guess what? The work still gets done. If you can’t trust your staff to work off site, you’ve got the wrong staff. Also, you’re likely failing to lead if you can’t empower your staff to work in the comfort of their own home without physical supervision.
Washington DC needs to be broken up. The reasons to break it up outweigh and invalidate any reasons not to.