We’ve been reading Grand Avenues, a biography of the city planner who designed Washington, DC, Pierre L’Enfant. Naturally the book spends a lot of time discussing said planning, including the interesting tidbit that the founding fathers very nearly named our city Washingtonopolis instead of plain old Washington.

A bit of a mouthful, no doubt, but somehow a little more alluring. There’s something enchanting about Washingtonopolis that isn’t present in Washington. Something a little bit more glamorous. Dare we say it, a touch sexy.

BeyondDC likes. Too bad.