DC residents--do you have any opinions on this? We are planning a trip to D.C. Sept. 27-29, and don't know whether we should cancel. The World Bank and IMF hold meetings that weekend, so don't know whether we are likely to run into huge crowds of protesters. I remember that the scene in Seattle a few years ago was ugly. We are staying at a hotel in the MCI Center neighborhood, so would be decent distance from the headquarters of both organizations.

I wouldn't think the protesters would affect the Mall area or the museums at all, unless they are seeing the museums themselves in their off time. Their activities would be closer to the Vietnam Wall and the Lincoln Memorial, so I'd avoid those places until the nuts have gone home. You might consider going down to Mount Vernon on the worst day.

Dear Diane... I think that the right to protest is an very precious, and unique aspect of our American culture. Though often there are disruptive people in a protest situation, calling protesters "nuts" is ignoring what makes this country worth fighting for.

I'm not sure how big a disruption to expect. I work downtown and our building manager gave us a memo saying they were expecting 30-70,000 protesters, roughly in the Farragut area. Their aim is gridlock.

The news is reporting that people should take the Metro or work from home on Friday.

Read more at: http://mpdc.dc.gov/main.shtm

While I agree that the right to protest is part of our American culture, it's not unique. There are protests in Paris, on a regular basis and on a variety of issues, for example. Protests certainly are common enough here in Brussels, too.
I also would avoid calling all the protesters "nuts." Some of them have very good reasons to protest and they do so in a completely law-abiding way. But the media focus on the most outrageous or violent demonstrators, ignoring the rest.

My sense is that while the protests may be large, given the concerns generally about security I don't think there could be a repeat of Seattle. We have had prior WTO protests here in DC and while it does cause congestion in the area west of the White House over towards the George Washington Univ. campus (which borders the IMF and WB) I don't think it will have a huge impact beyond that.

DC, for all of its problems, handles crowds and protests well because they are actually pretty commonplace here.

It's hard to predict how things will go, but the one thing I wouldn't do is take a trip outside the city that day by car, in case the protestors are able to achieve their goal of gridlock. Most likely, Metro won't have any problems, but you never know.

I'm a big proponent of freedom of speech (and get into a lot of arguments with people about it), but I'm not in favor of violent protests. If the protests are peaceful, they have my full support.

The main problem I have with this protest is that I've discovered that many of the protestors have no idea what they are protesting. The last time they were in town, I struck up several conversations with protestors downtown, and realized that 85% of the people I talked to weren't aware of the issues, and were there because they thought protesting sounded like a good idea. Thank God for those 15% who were well-informed and committed to their ideals.

September 27th is supposed to be the big day for the protestors. They are hoping to stop all traffic into the city. Closing off bridges and even disrupting the metro. I would think if you're already in DC, you won't have any problems. Just keep your eyes out for trouble.

The World Bank/IMF is located around 18th and G streets (I think...) you should be fine where you are staying.

About the protestors...while many are true believers in their causes, sadly many are "professional" protestors. Brought in to increase numbers and sometines chaos.

HTH!

Unwarranted discussion, much like the clueless one last year before that IMF meeting in DC. This city is good at compartmentalizing issues and the people who come here trying to make name for themselves by shutting us down. We're not Seattle. The vaue of DC is that we can have numerous different things going, almost side by side. If you cancel your trip to DC, that would be very foolish indeed. Have a little faith. We manage to balance the expression of re constitutional freedoms and maintaining public safety every single day.

I wouldn't cancel, you'll be fine, especially if you're staying downtown in DC and using Metro to get around. It probably will be crowded around the IMF buildng and GW, but they're not big tourist draws anyway. You won't have any problems on the Mall, around the Smithsonians, or the Monuments. I have to agree with the others who live in DC, the majority of the IMF protesters seem to be extremely uninformed about just what it is they are protesting (or else are unable to clearly articulate their viewpoint). It's pretty sad, every night during the protests, the local evening news teams round up some protesters to ask them questions about their positions and they usually can't clearly state exactly why they're protesting and what policies they are hoping to change (there are a few exceptions to this generality though).

Link to a Washington Post article on the expected transportation problems on the 27th due to the protests:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...2002Sep23.html

Jan,Could you give me a clue about professional protesters and how I can become one.You see,I`m laid off pretty often because my company can`t compete very well with 3$ a day labor.Sadly,those 3$ workers lives suck.

Back in the 1980's I was Front Office Manager of the Georgetown Inn, a nice property in the center of Georgetown, and the only nuts I had to deal with were the bankers!

Well, you have your answer. Over 500 assorted misfits have been arrested already. These losers are showing their true colors by making fake 911 calls to the police. That's shows you what their agenda is. They don't care if Joe Blow dies of a heart attack or in a fire because they tied up emergency service workers. It's more important they "make a statement" -- a statement the vast majority of people don't understand.

Maybe the punishment for those arrested could include actual WORK. Minimum 500 hours community service, preferably hard manual labor. Then they might just realize there are better ways to make their views known than to act in this manner. Protesting is one thing, acting out this way another...

They sound like such losers on tv "we're protesting capitalism and the rich" Where in the hell would this country be if there weren't people to work hard, get rich, and supply jobs? If you don't like capitalism, why would you pick the US to live? Move to Cuba, or Russia, there's nobody keeping you here, but capitalism is staying here. Your weak protests did not succeed in blocking anything in DC today. Nina, I hope you had a fun trip, DC is a wonderful place with a lot to offer.

My favorite protester was the one who blamed the IMF for hurricanes.

We spent Saturday on the mall (28th). No problems, noticed lots of helicopters hovering, and groups of bicycle police. Saw the tail-end of a protest march near the Washington Monument mid-afternoon. Had no trouble driving in and out of DC, or parking.