A roundup of D.C.'s WeWorks
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To escape the drudgery of his kitchen and occasionally avoid a commute to Axios Worldwide HQ in Clarendon, Axios Publisher Nicholas Johnston has begun sampling the District's WeWorks.
Why it matters: This might be the future of work, man! A little at home, a little in the office, a little everywhere else.
Nick has been to four WeWorks so far, so here's a first-look ranking in ascending order.
#4 West End. 1875 K St NW.
- Definitely the smallest so far, but not very crowded, so very easy to get access to the private phone booths. The common area is small and only gets natural light from a center light shaft so it felt cloudy all day. Seemed like there were good lunch options around but I had too many Zooms that day.
#3 Mount Vernon Square. 655 New York Ave. NW Big and spacious and lots of natural light.
- Looking south you just see other buildings but looking north are some cool views over Shaw. Not terribly crowded and no problems with phone booths. Kind of a hassle for lunch since you have to cross New York and Massachusetts Avenues to get into Chinatown.
#2 Navy Yard. 80 M St SE. Big sprawling location across a building's first three floors (it's massive!).
- A bit of construction going on outside but very nice inside. Plenty of common areas but it's a hike from the third floor if you need to make a sparkling water run.
- No problem finding phone booths, but the paneling inevitably leads to jokes about doing Zoom calls from a sauna. Easily the most bustling location the day I was there. Plenty of lunch options down First Street SE. Definitely the place to work when you have Nats tickets.
#1 Chinatown. Lots of awesome natural light across two floors with cool views of Mt. Vernon Square (even though it's really just an Apple Store).
- Super easy access to what's left in Chinatown for lunch. But here's the clincher: some of the desks in the common area are also old-timey video games! Dig Dug, Donkey Kong, Ms. Pacman, Zaxxon, BurgerTime!!! That Zoom distraction puts this location over the top by a mile.
- With a $29 day pass you get free WiFi, and all the hot coffee, cold brew, lime soda water, and Kombucha you can drink.
What's next: As Nick visits the five other locations in the District we'll update you (though don't expect reports from the WeWorks in Ballston, Clarendon, or waaaay out in College Park).
- And if you think some of these verdicts are terrible — or you know better options around town — hit Nick up at [email protected].