Obama Arrives in Style

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Obama Family on the Move

President-elect Barack Obama's family has moved to Washington, D.C. The Obamas will stay at the historic Hay-Adams Hotel until the Blair House, a guest house where presidents-elect traditionally stay before the inauguration, is vacant. Following the family's move, President-elect Obama visited Congressional leadership to discuss plans for an upcoming economic stimulus package.

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Asked whether he was looking forward to moving to Washington, Obama said: "Yeah, although living in a hotel for two weeks, we kind of did that for two years."

Officially, the city had no special welcome planned for Obama, just plenty of street closings near the hotel at 16th and H streets NW. But local leaders and residents were abuzz yesterday about the larger impact his family might bring to town.

Many pointed to Barack Obama's community organizing days in Chicago and Michelle Obama's stated plans to invest in the District as signs that this family's relationship with the city will be strikingly different.

"They're going to be District residents, not just Washington area residents," said D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D).

For too many presidents, Gray and others said, Washington and the District of Columbia have been two distinct worlds separated by a vast chasm. The former swirls around the Capitol and the White House. The latter offers the diversity of all eight wards and insists that its residents know the difference between a half-smoke and a hot dog.

And for so long, the District has longed for a president who could bridge those two worlds.

"The Obamas see that dichotomy," said Adam L. Barr, founder of DC for Obama. "There's something historic about his being the first black president and this being a black-majority city."

All day yesterday inside the Hay-Adams, locals tried their best to jump-start that relationship.

Just off the lobby, where a lavish $65-a-plate Sunday brunch was underway, almost none of the well-dressed diners mentioned Obama or his family already ensconced in a suite upstairs.

Don't let the cool demeanors fool you, though, said one diner. "That's what everyone's thinking about even if they don't say it," Terrance Mason said later, a safe distance from the elegant dining room. "Just to be in the same building, to be breathing the same air. It's amazing."

Since moving to the District in 1999, Mason has run into the country's three most recent presidents. So with his 40th birthday coming up yesterday, Mason made reservations at the hotel's restaurant. What better way to celebrate than to go four for four?

Even before Obama's arrival, Mason noted, the 44th president had already made his mark on the city, or at least in the dining room of the Hay-Adams.