I haven't traveled enough around the US to be able to give you an appropriate answer. I'd say Washington DC share some characteristics (federal capital, planned

I haven't traveled enough around the US to be able to give you an appropriate answer. I'd say Washington DC share some characteristics (federal capital, planned city etc) but it's still a "normal" city in my opinion: you can walk through it, buildings are in old-style architecture, there are people on the streets... Probably, the older cities, such as Boston and even downtown NYC are quite different from what I was used to in Brasília. There is less urban planning and more organic growth.