That is no surprise to friends of the first family. The Obamas, after all, are city people, former community organizers who have long felt at home in the urban landscape. Mr. Obama is the first president since Richard M. Nixon to be elected while living in a city neighborhood, in his case, Chicago’s racially and economically diverse Hyde Park. And the Obamas are now eager to explore the city beyond the White House walls.

“They want their lives not to be confined solely to the White House but rather to become a part of the urban, vibrant fabric of D.C.,” Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to the president and a close family friend, said in an interview.

Of course, the social schedule of the president and first lady is also a powerful political tool, a way to nurture political alliances and to cultivate political narratives. The Obamas can enjoy their time out on the town while, at the same time, reaping potential dividends by reinforcing their promise to bring change to Washington and honing an image of openness and accessibility, some Washington watchers say.

“Let’s face it: It’s very good for getting re-elected,” Letitia Baldrige, the White House social secretary to Jacqueline Kennedy, said of the Obamas’ socializing. “It’s a great bank of good will in which they’re making deposits every day.”

Political analysts say that the images of Mr. Obama hooting and hollering during a basketball game, eating a hot dog at Ben’s Chili Bowl and watching the ballet with his wife and daughters  pastimes routinely broadcast to a national audience  may humanize a politician who is sometimes viewed as too cerebral and distant.

Dee Dee Myers, a former press secretary for President Clinton, said the outings allow Mr. Obama to project “an accessible glamour” and to convey a message of hope during bleak economic times. (She said that even the gregarious Clintons never got out this much.)