I've never understood why anybody, anywhere, for any reason, supports DC's absurdly low height limit for buildings. But in case any such people are out there in the audience, please stop. DC does not overlook the ocean. It does not overlook the mountains. It does not sit nestled in a Redwood forest, like UC Santa Cruz. It only occasionally overlooks the National Monument. Aesthetically, the height limit does nothing for us. Meanwhile, the inability to build up means sprawl. It means high rents, and long commutes. It means bad restaurants and fewer grocers. It means that cool cafes don't have the density to support themselves and so everything is a Cosi or an Au Bon Pain. It means that your friends live farther away, and your apartment is smaller than it needs to be. It means that people who don't make much money get pushed very far from where they wish to be. It's an anachronistic regulation from 1910 when things weren't very tall anyway, and far fewer people lived here, and it should be scrapped. I guess, on the bright side, keeping it means that current land owners get to charge higher prices because they've choked off supply, and so I understand why they support the height limit. But there's no reason anyone else should join them.Update:: In comments, folks keep bringing up the fact that a height limit makes DC feel more like Paris. Now, I've never been to Paris, but I certainly know folks who have, and literally no one has ever said to me that "my favorite thing about DC is that it makes me feel like I'm back in Paris!"Image used under a CC license from Una Cierta Mirada. THE DC HEIGHT LIMIT.
I've never understood why anybody, anywhere, for any reason, supports DC's absurdly low height limit for buildings. But in case any such people are out there in the audience, please stop. DC does not overlook the ocean. It does not overlook the mountains. It does not sit nestled in a Redwood forest, like UC Santa Cruz. It only occasionally overlooks the National Monument. Aesthetically, the height limit does nothing for us. Meanwhile, the inability to build up means sprawl. It means high rents, and long commutes. It means bad restaurants and fewer grocers. It means that cool cafes don't have the density to support themselves and so everything is a Cosi or an Au Bon Pain. It means that your friends live farther away, and your apartment is smaller than it needs to be. It means that people who don't make much money get pushed very far from where they wish to be. It's an anachronistic regulation from 1910 when things weren't very tall anyway, and far fewer people lived here, and it should be scrapped. I guess, on the bright side, keeping it means that current land owners get to charge higher prices because they've choked off supply, and so I understand why they support the height limit. But there's no reason anyone else should join them.Update:: In comments, folks keep bringing up the fact that a height limit makes DC feel more like Paris. Now, I've never been to Paris, but I certainly know folks who have, and literally no one has ever said to me that "my favorite thing about DC is that it makes me feel like I'm back in Paris!"Image used under a CC license from Una Cierta Mirada. 
