Scrapping the DC Height Limit

[Anonymous]

Could actually help with the lack of affordable housing in the city

[Anonymous]

Agree. I’d like to see a city-wide design commission come up with a plan to raise heights while ensuring urban beauty and public spaces.

[Anonymous]

DC has relatively no problem adding housing and does it at a rate better than almost all major cities, most of which don’t have so-called height limits.

[Anonymous]

Ask Phil Mendelson why he opposed taking control of Height from Congress when it was offered a few years ago.

[Anonymous]

No, no, no, no. Dumb idea. The height restriction makes DC livable. Lots of places to build crappy condos still.

[Anonymous]

Better to start with looking at low hanging fruit, like underutilized land. Doing away with historical designations and upzoning DuPont, Logan Circle and Capitol Hill would have a much bigger impact. It’s also more climate friendly. Tall buildings are not very climate friendly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Better to start with looking at low hanging fruit, like underutilized land. Doing away with historical designations and upzoning DuPont, Logan Circle and Capitol Hill would have a much bigger impact. It’s also more climate friendly. Tall buildings are not very climate friendly.

Where is the underutilized land?

15 years ago, that would have been appropriate. At this juncture, not so much.

[Anonymous]

No.

DC's height restrictions make it so much nicer than the urban jungle of, say, Manhattan or even what downtown Bethesda is turning into.

[Anonymous]

Yes it is the only way to go. It is better for the environment and more density mean improvements in public transportation. Also we would see more free expression of buildings. Right now the only option is t build boxes to maximize return. It is such a shame that the nationals Capitol is an architecture waste land.

[Anonymous]

DCs problem is a long term misfit between the amount of downtown office space and the amount of housing. There are acres of underused office buildings post-Covid. Rather than raise the height limit, tear them down and build apartments. Anyway, DCs population is falling - affordable housing will happen naturally as the city continues to decline.

[Anonymous]

NO to tall buildings. Build affordable housing in suburbs near metro stations.

[Anonymous]

No way. DC should stop downzoning neighborhoods first. We live a couple of blocks from the Target in Colombia Heights and DC just REDUCED our height limit from 40 feet to 35 feet. I believe they downzoned parts of Adams Morgan as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Better to start with looking at low hanging fruit, like underutilized land. Doing away with historical designations and upzoning DuPont, Logan Circle and Capitol Hill would have a much bigger impact. It’s also more climate friendly. Tall buildings are not very climate friendly.

Where is the underutilized land?

15 years ago, that would have been appropriate. At this juncture, not so much.

Have you been to Fort Totten metro and its surroundings lately?

They are building apartments and some stores, but there's still a ton of "dead space."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCs problem is a long term misfit between the amount of downtown office space and the amount of housing. There are acres of underused office buildings post-Covid. Rather than raise the height limit, tear them down and build apartments. Anyway, DCs population is falling - affordable housing will happen naturally as the city continues to decline.

Omg the city's population is not falling, please stop saying this. We have plenty of evidence that the pandemic decline in renters has already reversed itself, and the Census Bureau annual estimates will surely reflect this when they are released in December.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Better to start with looking at low hanging fruit, like underutilized land. Doing away with historical designations and upzoning DuPont, Logan Circle and Capitol Hill would have a much bigger impact. It’s also more climate friendly. Tall buildings are not very climate friendly.

Where is the underutilized land?

15 years ago, that would have been appropriate. At this juncture, not so much.

Bullshit. East of the river and far NE has miles of entirely undeveloped commercial land, surface parking lots that are empty, and single and 2 storey commercial dilapidated buildings

You know, exactly like “noma” and “navy yard waterfront” circa 1998

Try harder