if only . . . . ?

[jsoto3]

If only the business community had built more mid-rises downtown than high-rises, it would look more like this?:

(from BeyondDC.com)
http://www.beyonddc.com/images/photos/dc/downtown/aerial-density.jpg

[CTroyMathis]

That's my favorite photo on that site.

[Foucault]

Isn't there a tradition in DC that buildings shouldn't be higher than the top of the Capitol? I think that's why the buildings are mostly the same height.

[freewaytincan]

Every time I hear that, I think a) too bad that didn't stick in Austin, and b) ha ha ha ha, our state capitol is taller than the national one!

[bshiker]

The DC height restriction is not a tradition, but federal law. The rule actually states that a building cannot be X (I believe 20) number of feet higher than the width of the street it sits on. The practical result is that no building is really higher than 130 or so feet, not including elevator penthouses and other necessities. One of the interesting impacts is that not only are building not as tall but the indivdiual floor heights are smaller than in most US buildings.

I personally like the fact that DC ends up with a unified look as a result.