I think one of the reasons I love DC so much is because it doesn't feel like a big city. Much of this has to do with the fact that there are no tall buildings in District. I love the fact that from my house near U street I can look downtown and see the Washington Monument. This wouldn't happen in any other major city. The Washington Post looked into the debate of high rises in DC today. I always thought that there was some old law in DC that buildings couldn't be taller than the Washington Monument. Turns out though, that law doesn't exist. There is a height Act that Congress created, but that was in response to protesters in 1894 who were protesting the 160-ft height of the Cairo apartment building on 16th which is pretty intereting.
Developers are claiming that DC is running out of space and that soon there will be a time where DC will have to be built up to attract more businesses and lower rates. But of course the Developers would say that. However, I am pretty sure that is not what L'Efant had in mind when he planned the beautiful sprawling city. He is probably turning in his grave right about now. Could you imagine DC with skyscrapers? All of the charecter DC has would be lost. They don't even have to be that tall to be an eye sore - a perfect example would be Rosslyn!
1 comment:
That's interesting. I always thought that buildings couldn't be taller than the capitol.
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