RAISE THE ROOF!!! Again!!!

Reiterating his argument that the height limit is bad for DC, UMD Prof.Roger Lewis in the the WaPo argued that with relaxed height limits:

"there would be places where taller, more iconic edifices could serve as landmarks. A bit more variation in building heights, and slightly more height for buildings framing key intersections, could enhance the look of many streetscapes. "

In effect, with downtown street widths rarely exceeding 90 feet to 110 feet, D.C. buildings can rise no more than 110 feet or 130 feet, except on Pennsylvania Avenue, where 160 feet is allowed.

Does the hight limit really matter when they are building 30 stories in Arlington? Brookings' Christopher Leinberger argued DC must grow up to grow.

JFK Slept Here

And the lucky lady was .... No the DC Bubble is not going to stoop. The point is that the Dorchester Apt. at 16th and Euclid Sts. was once home to young naval ensign John F. Kennedy, who lived in Apartment 502 in the early 1940s, reports the WaPo.

The gem is of a building is over by Meridian Hill Park.


by Kyle Walton

BUSTED MYTH: GEORGETOWN METRO KILLED BY SWELLS

Imagine if all the shops, restaurants, bars and taverns in Georgetown DC were surrounded by a Metrorail station. Alas, it was never to be. But the station was not killed by powerful, well-connected and well-heeled Georgetown residents who did not want to be overrun by riff-raff.

The station was never built because it cost too much relative to its benefit it would have provided, says Zachary Schrag, Assistant Professor at George Mason University who recently appeared on WAMU.

As articulated in his book, A Great Society Subway, Schrag said Metro designers concluded a Georgetown stop would have:
-- cost too much:
1. Proximity to the Potomac River gave the engineers nightmares, and
2. Building such a massive project in historic Georgetown would have been worse;
-- and provided only limited benefit:
1. Georgetown is not a big employment center, and
2. The extra stop would slowed the commute from Virginia.

In fact, the only station killed by local opposition was the Oklahoma Ave. station in Northeast. The largely African-American neighborhood wanted to remain quiet. The residents convinced the powers that be that the station was a bad idea.

So much for the masterplan. I guess there is no conspiracy afterall. Or is there?