As part of a study into potential changes to D.C.'s Height of Buildings Act requested by Congress, the results of an economic feasibility analysis were presented this week. Relaxing limits would create jobs and several thousand new housing units.
"Today, a preliminary economic feasibility analysis was released, and it confirms what you would expect: Boosting the height limit, even to between 130 and 160 feet total, would incentivize developers to add on to existing buildings and construct taller new ones," reports Lydia DePillis.
"The city’s Office of Planning Director Harriet Tregoning, while professing a love for the city’s current graceful proportions, made the economic case in a presentation of the study’s results. 'If we were to continue to grow at our current pace, well before 20 years from now, we would exhaust the capacity of our city to accommodate the population growth that would be coming to the city,' she said."
"What would all this look like? The Washington City Paper has the boards where D.C.’s Office of Planning presented what the city might look like with a little room to grow."
FULL STORY: Study: Raising D.C.’s height limit would help city, not cause world to end

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Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research