What?!?!? No one from the DC area has a computer or likes their hometown? Why no DC thread???? :dunno:

It must be my Maryland bias that keeps me tuned to Baltimore more than DC. Well, DC isn't much for high-rises, there's a strict limit. As far as I know, there is a lot of work being done on the southeastern district such as the new baseball stadium and a ton of condos to go with it. Other than that, I'm clueless as to where the cranes are in DC. :?

Yeah, I'm from DC and it's a shame there isn't more representation. I'm in college far away so I don't have time to go in and take pics and all that. Not for high rises, so I guess that has a little something to do but it still seems weird. Not a lot of people like DC right now anyway. I think it's really one of the more misunderstood cities the more I read some threads on this forum.

But for sure there is a hell of a lot of construction going on. DT is getting tons more buildings, low-rise of course, but they're really nice nonetheless. I think in the near future, we are going to see a lot of residential development going on. Hopefully some retail after that.

But in general the entire area is doing very well economically still.

SE is getting re-done, but I don't know if most of that has started yet, the stadium will really bolster this, DT seems like it's getting better by the day though. The chinatown/MCI Center/convention center areas are getting a lot better. And it's great to see some of the places like U St. getting better, and G'town is still doing well.

I really wish I had more pics, but you can go to www.beyonddc.com to get a lot of info about the area with pics and all of that. Arlington is getting a new tallest too, and there's another tall res. building going up there, one of them will be the third tallest I believe between B'more and DC.

But yeah, there's a lot of MD bias among the B'more people, I mean, B'more is a city with it's own culture and history so it deserves it's credit, but it would be great to get some B'more guys that like DC, I love B'more, I really like the entire area.

I have tons of DC pics. I'll post a few.

The lack of highrises in DC I think can be explained by the building limit, which I believe is 3 floors (not sure if it's by story or height).

Most of the projects in these forums are hardly skyscrapers....so thats no excuse. I don't know the esact height limitation in DC, but most new offices are ten floors.

Yeah we need to start some DC discussion on here...

I think it's something like the building can't be more than twice the width of the street. Either that or the limit is about 60 m or maybe a little more. I don't think it's the number of stories, because there are some buildings with 15 stories according to Emporis. I think the former is the height limit, regarding street width.

I think the story is that a building cant be more than 30ft taller than the street is wide in front of it. Let's say the street in front of a building is 100ft wide. The building along that street can't go any higher than 130ft.

3 floors or stories? No way. It is done by street, street width + 20 ft.

There will be a tower going up in Rosslyn that is going to be around 500 ft which is catching plenty of opposition but I think it's going to go up. In Rosslyn, the current tallest and accepted limit is around 300 ft.

But even then, there are other cities that have pretty crappy skylines that aren't half the city DC is. People really don't understand the city, all people think it is, is gov't buildings, and some blacks tucked away across the anacostia, which isn't true, it's got history, grit, great sights, nightlife, food, all of that. It's retail could be better though.

Basically, I think it's lack of representation and it's image.

I use to live there most of my life, but I moved to Seattle a couple of years ago. I don't think I could ever live there again.

i thought the only requirement was that the top of the "skyscrapers" had to lower than the top of the capitol, making the capitol the highest building in the city.

The Old Post Office is about 320 ft. tall. DC still has a very large downtown area, apparently one of the largests in country. It's also very dense if you ever go through it. Frankly, it does have its ways to make you feel like you're in a big city. Most of the office buildings are roughly the same height.

What do you mean Nova? A lot of people like DC.

Well, I can tell you that other towns that get so much boost on this forum like ATL, Charlotte, Houston, Indy, Minneapolis, StL, don't even compare with DC IMO, not saying they're bad, but I think the lack of representation and it's perception as a bureaucratic, sterile, government town is just wrong. It's also one of the most liberal towns despite it's location and has great suburbs even with the sprawl.

Also, there was a thread talking about towns with the biggest boom happening, people really don't know how well DC is recovering. Sure, Philly was never dying, but IMO, cities like Detroit, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, and while I love B'more, shouldn't be beating out DC in that dept.

It's not just the expansion of government, there are other industries in the area, and there are lots of things to do in the city that aren't related to history. DC has as good bars as any of the big cities on the east coast, which are the best in the country except for a few like Chi, LA, Miami, and maybe another city. And it's nightlife is great too.

It has a lot of crime and that really does give it a real bad image.

DC also has some real 'hoods, Shaw for instance was the place to be for blacks before Harlem had a renaissance and it's being restored.

And although it doesn't have any highrises going up, there is as much construction in DC as most towns considered to be booming in the country. DC has some of the best rowhouses and gorgeous and majestic lowrise architecture that I've seen in the US.

All I'm saying is that there is a lot of good things happening, the crime rate is the one thing that sticks out in people's minds. People see the data coming back from office space vacancy rates and unemployment rate and growth rate and assume it's b/c of the low rise buildings or b/c of the gov't growing. Sooner or later people will take notice I think.

DC is one of those towns like B'more, Detroit, Philly, that if you came here in the 80s or early 90s and that's your last impression of the city, it's a hell of a lot different now.

And the height limit is street width + 20 ft, the capitol may be a secondary limit when projects are in development, but the street width one is strict, the washington monument is one for the area, and will be threatened in the future by Arlington as it is now.

I mean, like I said, I'm in college and I don't have a ton of time on my hands, if there are development news threads for cities like Buffalo and Wilmington, I'm sure that there is plenty of development to keep a sticky thread for DC, it's the only one of the big east coast cities w/o one, and even though they're not highrises, there is some great low rise stuff going up and some nice residential projects in the works for the area.

Double post...my bad

Novawolverine, I know exactly what you mean. People who havent visited a city in like 10-15 years have no right to judge that city. Places change.
There are an incredible amount of boosters on this forum ( me to a degree) and in reality, DC is respected. This forum has a bunch of teenagers (myself included)anyway and half of the time they dont know whattheyre talking about.

As others have pointed out, there is a lot of development going on in DC, particularly urban residential projects that are coming up in gentrifying areas of town. I just came back from a trip to Columbia Heights where there are several projects proposed or under construction in a relatively small area. These projects might not be sensational, but together they really change the landscape of a neighborhood. It would be great to have a sticky with information and news about these projects.

Those of us in Baltimore have always considered DC to be nothing more than a suburb of Charm City. As you know, Baltimore is the older AND larger of the two cities. Feel free to participate in the Baltimore site!

^ how arrogant. Thank you for your invitation Mr. ONE Post ! :)

Even in DT there is tons of development, and I've been looking around to try to find details about these and some proposed but I didn't have much luck.

And yeah, that sentiment from B'more people is common. While I understand that they get overshadowed, they shouldn't transform that into resentment of DC. B'more has benefitted from DC and I don't know if they would be any better off had they had the spotlight to themselves and DC and Philly would be another two hrs. away.

And the consolidation of the two areas is better IMO then some of the other consolidated places in the country b/c you DC which is very different from any city, so the area has a lot of options between the two cities, different vibes, things to do, history, culture, people, etc. I don't know if all this can be said to the same extent for the Bay Area.

There is a ton of new development in DC

There are several new mid-rises going up along the Potomac at the old Navy Yard alog 295, and SE DC is now starting to see growth south along South Capitol Street near M St SE (near Nations nightclub)

DC is the Paris of America without a LaDefense section of the city, the closest DC gets to a skyline is in Arlington (Rosslyn section of the city)...indeed driving around 14th Street NW and Georgetown you get a very DENSE urban feel to the city like driving around Paris

The suburban areas are very dense too, Alexandria and Arlington have a couple 300 foot tall buildings among others and Tysons Corner is planning a couple 400 footers...

DC is an amazing city and I know a lot of folks who live in B'more and work in DC

Now all we need is a forumer to take charge and start posting some projects!

I doubt we will see pix of projects in the district. Everything is short and more of the same. Nothing stands out, and I'm sure that's the plan. This website is dedicated to skyscrapers.

And the VA cities are small clusters like Wilmington, Syracuse, Towson, etc. Not much to keep track on once you see one pick.

This website is dedicated to skyscrapers.


I disagree. It's dedicated to skyscrapers, yes; but it's also dedicated to much more than that. The name is skyscrapercity which contains both the word skyscraper and city, thus leaving room to discuss both individual tall buildings as well as the cities that surround them. Since low-rise projects are also a part of what forms the cities that surrounds them, I don't see a reason why they shouldn't be covered on this website. In fact you will find plenty of forums and threads that deal with low-rise architecture.

Haha, and to say they don't stand out is ridiculous, that's nothing but a dumb ass generalization. Maybe all the low rise stuff where you're from doesn't stand out, not DC, if you think all they do is build the same low rise buildings over and over again, that's just dumb, that's all they have there, of course they have to get creative. Have you seen buildings like the Native American museum or the Ronald Reagan Building or the many renovated buildings, the new flatiron, or the convention center?

skyscrapers don't always stand out either, very much like NYC, there are tons of gems in DC that you don't see from afar, and many of them very tall, just not tall enough to stand out, but when you get up close and inside the city, you see how great they are.

And besides, skyscrapers are important, but not that important, DC doesn't have any and it still has importance for obvious reasons, wilmington, buffalo, syracuse, and b'more, yes molo, b'more and a bunch of other cities that are IMO much more lame then DC have sticky development threads and their buildings for the most part aren't anything special either.

What I love about each city is their uniqueness. I love DC for what it is. Skyscrapers boast themselves (the building), they don't make the city. What the city really is is the life in it. The people channeling through the streets like blood in an animal's veins. Anyways, skyscrapers can be great looking, but if nothing's going on at street level, all you have is a bland city surrounded by tall glass. As Nova said, DC may not be much for skyscrapers, but everyone knows it kicks ass for many other reasons.

You've got to be kidding right??
There is a reason we have little pix of DC or North VA.
There is a reason the posts for those locations are not active.
DC is a rocking town. North VA... not so much going on. That's the truth.

North VA is like Wilmington, DE or NJ. A larger metro feeds everything in them.
When you post, please have some truths peppered in. I'm from NJ and it is what it is. I don't try to make it something it's not. It's not a player with the big boys. Neither is Wilmington, Dover, Syracuse, Hartford, Towson or any city in Virginia. All great people and towns though.

My hometown is a swamp. You may not like the truth, but it is the truth.
Don't get offended because your city doesn't have the population, or history, or sports team. Those smaller cities are probably much better off than the Boston's, NY's, Philly's, Baltimore's, and DC's.

Northern VA has grown to be something from sprawl. It's really still in it's infancy, and I never once mentioned northern va. I simply made it my name b/c I went to HS there and the DC prefix of my name was taken. But, 3 counties and Arlington and Alexandria have 2 million + people, and is pretty powerful for what it is. But I agree, it's not some immensely interesting place, although it's better then Dover, Towson, Syracuse, and Wilmington IMO.

"There is a reason the posts for those locations are not active."
This is stupid b/c N. VA is very active, but doesn't have the representation, you think other towns like Buffalo and Wilmington are in better shape then DC or N. VA just b/c they have a lot of people who like to comment about them on this board. There's been posts about harrisburg and little ass towns in PA and NY, I wouldn't deduce much from this though.

But I'm mainly talking about DC, my hometown, which has 4 sports teams, more than B'more, better nightlife then B'more, and more history then B'more, and as good a future believe it or not. There's every reason it should have a thread then any of these other towns that do.

Depends on what you're looking for. When people post here, they usually come with pictures, and a debate. Judging from most posts, it's pitting one or more cities against others. If only just to compare.

If you like, rock, pop, dance, hip hop & or R&B, you got to Baltimore to party. If you like country, world, pop, dirty south rap, or gospel, you go to DC.

Higher end, black tie affairs in DC. Party til you puke in Bmore.
I don't mind anything as long as I have fun. Usually though, the laws are much tighter in the district.

And since when do we judge a hot town by how many sports teams it has. Whose to say the owners of those teams won't move somewhere else tomorrow? You're nuts on that one.

Vegas has no sports teams and I'll put the nightlife there against any in the world. Think before you type!

"Don't get offended because your city doesn't have the population, or history, or sports team."

What the hell are you talking about? You are the one that brought up sports teams. I simply responded by saying that to say where I'm from doesn't have the sports teams among other factors to warrant any attn. on this board is false. And you analysis on the nightlife is typical of a B'more person.

Ever hear of nation or 9:30 club? You can party till you puke here. Dream, Platinum, etc. Platinum ain't that good but it's about as good as the B'more clubs are. B'more is fun, I think more of the higher end of the parties are in DC though I agree, you're right there, but DC has a lot to offer for all groups. I think they're both pretty good for gays, but I think DC has the edge. One thing I do know is that DC has so many more places.

It's pretty simple. Nothing is to to be built that will overshadow the "monumental" and historic sections of DC. That's as it should be. So most of what is built in downtown DC and across the Potomac tends to be monolithic, repetitive looking architecture whose object is to get the most amount of space given the hieght restrictions.

Because of this the buildings themselves don't generate a lot of buzz. As this is a skyscraper site, it doesn't surprise me that there is not a lot of DC discussion here.

I agree with that, but there's nothing going on in some of these smaller towns that have more threads than DC. And it's good that there is a dev. thread up, b/c there are plenty of projects that are of interest whether it's residential, commercial in the district of VA, but I disagree that it's monolithic and repetitive, I don't know how things used to be but this is less and less the case with the development in the area now.

Population, History or Sportsteam???? :weirdo: Nova, I'm from central Jersey, moved to Philly at 19 and came to Baltimore a short while ago. So nothing from me is spoken like a Bmore person. (and doesn't Bmore have more people?)

The perception of DC to Baltimore from a Philly mindset is what I mentioned. Good clubs in both. More high end in DC, but no underground what so ever. Baltimore is a hub of underground spots. So when DC closes at 3 am, drive up to Baltimore and visit the block.

When or if I move out of Baltimore, I'll be on here hyping where I am at the time. I just like action buddy, and try to keep in-the-know.

Why the hate for Bmore peeps? I've never understood why DC and Baltimore do that. I personally think they compliment each other well.

I guess you guys in Virginia chime in and make it more than it really is.
Who knows??

I'm in DC you idiot, who said I was in VA, I don't know where you get off even saying this, I've already addressed that, anyway, you add to that perception that you hate, there is plenty of underground in DC, it's just that underground is more prominent in B'more b/c there aren't as many other things going on, and I'm not even hyping up anything. And even with as much underground there's still plenty of other things to do. I don't hate B'more people at all, it's you guys that come in here with jack ass statements like "DC is a suburb of B'more", even if it was a joke, there is plenty of that thinking around.

And I'm not going to go any further with this sports team thing, you mentioned where I'm from doesn't have them, and I responded, that's it, go read your post when you first brought it up out of nowhere.

"Don't get offended because your city doesn't have the population, or history, or sports team. Those smaller cities are probably much better off than the Boston's, NY's, Philly's, Baltimore's, and DC's." This is what you said so shut up.

"I guess you guys in Virginia chime in and make it more than it really is.
Who knows??"

certainly not you, I don't know even know what this means.

I love B'more, but you have to understand that for years and years and now it's the B'more people that feel overshadowed and resentful towards DC.

as the seat of the Federal Government ,D.C. belongs to everybody. at least until they stop deducting out of everybodies paycheck
What would D.C. do if all Federal withholdings stopped?

Part of it would suffer, it would pretty much go to shit, but that's like asking where would SF go without any tech firms or where would Detroit go without auto, which we have seen to an extent, but DC still taxes its residents so it doesn't pay for all the city's expenses like before just the federally related things, earlier in 50s there was home rule and the federal gov't fully funded the city and it was pretty nice. But that's why I think the diversifying that the local economy has done relatively recently is good.

I have to disagree. I don't get a S.F. or Detroit withholding from my check.The only way its comparable is if the gov't is subsidizing the company like Lockheed in Cobb County GA.
or Norhtern VA (Pentagon). I live in NW D.C. for a couple of years and its hard for me to look at it as a city. The residents to me have no connect with its main industry. I dont see People who move to DC to work for the govt as DC culture. Why even have residents? why not make all non-gov't property Maryland NE NW Virginia SE SW.

The Only thing distinctively D.C. is Go-Go Music. imo