Monday, October 15, 2007

The New View

IMG_4388
From the Hill at the Florida Market. Construction near Union Station restricts the view a bit. We're seeing some tall buildings on the east end of H, but the bridge makes it a slightly special situation. How tall is too tall for further down H?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

In large part, I believe the H Street Overlay should be followed in guiding development in the corridor. However, I also believe that H Street needs greater residential density to generate demand that can support high-quality retail.

To achieve this, I think that nodes of greater density (and height) should be allowed/encouraged on either end of the corridor and in the middle of the corridor.

To the west, this density would build upon the existing Senate Square project and proposed Dreyfus, Steuart projects. In the middle of the corridor, the higher density node should occur at/around H Street Connection, where there already exists a high-rise residential building on G Street. On the east end, the starbusrt intersection could be a higher density area that serves as a eastern gateway.

Beyond these specific areas, I think a 4-6 story height limit is acceptable to stimulate development, while avoiding a canyon-effect of tall buildings.

Anonymous said...

I think Anon is about right on the balance. I think that the storage facility is another good target of a larger scale mixed use building that will add a lot of density.

Anonymous said...

Anon and Gleb are correct. If you want a thriving restaurant scene on H it'd help a lot to have more density than we currently have.

Anonymous said...

I'm also concerned about the canyon-effect. I can't help but think about 125th Street in Harlem when I look at the new buildings being erected on H. Aesthetics are just as important to building a community as anything else, as vain as we humans are.

Anonymous said...

8th and I:

You have a valid point. While it's great to encourage more density, development, etc., we should remember we'll be stuck with these buildings for a very long time. Design, appearance, and use are all important.

One thing we should always try to have included is ground floor retail. It's a must if we're going to have a lively, interesting neighborhood.