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D.C.’s hopes for some degree of authority over its own building heights were all but dashed last week when the National Capital Planning Commission voted not to recommend that Congress make any major changes to the Height Act. Supporters of the 1910 law cheered the decision as an affirmation that D.C.’s skyline should retain a “human scale.” Just how human? Well, take a look at how D.C.’s tallest existing building—excluding monuments—and its tallest allowable building on a major commercial corridor stack up against the high-rises of some veritable American metropolises.
Tallest currently allowed on D.C. commercial streets: 130 feet (plus penthouses and spires)
Oakbrook Terrace, Ill. Population: 2,155
South Padre Island, Texas. Population: 2,896
Abbeville, S.C. Population: 5,179
Biloxi, Miss. Population: 44,578
Harrisburg, Pa. Population: 49,279
D.C. Population: 632,323
Tunica, Miss. Population: 996