The DC Council tells Congress: “We don’t want to make our own choices”

On Tuesday, the DC Council sent a message to Congress on the subject of self-determination. That message: “Congress, please don’t give us more control over our city. We need you to tell us what’s good for us. We don’t want to make our own choices.”

The issue was the 1910 Height of Buildings Act, which limits how high buildings can rise throughout the District. … Most of the debate about the height limit has indeed revolved around whether one appreciates or reviles tall buildings. It would be understandable to think that DC leaders were debating this week whether to loosen the rules that made the city’s skyline look the way it does.

They were not. The issue was not whether to increase building heights. It was whether DC residents and leaders should get a say on the issue.

Continue reading my latest op-ed in the Washington Post.