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D.C. Municipal Regulations (Last Updated: September 13, 2017) |
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Title 10. PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT |
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SubTilte 10-A. COMPREHENSIVE PLAN |
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Chapter 10-A3. LAND USE ELEMENT |
Section 10-A301. LAND USE PROFILE OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
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301.1The District of Columbia comprises 69 square miles, including approximately eight square miles of water and 61 square miles of land. Land use patterns, illustrated in Map 3.1, reveal an expansive city “core” of about four square miles centered around the open spaces of the federal city. The core is surrounded by an inner ring of moderate to high density residential and mixed use neighborhoods, extending west to Georgetown, north to Columbia Heights and Petworth, east across Capitol Hill, and south to the Anacostia River and Near Southwest. Beyond the inner ring is an outer ring of less dense development, characterized largely by single family housing and garden apartments. The two rings generally correspond to historic development patterns, with most of the inner ring developed prior to 1910 and the outer ring developed after 1910. 301.1
301.2The impact of the city’s transportation network on land use patterns is apparent in Map 3.1. Most of the commercial and higher density development beyond the core of the city hugs radial avenues like Connecticut Avenue NW and Pennsylvania Avenue SE. Most of the District’s industrial development follows the railroad corridors running from Union Station east along New York Avenue and north to Silver Spring. The historic connection between transportation and land use continues to shape the city today, with Metrorail station areas emerging as the city’s newest activity centers. 301.2
301.3Map 3.1: Existing Land Use 2005
301.4Table 3.1: Acres of Existing Land Use by Planning Area, 2005 301.4
301.5Map 3.1 reveals other distinctive land use patterns. The city’s open space networks, particularly those along Rock Creek and the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers, are apparent. Large institutional uses-including some 2,000 acres of colleges, universities, hospitals, seminaries, and similar uses across the city-are visible. Federal enclaves beyond the core of the city, such as Bolling Air Force Base, the St. Elizabeths Hospital Campus, Walter Reed Hospital, and the Armed Forces Retirement Home, appear prominently. Many of the federal and institutional uses are located in areas that are otherwise residential in character. While this creates the potential for land use conflicts, these uses are also important open space buffers, job centers, community anchors, and resources for the surrounding neighborhoods. 301.5
301.6Table 3.1 indicates the existing acreage in different land uses in each of the city’s ten Planning Areas. Figure 3.1 shows the location of these Planning Areas. The table shows both similarities and differences between Areas. Both the “inner ring” and “outer ring” neighborhoods generally contain 30 to 40 percent of their land areas in residential uses. On the other hand, residential uses represent less than two percent of Central Washington and less than 10 percent of the Anacostia Waterfront. About 25 percent of the District consists of road rights-of-way, although only about half of this acreage actually consists of the paved streets themselves. For instance, road rights of way constitute 39 percent of Capitol Hill, but most of this land consists of landscaped or bricked front “yards” along streets with exceptionally wide rights-of-way. 301.6
301.7Despite the significant number of jobs in the city, commercial uses represent less than five percent of the city’s land area, and industrial uses represent just one percent. Commercial uses represent about 16 percent of the land area in Central Washington, but less than two percent of the land area in Far Southeast/ Southwest. Many of the District’s jobs are associated with federal facilities and institutional uses, which together make up about 13 percent of its land area. Institutional lands appear throughout the city, but are especially prevalent in the three Northwest Planning Areas and in Upper Northeast. 301.7
301.8Maps 3.2 and 3.3 show estimated population and employment density in the city and close-in suburbs as of 2005. The data is based on the traffic analysis zones used by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments for transportation modeling. Map 3.2 again illustrates the “ring” of fairly dense neighborhoods around the city center, and the denser residential development along major corridors like Connecticut Avenue NW and 14th Street NW. It also shows areas of fairly dense development east of the Anacostia River, primarily associated with large low rise garden apartment complexes in Far Southeast. On the other hand, areas like Woodridge, Burrville, and Shepherd Park have low population densities, in some cases even lower than the adjacent neighborhoods in suburban Maryland. 301.8
301.9Map 3.3 shows that employment is highly concentrated in Central Washington. Nearly 60 percent of the city’s jobs are located within this area. Beyond the city center, other major employment centers include the universities and federal enclaves, the New York Avenue industrial corridor, the West End, the Georgetown waterfront, and several corridors in Upper Northwest. Large concentrations of employment also appear beyond the city limits, in Downtown Bethesda and Silver Spring, and in Rosslyn, Crystal City, the Pentagon area, and Alexandria. 301.9
301.10Figure 3.1: Planning Areas 301.10
301.11Map 3.2: Population Density 301.11
301.12Map 3.3: Employment Density 301.12
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