Why are buildings in D.C. not tall?

A number of persons have covered this subject, but maybe I can address it a bit differently.

Pierre L’Enfant did the masterplan of Washington DC back right before 1800. This was to be the great city of the west with every detail mapped out including all future buildings and monuments. At this point, a ten story building was gargantuan and considered unappealing to most. As such, they weren’t really apart of the plan.

A hundred years later elevators are commonplace in large buildings and allowances were made for taller buildings, provided they stayed within defined proportion (hence the 130′ limit).

Washington DC was designed as an eternal city. It’s just that 200 years later we can see that there are a number of things they didn’t see coming. Like tall buildings with elevators. Otherwise, Washington DC is exactly what L’Enfant imagined: a city as a monument.