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The bottom line is we're already in a shortage planning for the next generation. We can't nibble at the edges here. We need to enable significant new housing in the comp plan.

Also, the comp plan will be a significant political fight either way. TOD isn't really low-hanging fruit. A lot of TOD-capable areas are zoned for single-family only. Allowing more housing there will activate the same opposition sixplexes everywhere does. bsky.app/profile/did:...

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Is 453k additional FLUMmed (not zoned) capacity enough to last us through 2050? Hard to tell; our scrying methods are lackluster at best. But making both these changes is a lot better than making just one.

DC 2050 - Housing Capacity Tools for DC's Comp Plan

So what gets us the most capacity? We can use dc2050.org/zoning to do some analysis. It's close, but from what we can tell, sixplexes adds ~376k capacity and TOD adds ~323k. These areas overlap, so both together add ~453k

dc2050.org

Explore DC's zoned housing capacity and proposed FLUM updates with interactive tools. Analyze zoning, the 2050 comprehensive plan, and housing policy for Washington DC.

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Zoned Capacity Is Like an Artificial Oil Deposit

DC is short ~100k homes today. The comp plan rewrite is supposed to last us through 2050, so another 24 years of growth. Because FLUMmed Capacity > Zoned Capacity > What Gets Built, we need significant slack in the comp plan rewrite. www.abundanceandgrowth.org/p/zoned-capa...

abundanceandgrowth.org

Why cities can claim they have room for thousands of new homes on paper and still not build them

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Support More Housing in the Comprehensive Plan

Here's our full comp plan proposal. The first item is legalizing sixplexes on every lot. The third is significant transit-oriented development. Why not just pick one or the other? dcyimbys.org/blog/support...

dcyimbys.org

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DC YIMBYs @dcyimbys.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Good question on the other site so porting the response thread here. Why are we pushing for sixplexes on every lot? Why not focus on transit-oriented development? Short answer: it's not either/or. We need both, and we need to enable both in the upcoming comprehensive plan rewrite. Longer answer.. 🧵

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The DC Federation of Civic Associations has put out an ANC Endorsement Questionnaire with some... uh.. interesting questions.

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DC YIMBYs @dcyimbys.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

In case you had any doubt about what the "invasion" language is about.

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DC YIMBYs @dcyimbys.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

A lot of *choices* are made in zoning

DC YIMBYs @dcyimbys.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

There are parts of DC less than 200 feet from a metro where anything denser than a single family home is literally illegal. And the Zoning Handbook is really clear about why.

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DC YIMBYs @dcyimbys.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

DC should really leverage the comp plan/zoning reform to take advantage of the funding in this bill

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Reposted by DC YIMBYs

Reed Schwartz @reed-schwartz.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

(1/3) Wondering what's actually in the Tim Scott / Elizabeth Warren 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, and what advocates and policymakers can do with it? Check out the implementation guide @willpoffwebster.bsky.social and I wrote with Pew's housing team. Some highlights: ifp.org/the-success-...

ifp.org

The Success of the New Federal Housing Law Now Rests on States and Localities | IFP

Billions of dollars could flow to proactive jurisdictions that build more homes

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Reposted by DC YIMBYs

Theo in Arlington @adamtheo.com · 30/07/2026

The happy hour celebration of the 21st Century ROAD to #Housing Act becoming law (yes, us housing nerds do that sort of thing here in DC, a delightfully wonky town), organized by Inclusive Abundance, @upforgrowthaction.bsky.social, @yimbyaction.bsky.social, & other orgs was a wonderful time 🎉🎉

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Learn about the pro-housing movement and how you can make housing more affordable near you!

It can be hard to get folks with young kids to, say, run for ANC, but they're often willing to send a letter to electeds or even testify virtually. They should sign up to our mailing list to hear about opportunities. Dcyimbys.org

dcyimbys.org

DC YIMBYs

Property tax assessments have separate "land" and "building" components, but because we only tax on the full value, it's not terribly important that each component be accurate as long as the total is. Making sure we get an accurate land assessment is vital if we want LVT to work well.

DC Legislation Information Management System

@brianneknadeau.bsky.social drops a bill to set DC up for LVT. 1) Requires land component of a prop tax assessment reflect underlying value of the land as if it were vacant, and 2) Publishes assessment-sales ratio studies with an explicit land component. lims.dccouncil.gov/Legislation/...

lims.dccouncil.gov

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DC YIMBYs @dcyimbys.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

This used to be true but I think increasingly, young homeowners are also very YIMBY

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We're in a severe housing shortage. The default throughout DC government should be to plan/FLUM/zone for significantly MORE housing while working to speed approval processes that have to exist. Instead we consistently get half-measures. bsky.app/profile/dcyi...

DC YIMBYs @dcyimbys.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

It would be good if the people in ZC/OP realized that

DC YIMBYs @dcyimbys.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

One amusing but infuriating aside - the commissioner that voted against said they could approve 4 units and if more was needed OP could come back and they'd approve it quickly. But OP has been working on this for over 4 years! It took ZC more than a year to approve it!

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In June, ZC voted to make these changes. 3 commissioners supported them, 1 commissioner opposed, and 1 was absent. Because of a few ANCs, there are ~4,000 RA-1 lots with less than six units that can now add homes without additional onerous review.

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Four ANCs (5F, 4D, 5B, and 3C) asked ZC to maximize flexibility on these lots. 3C set a target - 10 units. In the hearing in January, ZC and OP were skeptical of allowing 10 units for reasons they didn't really articulate, but they also agreed that six units was doable.

Special exceptions aren't impossible to get, but they add months of time and significant expense for an uncertain approval. The Office of Planning's proposal would allow up to four homes by-right on RA-1 lots.

In January, the Zoning Commission took up a case that had been in the works for over 4 years to allow more homes on RA-1 lots. Up till now, despite being a "residential apartment" zone, to build more than one home on RA-1 land you needed a special exception from the BZA.

Let's talk about how a few ANCs just pushed the Zoning Commission and the Office of Planning to change the rules and allow a lot more homes by-right in DC . If you want to help make changes like this, you should run for ANC (and reach out for help). A detailed🧵

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DC YIMBYs @dcyimbys.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

Reminder our next happy hour is this Wednesday at Sonny's. Hope to see you there!

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Tell the Office of Planning to stop planning so hard and just let a neighborhood grow. publicinput.com/hstreetstudy

publicinput.com

H Street Land Use and Market Study - PublicInput

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DC YIMBYs @dcyimbys.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

One of my favorite spots in DC is this piece of Columbia Road across from Safeway. Lingerie shop, nail salon, dentist, travel agency specializing in travel to Cuba, hispanic clothing store, vape shop, yoga studio, and check cashing stop all in a row. You can't plan that!

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DC YIMBYs @dcyimbys.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

One of the ways you can tell these subdistricts are a bad idea is to look at existing vibrant neighborhoods. Georgetown, Dupont, U St, etc weren't built this way. A neighborhood should be shaped by the people and businesses that show up to live, work, and play there.

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Reposted by DC YIMBYs

sturgeondc.bsky.social @sturgeondc.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Thoughtful look at the H st land use study recommendations

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OP should stop micromanaging buildings. Let people build to the height and scale that make sense, and let them use the buildings for the purposes that work best. That's how you get a vibrant, diverse streetscape.

Rec 21 also refuses to recognize we're a city. The goal should not be to ensure new buildings match existing ones. Cities change, grow, and adapt, and the planning process should allow that to happen rather than trying to freeze the corridor in place. Delete the H St Overlay.

Rec 19 recognizes that greater building height and FAR would help. But it continues to impose arbitrary height caps. There's no reason to limit building height along H Street - a busy urban street with substantial activity, foot traffic, and demand in the middle of a city.

The land use/zoning recs acknowledge some of the problems, but then respond with half-measures that preserve unnecessary limitations.

Where the analysis is strongest is in its discussion of public space.There are limited opportunities to sit and gather on H st. Benches, parks, sidewalks, and other public infrastructure are exactly the kinds of things the city can improve to make a real difference.

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Some of the sub-district rules are also arbitrary. Why should arts buildings be lower than retail or housing buildings? The city should stop creating artificial distinctions between different types of building activity and just let people build what makes sense.

Some of OP's findings support this. They note that the decline of foot traffic on the eastern end may be due to more restrictive residential development and zoning.

The same issue shows up in ground-floor vacancy. Current rules require 50% ground floor retail in the retail district. But that requirement leads to empty storefronts if there isn't demand. A vacant retail space is worse than an occupied space being used for something else.