Preservationists Concerned About Visual Blight from Streetcars

Portland has them. So does Charlotte. But in the nation's capital, streetcar overhead wires are under fire from historic preservationists.

1 minute read

April 6, 2010, 11:00 AM PDT

By Cathy Duchamp


You're probably familiar with Washington D.C.'s ban on tall buildings. Did you know there's an overhead wire ban too? It's now colliding with efforts to return streetcars to the district.

"We happen to think that's what keeps the beautiful character of the monumental core looking as it does," Gene Keller, an urban planner with the Capital Planning Commission, tells the Washington Post.

But top D.C. officials say that aesthetic regulation is getting in the way of the new generation of mass transit. They're ready to repeal the overhead wire ban.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010 in Washington Post

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