I would disagree that Dupont Circle is low density. Density is more of a reflection of the width of roads than the heights of buildings. Narrow roads and alleys

I would disagree that Dupont Circle is low density. Density is more of a reflection of the width of roads than the heights of buildings. Narrow roads and alleys allow for a lot of density without a lot of height. Look at Western Europe to see how they get more density than U.S. cities without sky scrapers. Paris is largely mid-rise buildings or lower. Paris is denser than NYC and not that far behind Manhattan in terms of density (54,000 people per sq mi in Paris versus 71,000 for Manhattan and 27,000 for NYC as a whole). DC density could be greatly raised without taller buildings by filling in missing teeth (abandoned lots of unused buildings on otherwise built streets) and by urbanizing the large swaths of the City that are suburban. Narrowing some streets to allow for wider buildings would also help. Ultimately, I think we'll have to agree to disagree. I don't think elevators or escalators really belong in an urban setting. I do agree that being able to get to a store that you know you want to get to via underground tunnels can have its benefits. But one of the things that I like about living in an urban area are all my unplanned walks, where I walk around, check out the shops, grab a coffee, maybe go into a few stores. A lot of urban life is unplanned and when we remove people from streets, we begin to lose that.