Heights and Streets

Well, since there seems to be some further chatter about optimal density in the air, this seems like as good a time as any to address some thoughts I've been having regarding streetscapes and density, particularly in terms of height. After all, height is a key to density in urban space: rowhouses are only so dense if they are still one story (and you can get a lot more density from buildings further apart if they're taller as well). But also density is key to density: that spacing is also critical. So what works?1. Consistency is KeyOne of the elements that I think the article I linked above does a really good job with is the idea that we're not necessarily talking about every building being the same size or shape (that's a different kind of urban form anyway), but we are talking about the default background of the city being consistent--and consistently dense.The far side of this street in Amsterdam, for instance, is pretty much the same design (though you can definitely tell where…