Matt Yglesias, Slate Blogger and Columbia Heights denizen, goes on about the height limit in DC and other examples of unhelpful real estate regulation. In this post he spells out more of a grand theory.
But notice this point: this isn't pie in the sky Utopianism. A small legal change and the rest is taken care of by the market and democratic local government. The results:
One is that you create a bunch of blue collar jobs that pay better than food service jobs.
A second is that you create higher real living standards for the people who currently hold food service jobs in the DC area by increasing the supply of housing.
A third is that since the population of the DC area is growing, you create more opportunities for food service workers to move to the DC area where food service wages are higher.