Metrorail service to the downtown retail core caused few planning or zoning changes. The area had been experiencing physical decline and sharp drops in retail sales since the early 1950s. The combined effects of new suburban retail centers and the 1968 riots hastened the decline of downtown.

Suggested Metro-related modifications to long-standing planning and zoning policies were either disapproved or have not been implemented. Examples of these include raising the building height limit downtown and joint development of vacant urban renewal tracts around both stations. Despite significant developer interest in vacant renewal tracts, complications have delayed the start of any transit- related projects.

Metrorail has been a motivating factor for development around both Metro Center and Gallery Place stations. Several major offices buildings have been constructed in the downtown area, and the D.C. Convention Center was built to the north of the area partly due to the site’s proximity to Metrorail.

The District Government has released a new downtown plan which places great emphasis on transit and on relating new development to Metrorail. The plan also calls for much residential development, both hotels and apartments. The likelihood of new housing downtown is uncertain, for almost all new development has been commercial, primarily office.