Well, I guess you don't like it then. But to clarify a few points:
The Penn Quarter is right in the downtown core. It is a thriving new residential and retail district that they developed (quite successfully) in part to remedy that issue, which is one of the only weak spots of the city. But, you know, they don't have a down east area either. So I guess every great city has it's weak points, doesn't it? There are also plans for a new mixed-use area where the former - and hideous - convention centre (since demolished) used to sit just north of the federal core.
Besides, what is lacks in residential living in the federal core has NOTHING to do with the ceiling heights. It has everything to do with the fact that it's the nation's capital . . . hence the name "federal core." Having dozens of federal buildings lining a national mall will tend to cause a gap in the residential part of a city.
Incidentally, the other weak point is needing more grocery stores in the downtown residential areas, though they've made great progress on that front as well.
By the way, "sprawl" isn't really the right term to describe a city that has miles of subway (second highest daily ridership in North America, only after NYC, of course) as well as imminently walkable neighborhoods. Adams Morgan & Georgetown - that you supposedly like - are a 20 minute walk from the downtown core you despise. Capitol Hill, the Southwest Waterfront, Dupont, & Logan are even closer - 5 to 10 minutes from the federal core and are mixed neighborhoods in themselves. Many people I knew lived within a few blocks of their work, which is one of those things cities are striving for from my understanding.
Lastly, my only point in even bringing up DC - and Paris as well I might add - is to show examples that having strict height limits doesn't limit a city's capability to be a great city. I also wanted to point out that having a cluster of monolithic skyscrapers doesn't make a city livable or more desirable.
There are many things I love about Vancouver. Some of us manage to love more than one city at a time. I even like the skyscrapers
But I'm curious, how do you propose Vancouver get all those wider avenues and sidewalks to support the scale of the super-talls you want? They just going to recreate the whole downtown grid? Is that part of the 500-year plan?