[rad707]

I'm with MichaelB on the difference between a downtown and a retail destination. Apartments are as transient as the shoppers who come in by day and leave for their homes (neighborhoods) at night.

One of my major issues with the Domain is that it is a master plan. Very few "downtowns" were built in this way. The master plan is still synonymous with mall culture, even if the mall has been turned inside out and people pushed to the streets. Without a critical mass of homeownership in this area (which may actually happen) and the fragmentation of retail ownership (which won't) the Doman will never become a downtown.

Downtowns are both smooth and rough. They have shining facades and dark alleyways. They have crumbling edges and polished fronts. Some landowners are slumlords and others becons of civility.

Culture needs room to grow; a chance to make mistakes; a chance to express itself. It doesn't need building standards implemented by a master developer. A downtown has to have dicotomy to be reflective of the human condition - nobody is perfect so why do we seek utopian ideals in our building practices?

Good intentions or not, master planners fail to understand the subconscious importance of the seedy, smelly, dirty underbelly of a downtown. For them, the safe route is to seek profits from all gloss and no soul. Hummers. Lattes. Boob jobs. Jesus...