[subterranean]

That doesn't look nearly as bad as I thought given the previous drawings. Quite honestly I've been pretty uninspired and, ironically, not intrigued with anything that Studio Intrigue has done.

Additionally, I watched the city council meeting the other day on television. There were some pretty real and justified critical observations by stake-holders. First of which that I thought to be pertinent was parking. The second problem that I saw as a warranted observation was that the new market would be on private property if this goes through, and the vendors were not approached about rent, regulations, etc. Yet another topic was visibility. Granted, the site they are currently occupying isn't in the best shape, but it was definitely a highly visible presence.

I have mixed emotions about this. I do not want this to become just some trendy thing for new urban dwellers to have as sort of a novelty, and lose the community building characteristics that the current market harbors. Indeed, the market is not a tenth of what it used to be, but there are real diehards. On the other hand, I think a jolt into the 21st century is much needed, and a prominent river front location such as this might give it the steam its been lacking in recent years.

It's easy to play "planner" on this and see what good it will do to the river front, and for downtown, but it takes a critical eye to see how many people have not been consulted in this process, which I think is a travesty. We should be striving for inclusivity in all matters with diverse interests and investment, whether that be social or monetary capital.