^Vandalay,
This is also concrete:
Source
...but that doesn't mean we will get this level of detail and quality. I guarentee it won't be. There are plenty of examples arround here of recently built concrete exteriors not holding up well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ardecila
Aldermen have entirely too much power, but that's not my point. We used to do big things downtown without much fuss, because nobody had to live with this stuff in their backyard. Just a few days ago we all cheered the addition of several hundred residential units at Block 37, but those are several hundred new people who will be calling Brendan Reilly to bitch about how the neon signs along State are too bright. This is America - we have this expectation of control over our own neighborhoods and we legitimize our fears of change by citing lowered property values, often with no basis in reality.
I don't really see how you avoid this problem. Some cities are able to build bold new areas with dense mixed-use, parks, and transit on the ashes of former industrial districts, and there's nobody around to complain, but Chicago eliminated this option with the creation of PMDs.
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Cut the number of Alderman by atleast 25 so they don't micromanage everything and put the power of planning and zoning back into the hands of proffessionals. Major upzoning of much of the city, especially downtown to allow greater flexability and density with as-of-right developments.
Problem solved. Notice how after major rezoings occurred in NYC durring the Bloomberg years that suppertalls are sprouting from small lots without any NIMBY roadblocks. Inner Houston is also completely transforming because the lack of formal zoning presents nearly zero legal ability for NIMBYs to challenge a development on sites without restrictive covenants. Its not difficult to do, if we as a city are willing to persue it, but we aren't.