[Redddog]

Originally Posted by PHLtoNYC

Yes. I spend a lot of time in Chicago, it is night and day. In Philadelphia it's almost an anomaly to get a thoughtfully designed building with masonry these days.

A big factor is cost vs. return. It costs a lot more to build in Philadelphia, 1/3+ more, but Chicago and Philadelphia have similar ROI's. Even CC Philadelphia still gets a lot of schlock (Hyatt Centric, 1900 Arch Street).

But there are firms here that produce wonderful buildings in neighborhoods outside of CC, Ambit Architecture is one, so it is possible to an extent... There must be other reasons why Philadelphia has fallen out of the architecture arena? Lack of oversight? Laziness from the city, designers?, etc. There is NO excuse why Center City should be stuck with the new Hyatt Centric building.

(Philadelphia needs to look at Chicago for a lot of things actually).

It's such a shame. I'd say 1 out of every 10 buildings that go up are aesthetically pleasing. I know cost has a lot to do with it but this garbage metal panel thing that's dominating the new builds seems like a Philly thing.