Quote:
Originally Posted by JACKinNYC
What a lovely view of the parking garage those apartments will have. Nice planning, starchitect! (Nice photo, Raul.)
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I passed by this building two weeks ago. I had not been in the area since jan 01st. I was shocked at how much was done, but more shocked at how pathetic the planning of this building was. What is wrong with SA?! Do tall, more effective and efficient buildings scare them? Do they not plan for the future?! This new building is the same size as the parking. That is really sad. Okay, on one hand, the police now have a more updated building. On the other hand, is it really much bigger than what they already had? Will they need more space within the next two years or less? Reminds me of the way UTSA works, build a two story parking garage costing over 50 million, build more parking lots and just cut down any near by trees. Sooner or later, that school will run low on any more room to build on. Just look at Valero, how smart they were - no ground parking, and it looks much nicer from street view and from above. They intrigrated the building within the trees - and if they need more room, I am sure they would be taller and intrigrate the planning with the trees or, even, tear one building down (something downtown SA would call "Histrortic" - not everything is just because it is old! This is similar to what was done with the building that was just built off 281 and 1604. A building that should have been placed downtown, but was "too moderate". If SA keeps building for the short-term and not thinking for the long-term, we are going to have serious issues when the price of gas becomes too high to travel 20 miles to work and 20 miles back to home. Centralization is key to a successful city. The SA population has grown, what, by 100,000 in the last 20 years, while Austin has grown much faster, beyond what anyone would think - because they are more innovative and willing to take chances, and they know that if they want a continued successful city wherein people want to live and work, they must change and adapt to new, ever-changing environments.
Yes, SA, keep building outward and do not focus on what is happening inward (many parts of downtown need some serious work). Every large city in the U.S., among large cities in other counties, has taken into consideration the changing climate. Think about this as an example, SA spent millions and millions growing outward, yet, malls are closing down, stores such as Best Buy, NM, Sears, Target, and more are facing trouble, even the theaters. So, what would one want to have in a city, what would one look to in a city to move into and build on the population? - a city with so many closed down and abandoned areas - or a centralized city wherein the likelihood of shores closing is less due to people being near by. As long as you have people, they will need to buy things, and even if a store closes, it will not be closed forever since "limited space" and people wanting to start their own business or etc., comes into play. Think of how many stores are closed in downtown NY and compare that to downtown SA. Another thing to consider - no one has time to be sitting in traffic for 2 hours each trip to work and the gas; no wonder the drivers here are crazy. It is like the i10/410 area. It tools years to finish, once it was finished, it was just as congested has before. I mean, come on, for crying out load, two lines to go from i10 to 410 East and one line to go from i10 to 410 West?!