Awesome. I love contemporary Cascadian architecture. It's the closest you can get to a regional style; something you don't see too much anymore in this globalist world. It's hard to define the elements of the style, but I know that if you showed me those pictures without telling me where they were from I would recognize them as coming from either Seattle or Vancouver. I can't help but think that this upper-Cascadia region is one of the best places in the world for architecture. It's a perfect blend of style and sound urban planning; the latter being something you don't find as often on other continents.
There are subtle design elements that differentiate it from the kind of developments taking place in other regions of America and the greater Anglo world. While we have sound urban planning principles, too, the kind of buildings going up in Austin
just look different. More conservative. More Art Deco. Perhaps a little dated, in comparison.
Anyway, I appreciate both (I'm glad development has gotten going again, under Obama), but I really like the contemporary Cascadian architecture best. Our city council always uses Seattle and Vancouver as examples/models when talking about what we should do, but I can't help but feel like y'all are just really far ahead of us; and everyone else, for that matter. I'm sure at a later time, everyone else will realize it and it will be widely acknowledged.