I do wish it was taller, but I also believe we need more 300-400 footers. If San Antonio did multiple highrises with a tall, 600 ft+ highrise at the center, things might be different. Right now, however, we are at least 4-6 years away from, if this really is a building boom for San Antonio, from anything taller than 400 ft. I don't really care for one tall building in the middle of nowhere. I like variety and density. San Antonio has always been in a unique position to have beautiful historic buildings, with the potential for modern – I can only think of two other cities Chicago, for one, and slightly that of San Francisco, comparative populations, of course; New York is something else.
San Antonio also has a unique downtown that is accessible to all three important attributes of community – living, entertainment, and work. Downtown isn't just a pretty sculpture of city of achievement. Downtown San Antonio has overall importance, especially its walkable downtown through its use of River passage. I love Chicago for its variety. I love walking through Chicago's mix use of buildings and being able to stop and eat around spectacular architecture and towering structures. This is something San Antonio can accomplish. A downtown is not meant to be comprised of short structures, it's where you go to be enveloped by unique architecture and beautiful high-rises that tower above your line of sight. One comment that has always bothered me by others is – "San Antonio is better than any other city (okay) and does not have to compete with other downtown highrises (wrong)." If that is the case then don't use the Tower of Americas or the Tower of Life to showcase San Antonio. We use our downtown's to show achievement and accomplishment through our architectural structures, no different than much of Europe. And, in a similar vein of comparison, London and Paris seemed to be doing an exceptional job by bringing a mix of old and modern to their city centers. The steps taken by these cities allow for appreciation of all types of architecture. Seeing the same types of structures over and over, copying one another is bland and boring. It is no different than the highrises seen through most coastal cities – nothing but white and balcony covered residential structures.
Just today I was downtown, not for work, taking in the sights. I NEVER, sadly, noticed two building on the River - the building where Saltgrass is (i never really saw this building outside of the Riverfront. It is a well taken care of building) and The Vault (I have seen this before, but the parking garage has always pissed me off, so I never really gave this building a true look, again, I work downtown. I have no idea how that parking structure passed design review. Gross). We need more of these type of buildings but taller. I also believe nothing less than 300 ft should be built on the River, but nothing more than 500 ft. Any property on the River should be treated as greatly unique and considered decades lasting and should therefore be considered as such, wherein shortsighted structures, similar to that of an eight-story hotel currently under construction, for instance, should be disallowed.
That's just my take on a few things.
Last edited by Fryguy; Feb 12, 2018 at 6:29 AM.
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