How Many Find Bldgs Under Construction More Exicitng Than Finished?

[IMBY]

As Leonard Woolf once said: It's the journey, not the arrival, that counts!

I agree! I love seeing buildings under construction, and when completed, it seems like a big letdown, no matter how beautiful they are!

I need to get to San Francisco before the Salesforce Tower is finished, right when they're topping it off with steelwork.

I was recently in L.A. and saw the Wilshire Grand topped off, now it won't be so exciting to see it finished.

Am I considered a Freak for seeing things like this? Any other Freaks out there like myself?

[McBane]

Construction cranes speak to progress. When you go to a city and see many cranes, you know that city is economically strong at this present moment. There certainly is something striking about that.

[mhays]

Agreed McBane. Though I do like completed buildings quite a bit.

Also, buildings start slowly after they're "complete." The initial buildouts might still be underway, or might be years later. Their activity level can be underwhelming initially.

Also some of us put too much faith in the effects a few buildings will have on sidewalk activity etc. I've been guilty of this, though a few decades of obsessive watching have tempered my expectations. A few hundred apartments might add a pedestrian or two on that block, but the effects will be imperceptible a couple blocks away.

Sometimes development can actually reduce activity. As a commited pedestrian who wants driving to reduce this pains me, but it's true: Replace a parking lot with an apartment building and the shopping street might lose business because drivers don't go there as much anymore.

My #1 favorite time is groundbreakings (actual expensive work), because then a project goes on the tally. Second might be watching a highrise become prominent. Another is when the sidewalk reopen if it was closed. Another is after the building is full and new population stats come out. Another is if a good restaurant opens, or a grocery store.

[BrandonJXN]

Check this out.

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=152447

[IMBY]

Thanks, Brandon, for those uploads!

Now I'll make an exception to Cal Plaza, my favorite high rises in DTLA, as I'm a pure sucker for curved 60's/70's glass buildings, lots of them in Houston. How I wish they'd add one more of those to that Angel Knoll vacant lot!

[Valyrian Steel]

I don't really see it this way. While I've enjoyed following the Wilshire Grand construction from the beginning, I can't wait to see it finished with the sidewalks/plaza finally open and the tower fully lit up at night.

[Jaborandi]

I've always preferred buildings under construction rather than the completion. When under construction, there is still the possibility that it will become a beautiful addition to the city. Here in Toronto, the finished product is usually a disappointment which is going to be around for a long long time.

[ChargerCarl]

Im the opposite. Whenever I see a proposal or aerial shot of LA or something (filled with parking lots) I just want to hit fast-forward and see it all fill in.

[MolsonExport]

I love the changes as they unfold. Like slowly undressing a pretty woman for the first time.

[ocman]

I have excitement at proposal, relief at constructon, and often disappointment at completion.

[mhays]

Completed buildings rarely have a huge effect individually, but waves of construction over decades can completely change places. It's fun to watch what one project can do, especially if it fills an important gap, but I tend to think more about the collective change in a neighborhood over an entire boom and multiple booms.

[scalziand]

I love seeing the raw exposed structures of buildings as they're going up. It's kind of boring once the facade goes on.

[IMBY]

Thanks for the responses to my post! So I guess I'm not alone in my thinking!

I missed seeing the WTC tower going up. Have always hated the design for it, so I missed the enjoyment when so much of it was just steel!

[Matthew]

With new construction buildings, I love to follow the construction. I can spend hours looking at construction. I want to know how a new construction building will appear from different angles. I like watching construction videos on the forum, like those seen on the Wilshire Grand thread. I love for others to see new construction in the cities I post on. When I visit a city, I always notice the construction and will walk toward it. I actually like the sound of construction, too. When someone posts a construction video, I will turn it up, if it has the sounds of the streets and construction in it. I like seeing every step of the process and learning about new materials and design ideas. It's fun seeing how new construction can change the city, as it rises above the street.

With Adaptive Reuse, I want the building completed yesterday. I post on Winston-Salem, which claims to have the most national landmarks, is the biggest beneficiary of state historic tax credits (more than half of the state's historic tax credits went to downtown Winston-Salem projects), and is filled with old buildings, dating back to the mid-1700s. When an old building is unused, dark (no lights at night), boarded-up, or in a state of decay, it can make a city look bad and lead to an empty block. Those also seem to be the blocks visitors love to photograph, to show what the city is like. The sooner those buildings are cleaned-up, restored/renovated, and back in use, the sooner those blocks see activity and the better the city looks. Also, so much of adaptive reuse can't be seen from the streets. It's interesting to follow, but I always want those buildings completed now and they do make a big impact, visually, on the city! Right now, it seems as if Bailey Power Plant Entertainment Complex and the Hotel Indigo in the Art Deco Pepper Building are taking forever. Those two buildings look rough and need "instant" restoration.

[photoLith]

Originally Posted by mhays

Completed buildings rarely have a huge effect individually, but waves of construction over decades can completely change places. It's fun to watch what one project can do, especially if it fills an important gap, but I tend to think more about the collective change in a neighborhood over an entire boom and multiple booms.

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