[jlousa]

I'll take a stab on how the view cones have served us well and how they will continue to serve us well into the future

1) They retain the views both statically and dynamically for everyone to enjoy not just those in the uppermost floors of a few select buildings.
2) They have assisted in spreading out the density over a wider area then would probably have happened w/o them. Instead of 400 20 story buildings having being built we might have had 200 40 story buildings. While the 2nd might sound ideal to "skyscraper fans" the first provides for greater livability to the residents as density has already reached a critical mass at that stage and anything more would add a diminishing return of amenities but additional crowding.
3) Perhaps the most overlooked is the amount of sunlight that is introduced to ground level due to the viewcones. This was accidental and not by design but have all these paths carved out has allowed our downtown to suffer from minimal dark areas and has created a much more welcoming street experience.

Thats not to say that there can't be tweaks here or there but the current system has certainly provided may positives to our city. I would be interested in how people actually think our city would've been better w/o them. I wouldn't want to give up the above for the sake of having a building or 2 that might be taller then our current tallest.

The cost differences between the two proposals wouldn't have been too much material wise, in fact you could easily have made Bing's proposal for less then the current proposal depending on how you outfitted the units, but would they sell? The fact is the numbers would've been run and the marketing guys would've stated what would've been the easier sell and that's what they would've run with. The Jameson is a perfect example of a project that fans like to see but developers hate. Sales were very slow and continue to be a hard sell, one developer lost his shirt on the deal. It's why projects like it are the exceptions and not the rule.