Quote:
Originally Posted by wwmiv
CVCs also have another great aspect because of what they do (all of which you mentioned): they increase, often, the value of the buildings because many projects will have protected unencumbered views from all sides.
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Completely disagree with the notion that CVCs cause buildings to go higher. And in any case, if that was the goal of the city - there are tons more efficient and equitable ways to accomplish it.
But the goal is not just to create height - it's to create a vibrant, interesting, dense, livable downtown. The thing that gets the way in the most in Austin is whole swaths of downtown are surface parking lots or super low intensity single story lots that have been that way and will remain that way for decades to come because the economics of developing them are prohibitive. There are enough roadblocks to development in this city as it is.
Also, this idea that somehow it's a benefit to the protect blocks is horrible - you would never purposefully blight blocks in a CBD in order to protect other blocks - but that's exactly what the CVCs in effect do.