People from places like New York and London don't get it. They seem stuck in that old mindset a little bit. Here's a perfect example of that:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/18/re...anted=all&_r=0[/QUOTE]
I'm from Austin, and politely disagree with a lot of your generalizations... we don't all view buildings the same way and black and white characterizations of "cities with nothing" is inaccurate.... Seattle has a lot more going for it than its space needle.... library and such are pretty amazing....
there is a lot of backlash against starchitects... it's unwarranted... these people endeavor to do something great and that will be studied for years... I would argue that these projects, as narcissistic and full of inadequacy as their creators may be, still are brilliant and worthy of praise... I will take interesting architecture with walkability any day over your city of infill blandness... in the article you posted walkertower.com seems like this guy was a visionary