[Jdawgboy]

I'm wary to jump into this but since I've been up and around the Domain a few times recently I've most definitely noticed growing pains as austar1 surmised and MichaelB is right in that the developers made some major mistakes in planning not just within the development but with the connectivity to the surrounding area.

First I will discuss its growing pains. It's getting more and more difficult to drive through the Domain. There are no stop lights whatsoever. Every intersection is a stop sign. Shoppers and pedestrians constantly cross plus more are crossing when they aren't at a crosswalk, giving little thought to traffic which backs up traffic all over the Domain. When it's not pedestrians, it's other drivers. When you have cars backed up in all four directions, getting through those intersections safely can be a challenge. I've seen some close calls. I won't even get into the original section with its street parking. I've also seen drivers push through with pedestrians crossing putting them in danger of getting hit, or the drivers aren't paying close enough attention. In any case it's poor planning plain and simple. They need to put in street lights or it's only going to get worse.


Secondly, the Domain really is it's own little island. When I drive into the Domain it feels like I'm entering a shopping district not connected with the surrounding fabric, the street grid is designed to funnel people in and out. There are no major thoroughfares that go through it and the ones that they built again are designed more for getting people into parking garages and then back out to leave the area.


Now since this thread is about Highland I'll leave it at that for the Domain. Feel free to move my comments to the other thread if necessary but the subject has relevance to Highland and how it will develop over the next 10 to 20 years. Highland can easily be developed as part of the fabric of the city. Roads can easily be built through it to connect to the surrounding grid. Metrorail has a stop there and it is easily accessible by a variety of ways. As far as if it will become denser than the Domain, well I'll take a wait and see approach but I do think it has the potential to become a very dense node within the original core of the city.