Quote:
Originally Posted by Hali87
The aesthetic is one dimension, but as has been pointed out, tall/slender buildings affect things like shadows and sky views as well as being visible objects in and of themselves. There certainly are those, though, who just like buildings that are taller than they are wide and will tend to support their construction regardless of other factors. There are also people with the opposite standpoint. There are also other factors that aren't considered often, like elevator and fire code issues, setback requirements, waste disposal, etc.
I don't think the shadow concerns are a totally invalid or made up point. The staff report talks about them in pretty deep detail. The site is west of the Commons, not north or south. I would recommend reading the section of the report concerning shadows if you are interested in knowing what the concerns are. Again I am not making them up, and they seem legitimately worth consideration (what is the point of building up density around the commons if it makes the commons less enjoyable to use?)
The one assumption that I always find a bit odd (but completely pervasive) is that shadows are necessarily bad. As has been mentioned, maybe baseball would actually be easier WITHOUT the sun in your eyes. And I often find myself walking on the shady side of the street on a sunny day just to get out of the intense heat/light. I guess the problem with shadows is once you add them, they're hard to get rid of.
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I agree with your stated opinion. Just out of curiosity I drew a 3D model of 2074 Robie Street (the 19 storey Welsford apartment building) in Sketchup-2014 and checked the shadows generated by the Sketchup program at various times of the day for June 11, 2014. Here are the images that were generated.
http://imageshack.com/a/img834/9996/3qexz.jpg (4:30 PM ADT)
http://imageshack.com/a/img837/808/3ypu.jpg (5:30 PM ADT)
http://imageshack.com/a/img834/142/f4grq.jpg (6:30 PM ADT)
http://imageshack.com/a/img841/6145/ksmjn.jpg (7:30 PM ADT)
http://imageshack.com/a/img850/3797/luu0.jpg (8:30 PM ADT)
I included a row of 55 foot high trees where there currently are trees along the Commons (55 feet high was my guess).
Sketchup is able to generate shadows for various locations (based on the UTC zone and its geographic co-ordinates) for times throughout a day, and days throughout the year. I think it is very impressive for a free 3D CAD modeling program.
The good thing about the shadow concerns is that there is a 19 storey tower at 2074 Robie Street so it will be possible for someone to actually observe the shadow from that building on the Commons during the evening hours.
Personally, I don't think that shadows generated on the Commons by the 2032-2050 Robie Street and the Quinpool & Robie corner proposal should be of concern (since they are further south and should have less impact on the Commons) but I am sure others will disagree.
PS: I did this for fun and I can't guarantee its accuracy.