Quote:
Originally Posted by exit2lef
It's not. Often, the ground floor retail space goes unleased, creating blight. Even if the ground floor space is leased, there are still cars coming and going out of the podium, creating conflicts on the sidewalk and the street. Also, the floors immediately above ground level influence the quality of life on the street below. If those floors have apartments, condominiums, or offices, then you have more people looking out windows, relaxing on balconies, and otherwise seeing what's going on below. That helps with safety. At the same time, variety and activity in the lower floors of a building provide a more interesting and inviting experience than the blank walls of a parking podium.
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But if those people on the balcony are smoking weed and pedestrians like my wife and I are accustomed to associating that with criminal behavior or at the very least - stoner culture, we are less likely to continue being pedestrians in that area and less likely to be in that area supporting local businesses.
If the stoners are much higher ... umm, elevated well above the street level, we are oblivious.