Quote:
Originally Posted by ls1z28chris
I agree. This is my only fear: If we build too many mid-rises now right in the center of Midtown, Buckhead, or Downtown, we'll be stuck with them for the next 50 years--in other words, until my retarded behind is dead. Let's build those mid-rises around the core, but leave the core ready for good, tall development when the economy turns around.
I got bent out of shape and offended because homeboy is advocating that we stop building skyscrapers and instead build mid-rises. Build both.
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I agree wholeheartedly. The argument hinges on the idea that mid-rises are somehow more sustainable - but that, at present, can be proved utterly false. Yes, the type of urbanism he is advocating is interesting and can be both efficient and beautiful. But it is an antiquated form of building pre-industrial cities that did not profit from the types of construction technologies we have today, nor does it recognize the reality of large-scale personal mobility (ie cars). It also, to a large degree, had
time on its side - Rome wasn't built in a day, as the saying goes (actually it took about 2600 years), and Atlanta cannot and should not urbanize with the speed being advocated. That is when you end up with a disaster like Dubai or some of the newer Chinese cities.
The problem is not skyscrapers per se; rather, it is the fact that so many developers, architects, planners, and city officials (they are all complicit) are willing to design and build terrible buildings. If we can solve that problem, and, admittedly, find alternative ways of manufacturing and transporting goods, lifting materials into place, and powering buildings that do not require fossil fuels, skyscrapers can and will be a vital part of Atlanta's (and every big city's) future.
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