Sunday, January 14, 2007

General Growth Properties' New Downtown Guru

I'm not sure what to make of this.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Me neither.

The article's title "Columbia Seeks Inspiration" is putting words in our mouths. "GGP Seeks Inspiration" may be more apropos.

Also, somewhat erroneous was the line "The public has consistently said it expects developers to provide art and cultural venues in return for gaining density". Which public? It makes it sound like we, the public, are in favor of more density. Did I miss that vote? Last time I checked, the public, as represented by our elected officials, have not made any formal statement that we're seeking increased density in Columbia.

We do already have Merriweather, the Rouse Performing Arts Center at HCC, Toby's, many village centers, school functions, lakefront performances, and many restaurants that provide live performances, too. Art and culture are plentiful here.

Why do some want to paint over the Mona Lisa that is Columbia's existing beautiful, well balanced, non-congested town center with the fat magic markers of urban sprawl and hyperdevelopment?