Many thousands are in want of common necessaries; hundreds of thousands are in want of common comforts, sir."
Scrooge-"Are there no prisons?". "Plenty of prisons..."
Scrooge-"And the Union workhouses." . "Are they still in operation?". "Both very busy, sir..."
"Those who are badly off must go there."
"Many can't go there; and many would rather die."
Scrooge- "If they would rather die," "they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population."
I agree strongly with all but the last paragraph. For that, you only need to make sure to include a design budget. As an architect that has designed several nice parking structures in urban areas, I know that it can be done. The best urban garages have retail on the ground floor with only an entry/exit ramp visible at that level. Many of these structures are designed by engineer-types and that is why they suck. They need a vision just like all good buildings do. They are most certainly not just stack slabs of parking. They are often the "front door" to our downtowns.
My most recent parking structure has 25,000 s.f. of retail on the ground floor, a basement level of parking, 3 upper levels of parking and the structural capacity to build some future commercial (either a hotel or residential) above. The design is very contemporary. The client considers it a 70-year building...which is important since most people think of their buildings as disposable anymore.
Are you referring to this one that NanoBison did a while back... (he seems to have abandoned the site)...
http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/2...bigideaeo5.jpg
This really isn't a building project but I would like to see better signal strength for the digital channels. I pick them ups with rabbit ears and if the wind is great than 10 mph my picture always breaks up and even on a calm day I still can't get all the channels.
Also I would like to see HD news cast for WDAY and KVLY ect. I am sure the cameras are pricey but it be nice to watch Bison highlights in HD. I would think this is a possibility with in the next 10 years.