One of These is Not Like the Others

Consider four different streets, four different apartment buildings. One of these is not like the others.

Source: Belt+Main.

The others are after the jump.

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Northside. Source: Google StreetView.

Eastside. Source: Google StreetView.

Polk Street Residences. Source: City of Richardson.

The first three are actual places where people live, work, shop, and play today. They are vertically mixed-use buildings, not just apartments. They have retail on the ground floor. They all show what can be done right here in Richardson.

The fourth and last building is a proposed project. Polk Street Residences is a monolithic, single-use, human-storage unit. It's so huge it will require closing off a street in downtown Richardson (McKinney St.) to accommodate its great length. An apartment developer is asking for a zoning change to build this in downtown Richardson. The City Council should stick to the regulating plan for downtown. Don't abandon the Richardson Way: Plan the Work and Work the Plan. Don't cut the pedestrian-friendly street grid of downtown. Don't build superblocks. And don't build single-use apartment buildings with no retail. Put them out on the Bush Tollway if you have to, but not in the heart of downtown.

"Superblocks erase
The pulse of a walking town.
A wall, not a walk."
—h/t ChatGPT