[Signature Tower]

Um, yeah! That rocks!

Just thinking though... would the Pinnacle be a lil wider? I think its gonna be a fairly wide building isnt it?

Yes, I agree. Pinnacle looks too small. Part of the problem too might be that the only view to cut and paste from is a perspective looking up from Schermerhorn (sp?) I don't think it will appear as wide as the Bat building, but not too much thinner. The tower will be as wide as the block from 2nd to 3rd.

So with photoshop, are you guessing the height/ width, or is it scalable for distance? (not a computer wiz kid here)

[Signature Tower]

You have a legitimate point, and no one should poo-poo it. High-rise buildings make mockeries out of fire safety codes, and every fireman knows it. How it is that we can require standard emergency exit signs and multiple exits in every public building, but yet permit people to be marooned 600 feet in the air where no ladder could ever reach them, is a testiment to the public's inability to apply critical thought to their surroundings. Very few people would be willing to work 600 feet undergorund, beneath tons and tons of rock and soil--yet this would actually be considerably safer.

Welcome back NT. But please, explain your comment that "every fire[fighter] knows it" (Lets not leave out the female firefighters). My experience has been just the opposite. When I sit down with the Fire officials and discuss high rise buildings, they all seem to like them, and in fact express excitement about buildings such as Signature Tower. High rise buildings must be constructed of non combustible materials, must have full blown alarm and detection systems, must be sprinklered, must have multiple exits and must have elevator evacuation capabilities. Frankly, If I were choosing where to live, a nice modern high rise would seem much safer than one of these "converted lofts" that is in a 100 year old building of wood construction, with floors that were once factory floors oozing with machine oil. Having worked in one of these old buildings when it was a factory, I know what I'm talking about. They are fire traps.

[Signature Tower]

I can only imagine what it must be like to work with Metro on such a large project. The bureaucracy issues must be outrageous.

Actually, after having worked with Code officials all over the country, I'll take Metro anyday. They know what they are doing, and don't play games. Always very helpful, always very nice, and I have yet to find one that doesn't give a damn. So for our tax dollars, we are getting a great deal.

[Signature Tower]

Also, what hoops has Signature jumped through? I figured they would manage to clear the code hurdles. Doe Metro Codes have concrete information of a groundbreaking date or that the project's design is ready to roll with no reductions or redesigns?

[Signature Tower]

I talked to a source at Metro Codes. They said the project was really going to happen. Siggy is jumping through the hoops.

[Signature Tower]

"We still have more than enough farmland in this country to provide for a growing population, and also, much of what we have is no longer truly developed on a farm. Cows, chickens, etc.. still need grazing land, but lettuce, tomatos, beans, and more are often grown in labs nowadays"

Yum, my favorite thing...laboratory tomatoes. That sort of produce, like giant CA strawberries has no taste poor texture and is grown with chemicals. That's why there is such a rush at the farmers market for hothouse tomatoes

I have to agree that a lot of farmers are quitting farming, mostly because the land value is so high they could never make farming what they can make by selling. I see first hand everyday on my drive to work - farm land that was productive a year or two ago is now under asphalt and tinker toy houses.

"We could build mid-rise for a hundred years and still have room to spare"

What about in a 100 years, then what? Are we to suck up all the resources?

"Finally, Solient Green is about the least cost-effective food scheme ever devised. Just think about it. It could never work, or Wal-Mart would have gotten involved by now."

Yes NT, LOL - you are correct...my bad.

But since this is a Siggy thread, I live out in the next area to become suburbs. If the choice is to have Mc Mansions all around me or live DT, I'll take ST anyday.

[Signature Tower]

I guess I