Hamilton Development

[ijmorlan]

In what way can weather-protected links between buildings be said to be useless in our climate?

In this case, in every way.

What is that supposed to mean? Is there something unclear about my question? Can you name one of the presumably many ways?

People need to get from one place to another place, and walking is often a good way of doing that. Everything else being equal, doing so in a climate-controlled environment is easier and more comfortable. So, in our climate, in what way can a weather-protected link between buildings be said to be useless?

If it is useless, why do we even have large buildings? Why not just have a bunch of single-room buildings?

To be honest, I have a suspicion that anti-link opinions are pure ideology. This doesn’t mean I positively believe that, but I am very confused about what exactly people are thinking. Personally, I think substantially all buildings in dense areas like downtown should be linked together with weather-protected links, but I’m genuinely interested in rational opinions to the contrary. When I ask, though, I get weird answers that make no sense.

To get back to the Hamilton development, the article that was linked has a nice picture of the inside of the existing mall. What I see is several levels of storefront space linked extremely conveniently by highly walkable paths, with no motor vehicles in sight. How can you possibly make a better pedestrian shopping environment than that? I hope the new development at least keeps the block as a single building, even if it introduces more options for enjoying the outdoors in pleasant weather.