WHICH IS THE HIGH SIDE OF A HIGH STREET?

QUESTION: What's more important to a successful streetscape?

• an active edge of shops
• sun-washed sidewalks
• a broad footpath 

I've taken the time to study these two streetscapes in downtown Toronto, both of which are shown looking westwards.  

Frankly I was a bit surprised by the results...

NEVER JUDGE A TALL BUILDING BY ITS HEIGHT ALONE

"go for the cape, go for the cape"

Tall buildings are nothing more than an intense amount of building mass, which in contemporary urban conditions goes hand-in-hand with a minimal footprint of land.  Where before towers-in-the-park (toasters) might be built at three times density, today we're contending with the same magnitudes of building mass on smaller sites resulting in densities of ten times and more.