I took a leisurely stroll around the streets of Vic West, from the Songhees over to the Railyards and back up through the neighbourhood. Regarding the views of downtown from Vic West, I gotta say: the newer towers in Harris Green have added a dimension of depth that wasn't there before. You can finally get a decent sense for how far eastward the downtown area extends. Such stepping and layering was supposed to be a development principle in the old town and downtown generally, was it not? In my humble opinion it's really starting to pay dividends, although the visual effect is probably the opposite of what was originally intended. When the layers seem to be few because the variation in heights is minimal and the stuff at the back can't easily be seen, there's almost a Hollywood back lot effect: a misleading impression that the foreground layer might be all there is. But as the blocks east of Douglas become more and more represented, it makes the downtown area look much bigger. The London Drugs towers would likely make a major contribution to this effect.
Those decks on the back of the Upper Harbour Place office buildings have prime views. I guess it's been years since I've gone up there and just soaked it in. Boy, what a shame it would be if future development on the lot below eventually blocks the view completely. If ever there was a suitable site for an ultra slim building and/or some genuine effort to preserve a view corridor, methinks that would be it.
In Mike K.'s old 'hood there's a government housing project going up on Catherine Street that looks like it will be another mega-blandfest. It's crazy, those could be some of the prettiest streets around, there are still a fair number of fine old houses. Would it have killed them to make even a tiny effort to do better with the design? Go the extra inch? Anyway...