Both McDonald's are attempting to meet local design requirements (pictures at the KunstlerCast site). And as Duncan notes, they are filling in locations which have stood empty for years and could be defined as "broken teeth." Kunstler says "I'd say every attempt should be made to defeat these f***ers and keep them out of your town."
Duncan reads to James from a letter to the editor he wrote suggesting that the McDonald's that it could be built into a useful, mixed-use building. Kunstler comments:
"I disagree with the expectation that they would ever build anything that would be okay enough."
Comments
A New Sustainable Mcs
For small places such as Saratoga Springs, where horses are a dominant spectacle and a source of indispensable income for the town, there is a pragmatic, if a bit Disneyesque, solution to the McDonalds problem.
The solution, which involves horses AND four wheels, is depicted in a photograph from another small town: http://www.flickr.com/photos/22392855@N08/5502369843/in/photostream
The shown alternative is utterly sustainable, wholly picturesque (befitting the Small Town ambiance), and could be a unique business opportunity that involves no profanities except, of course, for the inevitable natural, unsavory horse business that the entire 19th URBAN century had to contend with. A model from the past could be useful for our oil-less future.
As for the building design, it is hardly relevant when the FUNCTION is ecologically viable; a pretty building facade will not cut oil consumption.