and, i've never understood why people ALWAYS assume that a new apartment building will be unsightly. There's just this general attitude of "any kind of building, any kind of development" is bad development. It's really crazying coming from a country that wants economic development so badly.
There's so much economic development that could happen if we simply allowed builders to build the housing that people so desperately need. its win win.
It is a petty objection compared to the stakes but ugliness and beauty aren't in isolation. Take a beautiful Mediterranean Villa and plop it down in the middle of a colonial historic district and it will clash despite both being considered beautiful on their own.
By definition new apartments in a less dense area will have to stand out and the transitioning will result in either clashing. The alternative is they do it in a big wave and say buy out a small neighborhood cul de sac and turn them into apartments. It wouldn't clash any more even if they went with something downright garish but the big changes like that also upset people as they find it jarring.
To be fair, in the US at least, most apartment blocks are kind of ugly compared to most single family homes. Living in Munich now, they're much more attractive on average.
There's so much economic development that could happen if we simply allowed builders to build the housing that people so desperately need. its win win.