John King: Mission Bay's Not Quite As Boring As It Used to Be

San Francisco's newest neighborhood is now home to some non-fugly buildings, if Chron critic John King's word holds true. You won't find any of the city's trademark Victorians, but King says the hood has its moments — fairly new ones that finally make it sort of OK that most of the other buildings there are bland boxes. Not every building can stand out, he says, but a small handful of them do, to some success. His nominees for least worst buildings of Mission Bay: the extremely orange and blue LEED-proud Arterra, and the AvalonBay towers with its "emphatic forms." Also of note: the "expressive" central green at UCSF Mission Bay, a pumping station (part of a series) designed by Tom Eliot Fisch, and some nice first-floor unit treatments at Crescent Cove, by David Baker. Aww... we've said it before, and we'll say it again. Our little neighborhood's growing up.
· Good design starts to bloom in Mission Bay [SFGate]