I can see value in them doing the look differently, but not doing things differently is way down on the list of things to worry about because what's important is to meet goals around number residents, the tax base, removing surface parking and the like. The color of a building is a nitpick compare to having a strong downtown that can provide jobs reachable by transit for people across the city. This is how you rebuild the east side so sprawl development and freeway widenings isn't a thing.
Nitpicking over the color is missing the need to replant a forest because you're focusing on planting two oaks next to each other.
They're not shortsighted, worrying about meeting an arbitrary taste today over building a quality space is shortsighted.
https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2 ... ckers-ball
Tourists visiting the neon-lit, celebrity-studded Art Deco district of Florida’s South Beach might be surprised to learn that, just over a generation ago, the area was a shabby neighborhood developers were lining up to demolish. The once-beloved Art Deco-style had become passé, and South Beach was on the verge of seeing its architectural heritage carted off to the landfill.