Itistheheterogeneouscharacterofthebuildingsdowntownthatrendersourstreetssohideous。Farfromseekingharmony，buildersseemtobetryingto\"go\"eachother\"onestorybetter\"；iftheycanbelittleaneighborintheprocessitiscleargain，andsomuchadvertisement。CertainblocksonlowerBroadwayaregemsinthisway！Anyonewhohasglancedatanauctioneer’sshelveswhena\"joblot\"ofbooksisbeingsold，willdoubtlesshavenoticedtheirresemblancetothesidewalksofourdowntownstreets。Daintylittleduodecimobuildingsaresqueezedinbetweentoweringin—
folios，andrichlyboundandtooledoctavoschumwithcheapeditions。OurcarelessCityFathershavenotevengiventhemselvesthetroubleofpushingtheirstoneandbrickvolumesintothesameline，butallowthemtostragglealongtheshelf—Ibegpardon，thesidewalk—accordingtotheirownsweetwill。
Theresemblanceofmostnewbusinessbuildingstoflashybooksincreasesthemoreonestudiesthem；theyhavetheproportionsofschoolatlases，and，likethem，areadornedonlyontheirbacks（readfronts）。Themodernbuilder，likethefrugalbinder，leavesthesidesofhiscreationsunadorned，andexpendshisingenuityindecoratingthenarrowstripwhichhenaivelyimagineswillbetheonlypartseen，calmlyignoringthefactthatonglancingupordownastreetthesidesofhousesarewhatweseefirst。Itisalmostimpossibletogetmathematicallyoppositeabuilding，yetthatistheonlypointfromwhichthesenewconstructionsarenotgrotesque。
Itseemsasthoughtherudimentsofcommonsensewouldsuggestthatunderexistingcircumstancesthelessdecorationputonafacadethegreaterwouldbetheharmonyofthewhole。Buttrifleslikeharmonyandfitnessaresplendidlyignoredbythearchitectsofto—day，who，beitremarkedinpassing，haveslippedintoanothercurioushabitforwhichIshouldgreatlyliketoseeanexplanationoffered。Aslongasthegroundfloorsandthetopsoftheircreationsareelaborate，thedesignerevidentlythinkstheinterveningtwelveorfifteenstoriescanshiftforthemselves。OneclumsymassontheBowlingGreenisanexcellentexampleofthisweakness。ItsgroundfloorisaplayfulreproductionofthetombsofEgypt。
Aboutthesecondstorythearchitectmusthavebecomediscouraged—orperhapstheowner’sfundsgaveout—forthenextdozenfloorsaretreatedintheseverest\"tenementhouse\"