I live in Phoenix AZ where all they did was knock down
any old building to make way for progress. The result?
A city that looks like it was stamped out of cardboard with nothing but soulless new buildings that have to real architectural elements to them. Old building give a city its soul and it's far better from a sustainability point of view to rehab a standing building than to knock it down and create an even bigger carbon footprint building another.
Progress is nothing unless you know where you came from - mixing the old with the new, giving run building new life is the sign of a healthy and responsible urban renewal program.
I am jealous of you - everything looks the same out here.