Comment: There is a middle ground between the City actually buying ...

There is a middle ground between the City actually buying real estate to prevent development, and just shrugging your shoulders and saying, "Change is Good". And that middle ground is arrived at by controlling density, design, and building types and uses thru zoning, building regulation, and, in the case of Seattle, the Design Commission. The City doesnt have to roll over and play dead and let developers throw up cardboard condos that look ugly. Many cities in non-socialist countries like the USA routinely affect what gets built. We can too. It is absolutely true that the Belltown to Capitol Hill axis has been "blessed" with hordes of poorly designed, "value engineered", new mid rise buildings. Most are not responsive to the neighborhoods, the streetscape, or even to actual rental market needs. As evidenced by the way local, small businesses are driven out, to be replaced by a mix of empty storefronts and national chains. Design regulations can change this. They do, routinely, in other cities.