HOT or NOT

Some of you may remember an early website back in the days of Friendster and the illegal-Napster that offered an simple outlet for our gross narcissism called http://www.hotornot.com/.  The sole purpose of the website was to upload a picture of yourself and have others vote on scale of 1 to 10 for whether or not you were "hot" (I did look it up and it is still in operation although it appears to be more of a dating service now).  The premise was catchy for the early adopters, but the gimmick soon wore off. 

Well, I am not above such gimmicks and have decided to introduce a section of the blog called HOT or NOT.  Each week I will select a design project in and around Rochester, MN that is either HOT or NOT (in the design sense).  I plan to qualitatively review these projects and explain my reasoning, but in the wonderful world of Web 2.0, feel free to leave your comments of your own perception of the project.  In the end, the votes will most likely tell the story of how HOT our local designs are and where the gap exists between design and reality.

I also welcome suggestions for buildings, structures, districts, intersections, or other designs that you think should be the subject of a HOT or NOT posting.  Leave a comment on this post with your thoughts.