normal heights starsux

what is up with the new starbucks under the normal heights sign on adams avenue? did the corporate honchos say, "hey let's take this really cool old building in the heart of the neighborhood that housed a hispanic-owned market, and put up some really ugly stucco with an unremarkable patio out front"? seriously, if i want to go to a place that looks like this, i can hit any fast food joint in the miles of suburbs that dominate san diego county. it's ok to put up crap like this in the 'burbs, where people obviously don't care how generic-looking and devoid of character their communities are, but on a street full of interesting architecture like adams ave?

while the windows on the west-facing side of the building appear to have been retained, giving that side some respectability, the overall appearance is a big disappointment compared to the look of other urban neighborhood starbucks. of course, those are in buildings shared with someone else. i guess if it's a stand-alone building, you're stuck with cheap-ass architecture from a company that couldn't give a shit what the surrounding buildings look like.