Milwaukee's Third Ward

Having been living in Milwaukee for all my life, the third ward has always been a cool place to visit and explore. I am glad the third ward is a historic district, I enjoying observing the old architecture and seeing the reminiscent of old signage and advertisement painted on the side of the building walls. I feel that for being a place that is so filled with buildings from multiple eras and styles they all blend very well together and share a good cohesive aesthetic.
After reviewing the Design Guidelines for the Historic Third Ward, I feel they offer a good window of what is expected from old and current buildings; however I also feel the window is pretty wide open. As stated on page one, "bad design is condemned but undefined."; so pretty much anything goes? One of the stronger design guidelines for the Third Ward is that new buildings must use similar materials of brick, window, and concrete to blend in with the current standing buildings. Other guides such as building height, ratio and scale to other buildings are also well defined.
I agree that all districts should have design guidelines, it offers a cohesive theme for new buildings to adhere to which keeps the appeal of the historic buildings in the district. Being a graphic designer I know how important color can play a role in supporting a continuing theme and look of not only a design on screen or paper but also a group of buildings. Other important factors such as materials, scale, and codes also play an important role in the aesthetic appeal of new and renovated buildings in a historic district.