I have to admit I’ve never quite grasped the entire downtown arts district vision; in the abstract, it sounded like a good idea, but despite looking at some of the generic site plans over the years, the whole thing just never clicked with me. But the Morning News has an outstanding package of information (two pages’ worth) in Sunday’s paper, complete with architectural critiques of the new buildings, a site plan identifying each building, and commentary describing what’s being built and what probably should have been added to the plan. Overall, the arts district — according to the way I read the DMN package — is shaping up to be a pretty-to-look-at but a little pricey-to-enjoin area of downtown. Lots of arts opportunities (clearly, if you have an artistic kid, you should be looking at the brand new $55 million Booker T. Washington arts magnet school, given its proximity to everything down there), a few retail opportunities (with lots more needed) and some downtown condo/high-rise housing, if you happen to be packing upwards of $500,000 to $1 million and more in your housing budget. What’s missing, according to the News, is more "middle-income" (which would probably be defined as $250,000-type stuff, in this setting), an actual DART stop closer to the district, and a more well-rounded shopping experience. But hey, given what’s been in that area between Ross and Woodall Rogers for as long as I’ve been in town, it’s a great step forward, with more to come.