The evolution of KW

[MidTowner]

Fair enough -- but what makes it unpleasant for walking past? The fact that it has condos on the street level rather than shop windows to look into? Or something else?

There's no transparency or variation. It's a uniform wall (which can also sometimes create a bit of an unpleasant wind tunnel effect) with private uses on the other side- so no windows allowing people from the street to look in, no interesting features to look at.