Volpe Transportation Center Development | Kendall Sq | Cambridge

[Man about town]

Good project. Some numbnuts in the Globe comment section was whining about traffic, which his quickly becoming the "shadows" argument of this generation of NIMBY's. Isn't this right near a T station? Was last time I checked which was on Friday as I was heading into work....

Traffic is probably a more valid concern for most projects than shadows. If they're building ~2 million SF of office/lab space here, at least some of those people will certainly be driving to work.

But.

Yeah, Volpe's a half-block from a Red Line station. MIT is apparently planning to help fund transit improvements, much as BP did with its new stuff next door. And there are so many shuttle busses running around and Hubway stations and whatnot in Kendall - with more to come - that most people don't really need to drive there.

The Kendall Square folks will happily tell you that car trips there have actually declined in the last five years, even the number of people working there has increased significantly.

So, whatever.

 

[HalcyonEra]

Traffic is probably a more valid concern for most projects than shadows. If they're building ~2 million SF of office/lab space here, at least some of those people will certainly be driving to work.

But.

Yeah, Volpe's a half-block from a Red Line station. MIT is apparently planning to help fund transit improvements, much as BP did with its new stuff next door. And there are so many shuttle busses running around and Hubway stations and whatnot in Kendall - with more to come - that most people don't really need to drive there.

The Kendall Square folks will happily tell you that car trips there have actually declined in the last five years, even the number of people working there has increased significantly.

So, whatever.

I think the trip #s are mostly due to the Longfellow bridge construction.

They really need to get committed to getting CR spur from the Worcester Line active, IMO.

 

[fattony]

I'd love to know what the transit improvements are. I recall talk about improving bus links to Lechmere. New cars should help Red Line reliability, but is there anything in the works for increased frequencies? I believe the single biggest Red Line problem is circulation at Park, but I don't know of any plan to improve that.

Is Red/Blue too much to hope for...

 

[fattony]

I think the trip #s are mostly due to the Longfellow bridge construction.

No, falling automobile trips to/from Kendall have been falling since long before Longfellow reconstruction started.

 

[tangent]

No, falling automobile trips to/from Kendall have been falling since long before Longfellow reconstruction started.

Ability to work remotely is probably the biggest driver for that rather than reliance on mass transit. Lab workers can't always do that (except for writing up reports and such), but IT and office workers can.

Offices are for when people need to perform particular functions such as coming together for meetings or working on projects that require people in close proximity for more efficient communications over a short period of time.

 

[fattony]

Ability to work remotely is probably the biggest driver for that rather than reliance on mass transit. Lab workers can't always do that (except for writing up reports and such), but IT and office workers can.

Offices are for when people need to perform particular functions such as coming together for meetings or working on projects that require people in close proximity for more efficient communications over a short period of time.

You are suggesting that the number of people working Kendall is dropping, but that is not at all true. Or are you suggesting that a significant number of people who have an office in Kendall aren't coming in every day? I would want to see some evidence of that because I don't know many people who fit that description.

I think the biggest driver here is actually demographic shift. Millennials (the oldest of which are now 35 years old, so I don't just mean fresh graduates) tend to live closer to work so they can walk, bike, or ride transit than their GenX and older coworkers. The high tech and bio tech businesses in Kendall are overwhelmingly staffed by Millennials (again, we aren't just talking about kids. Millennials have penetrated into middle management positions by now).

The reason for fewer car trips to Kendall is the same reason for skyrocketing rents in Cambridge, Somerville, and Boston Metro generally. The people paying exorbitant rents now are not the same people who were paying cheap rents 10-20 years ago. They are the people working in Kendall making upper-5-figure and 6-figure salaries. The residents of Cambridge and adjacent towns have substantially (obviously not 100%, but a significant shift) changed from people who commute into Boston to people who live and work right in Cambridge (with limited car usage).

 

[SlothofDespond]

People who are 35 (born 1982) are not Millennials. Bunching people born late 70s through mid 80s in as Millennials because they don't fit the Generation X definition is lazy. There's a small micro-generation in there that absolutely is large enough to be recognized and culturally distinct from Generation X and Millennials. The current most widely accepted (and lousy) term is Xennial, but the group was once Generation Y before that term somehow got absorbed in the Millennial group.

 

[Man about town]

I think the biggest driver here is actually demographic shift. Millennials (the oldest of which are now 35 years old, so I don't just mean fresh graduates) tend to live closer to work so they can walk, bike, or ride transit than their GenX and older coworkers. The high tech and bio tech businesses in Kendall are overwhelmingly staffed by Millennials (again, we aren't just talking about kids. Millennials have penetrated into middle management positions by now).

Exactly. The morning bike traffic on Beacon/Hampshire and other streets that connect Somerville to east Cambridge is a sight to behold. As is the number of people who use the Red Line primarily between Kendall and Davis. These people are going to work every day. They're just not driving there.

 

[JumboBuc]

People who are 35 (born 1982) are not Millennials.

There's no definitive definition of "Millennial", but it's pretty widely agreed upon that the generation starts with people born in the early 1980s (e.g., 1982). So 35 year-olds are, indeed, the oldest of the Millennials, as fattony said.

And the generation ends with people born late-1990s to 2000s, so right about now-ish fresh college grads are going to start being too young to be Millennials.

Bunching people born late 70s through mid 80s in as Millennials because they don't fit the Generation X definition is lazy.

Nobody is talking about "people born late 70s" being Millennials. But early 80s are considered Millennials.

There's a small micro-generation in there that absolutely is large enough to be recognized and culturally distinct from Generation X and Millennials. The current most widely accepted (and lousy) term is Xennial, but the group was once Generation Y before that term somehow got absorbed in the Millennial group.

"Generation Y" and "Millennials" are the same thing. They're the cohort of people between (the post-Baby Boomer) "Generation X" and (the current) "Generation Z"

 

[Reznor]

The original definition of the term "Millennial" (versus Generation Y which was the original label) was used to denote people entering adulthood, age 18/high school graduation) at the year 2000. Roughly speaking as noted, people born in 1981-1982 would be the oldest end of "Millennial."

 

[SlothofDespond]

There's no definitive definition of "Millennial", but it's pretty widely agreed upon that the generation starts with people born in the early 1980s (e.g., 1982). So 35 year-olds are, indeed, the oldest of the Millennials, as fattony said.

And the generation ends with people born late-1990s to 2000s, so right about now-ish fresh college grads are going to start being too young to be Millennials.



Nobody is talking about "people born late 70s" being Millennials. But early 80s are considered Millennials.

It is absolutely not widely agreed upon, and frankly, the 80s born aren't millennials acceptance/understanding is only growing. If anything, Millennials start in the late 80s, or even as late as 1990, and run through around the end of the century give or take a few years.

But don't take my word for it:
https://www.good.is/articles/generation-xennials
https://socialmediaweek.org/blog/2015/04/oregon-trail-generation/
https://medium.com/@thehipp/fuck-you-i-m-not-a-millennial-e92e653ceb39
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/05/opinion/wait-what-im-a-millennial.html

And I could go on and on posting links to people opining or pushing back on the 80s generations somehow being Millennials. Even the weakest Google search will hit endlessly. Labeling generations is stupid in the first place (and god help me if I see another "how to interact with millennials" article written by some out of touch 50-something generic business person) but at least try to get people grouped together with some sort of similar cultural and adolescent experience and identity. People born in 1982 and 1992 had wildly different media, technology, and world experiences during their formative years. 1982 is a Millennial? Please. I'm going to go punch a wall.

The original definition of the term "Millennial" (versus Generation Y which was the original label) was used to denote people entering adulthood, age 18/high school graduation) at the year 2000. Roughly speaking as noted, people born in 1981-1982 would be the oldest end of "Millennial."

Fine, then come up with a different term for people born 1990-2002ish. Because they're different and distinct and shouldn't be grouped with the 78-89ish set.

 

[Brad Plaid]

Cambridge to MIT: We are suffering a crushing lack of housing in Cambridge and rents are stratospheric. The situation is desperate!!!

MIT: We are taking 25% of one of the most valuable sites in the country and creating lots of redundant open space that could otherwise be high rise residential, just as you demanded we do.

Cambridge: Excellent!!!

 

[JumboBuc]

It is absolutely not widely agreed upon, and frankly, the 80s born aren't millennials acceptance/understanding is only growing. If anything, Millennials start in the late 80s, or even as late as 1990, and run through around the end of the century give or take a few years.

But don't take my word for it:
https://www.good.is/articles/generation-xennials
https://socialmediaweek.org/blog/2015/04/oregon-trail-generation/
https://medium.com/@thehipp/fuck-you-i-m-not-a-millennial-e92e653ceb39
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/05/opinion/wait-what-im-a-millennial.html

And I could go on and on posting links to people opining or pushing back on the 80s generations somehow being Millennials. Labeling generations is stupid in the first place (and god help me if I see another "how to interact with millennials" article written by some out of touch 50-something generic business person) but at least try to get people grouped together with some sort of similar cultural and adolescent experience and identity.

The gist of all those articles is "people keep saying that those born in the early 80s are Millennials, but I don't feel that way." Each article is framed as pushing back against the typical convention. Thus, the very reason those articles exist in the first place is that the Millennial generation is typically understood to to start with people born in the early-80s.

I could equally post link after link supporting this, but this isn't the forum for that. Like the true Millennial I am (born in the late-80s, btw) I'll just cite Wikipedia. And don't you go editing it...

And yes, everyone is different, but this doesn't change the fact that the thing we call the "Millennial Generation" is typically defined as those born in the early-80s (who "came of age" at the turn of the Millennium) to those born in the late-90s to 2000s.

As far as Millennials starting "in the late 80s, or even as late as 1990", Mark Zuckerberg was born in 1984. He's pretty much the definitive Millennial.

Fine, then come up with a different term for people born 1990-2002ish. Because they're different and distinct and shouldn't be grouped with the 78-89ish set.

Just as it's widely agreed-upon that those born in the early-80s are Millennials, it's equally widely-agreed upon that those born in the late-90s to early 2000s are the start of the post-Millennial "Generation Z". It's a stupid term, yes, but that's just a placeholder until we come up with something better.

My definition: If Facebook existed when you were in college and you can remember 9/11, then you're a Millennial. That defines the "media, technology, and world experiences" of the generation.

 

[Gameguy326]

Traffic is a serious problem, but the answer isn't not to develop, it's to improve public transportation options and increase investment. We need the Indigo Line DMU plan now more than ever.

 

[Gameguy326]

Also - these building renders are placeholders, right? Individual building architects are yet to be selected?

 

[SlothofDespond]

They're saying they don't feel that way because grouping them in with people born late-80s and later is nonsensical to them. Things being said about their cultural identity, adolescent experiences, and upbringing simply aren't true and don't apply to them.

Generational labels are probably at best silly, but if you're going to apply them so broadly as to include the early 80s set with those born in the mid 90s then such a term is meaningless when trying to make any sort of point.

 

[fattony]

Traffic is a serious problem, but the answer isn't not to develop, it's to improve public transportation options and increase investment. We need the Indigo Line DMU plan now more than ever.

Developing walk-to-work housing absolutely helps. Walking to work (and school, groceries, daily errands, etc) consumes the least amount of public resources and should be BY FAR the most favored form of development/transportation combo. Hauling people into the city by train is vastly better than by single occupancy vehicle, but nothing is better than enabling people to walk to work.

Developing new homes near existing jobs and developing new jobs next to existing homes is the absolute best way to stretch your transit infrastructure the farthest. It creates people who don't need transit infrastructure! Now, don't get carried away with extrapolating to the absurd. Obviously not 100% of people can live in walking distance to work and obviously households with 2 workers probably won't be so lucky as to work in the same exact neighborhood. Adding homes to Kendall Square and the immediate surroundings is a very real solution to the problem.

We've hashed to death the idea of DMU service to Kendall and it is pretty clearly not ever going to happen.

 

[fattony]

I didn't realize I would be kicking a hornet nest by bringing up the oh-so controversial term "Millennial." We use these generational markers to make it easier to talk about major cultural shifts. Use the term "digital native" if you have some emotional reaction to being classified as Millennial or something else. The points I made about the behaviors of people currently in the workforce under about the age of 35 all still stand.

See, wasn't it much more succinct when I just said "Millennial?"

Ultimately, It doesn't really matter if anyone likes or doesn't like exactly where the line is drawn. There is never truly a firm line, though as someone born in 1982 I've been told my entire life that I was NOT in GenX. We were called GenY for a long time and eventually, around the turn of the millennium, were given a real name. As someone born in a generational transition, I definitely feel some kinship with GenX-ers that younger millennials don't. C'est la vie.

 

[bakgwailo]

You are suggesting that the number of people working Kendall is dropping, but that is not at all true. Or are you suggesting that a significant number of people who have an office in Kendall aren't coming in every day? I would want to see some evidence of that because I don't know many people who fit that description.

I would guess its probably all of the above - people closer to work, increase on the Red Line (which I take every day), biking, and, people working from home. Honestly, everyone I know at least in software engineering and in tech companies work from home at least once a week, if not more often. Also, other departments in tech companies generally take advantage of this, too.

 

[shawn]

People who are 35 (born 1982) are not Millennials. Bunching people born late 70s through mid 80s in as Millennials because they don't fit the Generation X definition is lazy. There's a small micro-generation in there that absolutely is large enough to be recognized and culturally distinct from Generation X and Millennials. The current most widely accepted (and lousy) term is Xennial, but the group was once Generation Y before that term somehow got absorbed in the Millennial group.

Thank you. I'm a 1981 kid myself, which I've seen in numerous sources cited as the start of smallish cohort, XY of whatever you want to call it. My childhood was purely analog, rotary phones and all, but by the time I graduated high school in 2000 we were all cell phoned-up and AIMing each other nonstop.

I cannot relate to the Millennial tail or rearguard whatsoever. These are my youngest cousins and the kids I hire at the Tokyo Career Forum. These are the kids who only understand communication via digital. Who have never known a world without Google being available to answer any question, anywhere, anytime. Who talk to each other via memes.

Don't group me and mine with those tools.