Assembly Square Infill and Small Developments | Somerville

statler said:
No doubt, but as I said, it's not happening in our lifetime. (Sorry, I've been feeling a bit pessimistic lately)
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I don't disagree. The point is that we basically already know the answer as to why things are the way they are design-wise, if we stop to think about it. We could have saved the past couple dozen posts.

(then again, I don't purport efficiency should necessarily be the top goal of aB. Though some would no doubt prefer it ; ) ).
 
To be fair, those with a more hopeful outlook on things may wish to dream of and perhaps work towards a better future, so these discussions may be helpful towards that end. (You need to identify the root of the problem before fixing it, etc) :)
 
statler said:
To be fair, those with a more hopeful outlook on things may wish to dream of and perhaps work towards a better future, so these discussions may be helpful towards that end. (You need to identify the root of the problem before fixing it, etc) :)
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That was the point of my parenthetical ; )

Discussions that drill down to the fundamental underlying mechanisms of society, while entirely exhausting and a step or two removed from "architecture," can actually help the more inspired among us figure out how to move things forward...

There are a few of such on this board, no doubt.
 
bigpicture7 said:
Discussions that drill down to the fundamental underlying mechanisms of society, while entirely exhausting and a step or two removed from "architecture," can actually help the more inspired among us figure out how to move things forward...
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I'm buying you a beer at the next meet-up.

Full disclosure: my neighbors and I are looking down the barrel of the redevelopment of Suffolk Downs. A lot of people believe that the "success" of Assembly Row and Legacy Place are templates for success in East Boston and Revere (and this isn't necessarily the developer's [current] position). I'm in the camp that wants to see something far better.
 
I get people having differing opinions on architecture; I completely understand not liking the fake-looking brick facades. I get the criticisms of too many outlet shops, or that the development is an urban island separated from the rest of the city.

But for the love of God, I don't get the cultural critique of people who enjoy things you don't enjoy; the verbose dressing down of people who just want to play an inconsequential game on a Saturday night while enjoying a good beer that they probably paid too much for. If that's not your scene, fine, but you come off more than a bit pretentious. I don't go to the Moose and complain about the music selection and lack of Shuffleboard. The Moose is not my cup of tea but it's a great organisation that lots of people really enjoy, and I'm not about to trash the people there and act like my lifestyle is superior to theirs simply because their idea of a fun night out is different from mine. Come on down from that high horse.
 
What this area needs badly on the weekends is some traffic cops, lights and stop signs concerning the main street between Assembly Square mall building to Assembly Condo developments retail stores.
 
AssemblyMoe said:
I get people having differing opinions on architecture; I completely understand not liking the fake-looking brick facades. I get the criticisms of too many outlet shops, or that the development is an urban island separated from the rest of the city.

But for the love of God, I don't get the cultural critique of people who enjoy things you don't enjoy; the verbose dressing down of people who just want to play an inconsequential game on a Saturday night while enjoying a good beer that they probably paid too much for. If that's not your scene, fine, but you come off more than a bit pretentious. I don't go to the Moose and complain about the music selection and lack of Shuffleboard. The Moose is not my cup of tea but it's a great organisation that lots of people really enjoy, and I'm not about to trash the people there and act like my lifestyle is superior to theirs simply because their idea of a fun night out is different from mine. Come on down from that high horse.
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One of our age's biggest paradoxes, and perhaps the one that divides people more than anything else, is that these critiques of society actually aren't critiques of individual people.
 
bigpicture7 said:
One of our age's biggest paradoxes, and perhaps the one that divides people more than anything else, is that these critiques of society actually aren't critiques of individual people.
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I'm not sure how you can separate individuals from the societal critique with the statement: "a bunch of effete, moneyed, 20-something Brooklyn transplants have the time and energy to piss away an evening playing shuffleboard ironically..." I mean, the critique there wasn't ambiguous. It isn't critiquing society, he's just being insulting to a group that he doesn't identify with, nor does he seem to understand. Ya I like to play shuffleboard "ironically"... not because it's just a fun game to play with friends while having a beer. What a load of horse shit.
 
AssemblyMoe said:
I'm not sure how you can separate individuals from the societal critique with the statement: "a bunch of effete, moneyed, 20-something Brooklyn transplants have the time and energy to piss away an evening playing shuffleboard ironically..." I mean, the critique there wasn't ambiguous. It isn't critiquing society, he's just being insulting to a group that he doesn't identify with, nor does he seem to understand. Ya I like to play shuffleboard "ironically"... not because it's just a fun game to play with friends. What a load of horse shit.
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Well, I'll let BB defend himself on that one (though I agree with him on a lot of things)...otherwise I'll point out:

* People who despise bureaucracies create bureaucracies
* Psychology and sociology exist as separate fields
* Systemic racism doesn't mean Joe Schmoe is a racist as an individual

The sum of our parts as a society produces things that no one individual aspires to produce...all the time...

And on a more personal note: I, personally, can enjoy bowling in a shitty, mass-produced, chain bowling facility whilst simultaneously missing Sacco's in somerville and despising the facility I am bowling in.

Embracing the human condition is to embrace that we still find a way to enjoy life, love, live, etc., whilst being harsh critics of our society. And doing so will produce a better society.
 
Isn't it fun to be arguing about something new for a change?

bigpicture7 said:
Well, I'll let BB defend himself on that one...
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I can't do better than this:

bigpicture7 said:
Embracing the human condition is to embrace that we still find a way to enjoy life, love, live, etc., whilst being harsh critics of our society. And doing so will produce a better society.
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So thank you.

bigpicture7 said:
And on a more personal note: I, personally, can enjoy bowling in a shitty, mass-produced, chain bowling facility whilst simultaneously missing Sacco's in somerville and despising the facility I am bowling in.
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Pretty much how I feel sitting at the Eastern Standard bar, missing The Rat, Planet Records, the IHoP, and the rest of Kenmore Square. They do pour a proper cocktail, and the food's pretty good.
 
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Beton Brut said:
Pretty much how I feel sitting at the Eastern Standard bar, missing The Rat, Planet Records, the IHoP, and the rest of Kenmore Square. They do pour a proper cocktail, and the food's pretty good.
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Beton, where the hell do you find the time and energy to piss away an evening drinking at the Eastern Standard with the rest of the old goat moneyed elites, reminiscing about those Glory Days of the past! Having said that, mind if I join you one of these days when I'm in town, I've always wanted to stop in the Eastern Standard and have a drink or two at the bar.
I have a feeling you'd make for interesting company! ;)
 
^^^
This is all superb. So good to hear. The words of DH Lawrence seem applicable here, as they do to all discussions around the state of affairs in architecture, design, the world...

"A few things I know, with inner knowledge. I know that what I am struggling for is life, more life ahead, for myself and the men who will come after me: struggling against fixations and corruptions."


"I know our vision of life is all wrong. We must be prepared to have a new conception of what it means, to live. And everybody should try to help to build up this new conception, and everybody should be prepared to destroy, bit by bit, our old conception. I know that man cannot live by his own will alone. With his soul, he must search for the sources of the power of life. It is life we want. I know that where there is life, there is essential beauty. Genuine beauty, which fills the soul, is an indication of life, and genuine ugliness, which blasts the soul, is an indication of morbidity.—But prettiness is opposed to beauty. I know that, first and foremost,we must be sensitive to life and to its movements. If there is power, it must be sensitive power."

"I know we must take up the responsibility for the future, now. A great change is coming, and must come. What we need is some glimmer of a vision of a world that shall be, beyond the change. Otherwise we shall be in for a great débâcle. What is alive, and open, and active, is good. All that makes for inertia, lifelessness, dreariness, is bad. This is the essence of morality. What we should live for is life and the beauty of aliveness, imagination, awareness, and contact. To be perfectly alive is to be immortal. I know these things, along with other things. And it is nothing very new to know these things. The only new thing would be to act on them."
 
From the permit in the window, it looks like the empty spot in the big box store part is going to be an Xfinity...
 
^ Xfinity store here is better than driving to Malden and more transit accessible than the one on the Cambridge - Somerville line.
 
From 7/28 in the foreground. Anybody know if they have started working on the next set of buildings?

IMG_5837 by David Z, on Flickr
 
Kensington Underpass (from Stop & Shop to Public Storage) has been funded by State & City for upgrades.

From this thread in DECEMBER 2017:
Ruairi said:
...it blows my mind that years later the main pedestrian/bike access from east Somerville is through a filthy highway underpass ...with traffic on off and on ramps.
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From Today:
[Sen Jehlen & Rep. Connolly] secured $95,000 in funding for improvements to Somerville’s Kensington Underpass in the Fiscal 2019 state budget.

The Kensington Underpass serves as a vital connection between East Somerville and Assembly Row. It provides residents in East Somerville with access to the amenities of Assembly Row and the Mystic River, and alternatively provides residents living at Assembly Row with access to other sections of the city.

Residents have expressed concerns about the dark and unwelcoming nature of the underpass for several years, but state funding had yet to materialize until now.
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Arlington said:
Kensington Underpass (from Stop & Shop to Public Storage) has been funded by State & City for upgrades.

From this thread in DECEMBER 2017:


From Today:
[Sen Jehlen & Rep. Connolly] secured $95,000 in funding for improvements to Somerville’s Kensington Underpass in the Fiscal 2019 state budget.
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better late than never I suppose. Kinda blows my mind that they cant get the 3 major developers in the Assembly area as well as the developer in the Stop and Shop parking lot to pony up and pay for it. Still, better than nothing!
 
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