Recent content by Riverside

That's true, and like we discussed before, it's definitely a nice "feature" of "State" station, for example. "Prudential" is probably the strongest additional case of the "intentional ambiguity" scenario being effective. Looking at the rest of your list (which, personally, I largely agree with...

I largely agree with you. Well, actually, I entirely agree with you that Route 1 isn't the best alignment. But, for completeness' sake, I think it's worth reframing the benefits of a Route 1 alignment, somewhat. IMO, this actually comes back to the question of the "Lechmere Model" and the...

This still doesn't address the bigger question. The apparent need is to reach a height of 135 feet; from the south, starting at ground level at Constitution Road, its about 4,400 feet to the edge of the Mystic -- that would be just over a 3% grade; the north side is a little bit harder to...

^ To be fair to F-Line, 6% isn't an MBTA-exclusive standard. (TCRP Report 57, Track Design Handbook for Light Rail) I'm definitely not denying that the grades need to be looked at -- only trying to better understand the specific issues at hand.

Obviously I'm no civil engineer, but the clearance under the bridge is 135 feet. At 6% grade, that's, like, 2250 feet of running distance and 2254 feet of incline... right? (I'm always unconfident in my own arithmetic.)

This is certainly a fair critique. Do you think that "Central Square" is meaningfully better than "Central"? It's somewhat less ambiguous, but probably still does run into the same problems you describe. I think what I'm going for here (in an unclear and probably ineffective manner) is...

No particular comment, other than to say that that is all super interesting and I appreciate the review! Will respond to some specific points, but overall I agree that my approach is personal and idiosyncratic. As much as anything, it's an articulation of my aesthetic preferences, which don't...

Well, and to be fair to you, your idea includes the North End component, which wasn't a priority (or even a thought?) in the 1914 plans. But yes -- I figured "in for a penny, in for a pound" in terms of a Haymarket station under the Central Artery; you're gonna need to tunnel under there...

Very nice! Some similarities to the 1914 concept: The lack of an Orange Line transfer is unfortunate. A North End station would be cool, but I wonder if a station at the Greenway with a connection to Haymarket might be valuable.

Oh believe me, I went down that rabbit hole. To some extent, the question is really "what's a better name for the square at the intersection of Winter, Washington, and Summer?" I wouldn't go with "Fall", but "Autumn Square" has a nice ring to it ("next stop Autumn, change here for the Orange...

Oh, you've stumbled into something I have a Philosophy on :) If I had a magic wand I could wave and change all signs and wayfinding devices, I would: Exclude "Square" and "Street" (and "Road," etc) from all station names, with four exceptions: Park Street, for historical reasons Permit...

I actually find this quite charming. It also evokes the nearby New England Produce Center. It actually reminds me of what you said about State and a hypothetical "Court" station -- names that are specific enough to be associated with a general area, but vague enough to not be strictly tied down...

@Teban54, yeah, lots of agreement with what you wrote. To add some particular comments of emphasis: Yeah, once you start looking for the pattern, you see it everywhere. Really interesing perspective on both Beijing and Shanghai. In terms of Beijing, do those village names live on in the names...

I finally got around to replying (at some length, because of course) to @TheRatmeister's awesome map, in the Better MBTA Station Names thread.

I agree that "The Fens" is a bit far, but this station really struggles to present an obvious name. If it weren't the name of an E Line stop, "Riverway" could maybe work, but... I know some of it is now a parking lot, but it does still look like a circle to me: Not a whole lot more for me to...