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    External Boston pictures links

    ^ If ablarc did one of his essays around this guy's photo thread there'd be a bunch of posters here lamenting that Boston wasn't more like that city.
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    Silver Line - Phase III / BRT in Boston

    Re: Silver Bus Line - Phase III Apparently no one told them Dudley Sq is not a tourist attraction either.
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    High Speed Rail (Boston to... Texas?)

    Right, but presumably residential and high-income commercial uses were the ones Benson was thinking of when he spoke of increasing land values around HSR stations (and not freight forwarding, rental car facilities or Hampton Inns with long term parking). As center cities hopefully continue to...
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    High Speed Rail (Boston to... Texas?)

    ^ I agree with the first few points. But the future layout of metropolitan areas and land values near train stations will likely have very little to do with the primary travel mode used for 500 miles trips. Land costs around successful CBD intercity rail stations are already high (Union...
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    High Speed Rail (Boston to... Texas?)

    Another big difference is that most of the European cities served by high speed rail are much more dense and have much better intracity transit services. There's a good chance that the Brussels to Berlin train rider is able to either walk to a high speed rail station or take a direct transit...
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    Aerials

    Until we start to see that type of development in the industrial areas surrounding Andrew Station (also visible in that aerial) I'm not confident that the Newmarket area--even more removed from the existing urban fabric--would be a TOD magnet.
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    A 21st Century Urban Project

    The photos I've seen of Poundbury, the block of new rowhouses in the Amsterdam docks, and the first example from this thread all suggest that these places share the Seaport District's and Kendall's Square's problem attracting humans. In fact, Kendall seems much more vibrant, at least during the...
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    Best Urban Shopping Area

    A much more defensible critique! I too miss the lost grit in sections of the city center, but since I live in Eastie now I have enough to spare in my own hood. Again, probably as a function of where I live, the city's new diversity seems to be all around me--and my tiny island of a neighborhood...
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    Best Urban Shopping Area

    A little spirit revitalization wouldn't hurt, but you've gone a bit far with this post. Cheers is not the biggest, or even a big draw. The city is not drab compared to what it looked like when I arrived in 1994, as numerous neighborhoods have been gentrified and seen their 19th century housing...
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    The Problems With Building in Boston

    Re: Gov't Center Garage Redevelopment School performance is driven largely by the income and education level of students' families. If the current student body of Weston High School relocated to Dorchester High, and vice versa, their respective post-graduation fates would likely change very...
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    Infill MBTA stations

    ^ He's also talking about Toronto's downtown. I think Central Square in Cambridge is a very important and interesting urban place, but it is not in the city center. When you move outside of central Toronto, station spacing starts to grow to the lengths seen on the Cambridge stretch of the Red...
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    New to Boston

    The tolls for residents are only 40 cents, so no need to get scared off by those if you're a renter. If you're thinking of buying you might heed pelhamhall's advice and wait until after the tolls are raised (although I doubt we'll see $7 tolls any time soon on the tunnels). Good luck with the...
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    New to Boston

    It's not for everyone, but I'll put in a vote for my 'hood, Eastie. Pros: by far the cheapest neighborhood within one subway stop of downtown (so its perfect for someone working there); comfortably diverse; great variety of authentic ethnic restaurants (where many of the patrons and most of...
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    Suburban Boston

    I don't think anyone can argue with these reasons for settling in Billerica. And no one should be blamed for doing what they think is in the best interests of their children. But as a parent of 2 in Boston who has a child in the public schools, I think you may be overstating the academic...
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    Shreve, Crump & Low Redevelopment | 334-364 Boylston Street | Back Bay

    Re: Shreve, Crump & Low bldng may be replaced w/ new develop http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/11/26/smashing_a_jewel/ This column by Yvonne Abraham is likely to be well received by the forum.
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    East Boston: Pedestrian bridge and hotel

    A ferry from Chelsea to downtown might be a good idea (I think they tried one recently from Admiral's Hill). But there's no need for one currently from Eastie. A third water taxi stop somewhere near Maverick would help, but I think the water taxi is sufficient for this market (given the presence...
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    Suburban Boston

    Another factor that's less signficant than those listed by commuter guy is that beyond the suburban edge of metro Boston there is an uninterupted sea of pre-existing communities. When someone gets priced out of a town on Boston's far exurban edge (say Mendon), they can simply move to Uxbridge...
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    Lofts at Lower Mills

    It's already happend with Mattapan (originally a village of the town of Dorchester before annexation). Any idea why Mattapan is not referred to as Dorchester, but the rest of the villages are?
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    The Return of the Streetcar?

    Depends on what you mean by "much more extensive". The latest National Transit Database numbers suggest the MBTA has 142 light rail vehicles while SF MUNI has only 125. I'm aware that MUNI has a few more lines, which would suggest its service level on those lines is lower than the T's. And if...
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    The Return of the Streetcar?

    If only we could build more light rail lines we could have the largest light rail network on the continent. Instead we just have the largest light rail network on the continent.

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