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I don't know how you do it with your camera, but you even make power lines look alluring!!

that's kansas city I believe

Anecdotally, relative to other major cities, it does seem to me that Mayor Wu and the city leadership have been very complacent in regard to trying to spark economic activity. The talking points are very often about equity and climate goals and while these are often worthwhile efforts, it...

I too wonder what the long term holds, it's obvious that the extra 4% tax will generate income in the near term. This year even more than expected, perhaps because the stock market has been on a tear so capital gain taxes are up and home values are up as well. We know there has been and...

https://www.wbur.org/news/2024/03/28/boston-empty-offices-property-tax-shortfall-plan Boston Mayor Michelle Wu plans to file legislation that would allow the city to increase property tax rates on businesses beyond the limit set by the state, city officials told reporters Thursday. The move...

Ironic that a gut job of what was a homely and sick building turns out better than the vast majority of new construction in Boston

My 2 cents.... downtown crossing had issues even before the pandemic, but now post covid the area is less active. Fortunately, at this point, it appears Boston has avoided major problems that other downtown area have faced such as San Francisco, Portland etc, but my feeling is that area is...

Like Java King, I also moved here from Nebraska. I arrived in 1993 for law school and stayed thereafter. Lived in Beacon Hill, North End, Charlestown and Roslindale, had three kids and eventually moved to the suburbs. Like others echoed, nightlife options for younger people seemed to have...

I can't take credit for the idea, but a long time ago someone on this site (I believe) proposed that the supply of liquor licensed be increased by duplicating the number of licenses. Think of it as a stock split, each owner of a liquor license would each have two after the split, the price for...

I think you raise important macro economic points. Personally, I have concerns for Boston these days. I feel Boston is at an great inflection - work from home changes have changed the economic playbook for Boston and we have very high housing costs. Boston should have more carrot and less...

A few points from the article: - New units cost 500 to 600k per unit to build, with high rises closer to Boston costing even more - Even with zoning reform, costs to build remain high, there is a limit to rents that the market will bear to recapture costs, eventually people leave the area for...

Interesting article comparing states success at creating housing, probably not a surprise to anyone here, but Massachusetts fares poorly relative to other states: https://www.boston.com/real-estate/real-estate-news/2023/11/28/where-in-america-are-we-actually-building-new-housing/?p1=hp_featurestack

I think Robert Campbell, architectural critic for the globe, once said something to the effect - it's like they licked off all the frosting on these buildings. I think that comment was referencing South Boston and the spread of aluminum/vinyl siding and the removal of decorative elements.

Costs, interest rates, are clobbering new housing construction in Greater Boston article behind the paywall: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/11/07/business/new-construction-greater-boston/ some excerpts: - The economics behind both residential and commercial buildings “are going to be under...

Doesn't Druker own much of Bromfield St.? While I support increased density, I don't think it's a worthwhile trade off if it means eliminating/destroying the small footprint human scaled commercial streets of Bromfield and the ladder district streets.

Regarding assessments, the city will not automatically reassess the building to market value upon a sale. Assessed values typically are set below market value, although that might not be the case currently with decreased values. It is likely that owners will increasingly be filing appeals on...

I appreciate your skepticism, but actions speak louder than words - think about the narrative the MBTA was selling with the whole Orange Line shutdown. If anything the press was giving them a pass back then. Full disclosure, I don't have any behind the scenes knowledge, but I work nearby and...

What caused the uptick of housing construction in Minneapolis? Zoning changes, elimination of parking mandates etc. and not so much eliminating exclusive single family zoning, according to this article...

Curious how much space Deloitte has at it's current location in Back Bay, wonder if they are downsizing by a little or a lot or keeping the same amount of space with the move to Winthrop Center?

I think the demolition of the Jobbers Canyon warehouse district was the largest destruction of a National Historic Register District to date. A bit of background to the events leading up to the destruction of the district - in the 1980s Omaha lost a major headquarters to Houston, TX, that...