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To improve the quality of the commercial district in Uphams Corner? Not really. I don't think enough people will use it for everyday commuting to South Station and then walk up Dudley to Columbia Road. I live on the top of Jones Hill, and the commuter rail and the red line seem almost...

Parking is one issue, and the fact that Jones Hill walks to the red line at Savin Hill is another. The traffic flow, both vehicular and pedestrian, is all wrong. When multiple streetcar lines went through Uphams Corner, it made a lot more sense as a commercial hub. It also doesn't help that...

Savin Hill has always been an area of long-time residents, with a lot city employees choosing to live there. To say that it has the same type of people as Melville Ave and Wellesley Park is wrong.

Yes, Old West is an Asher Benjamin from 1806, which makes it the same age as Second Church in Dorchester. If I recall correctly, the pulpit from Old West is older than the church. Old West was the successor building to the c. 1737 Lynde Street meeting house.

The pulpit at First Parish Dorchester came from Old West Church on Cambridge Street in Boston. The city gave it to First Parish in 1897 when Old West was converted to the West End branch library.

I'm the historian at First Parish in Dorchester and no, the congregation isn't full of right wing-ideologues. First Parish is a Unitarian-Universalist congregation, and was founded in March of 1630, making it the oldest congregation in Boston. We're in the process of a complete building...

There is a Utica Street, which runs into Kneeland near the diner. There was also a third New York Streets post, looking at the bridges in that area: http://bostonhistory.typepad.com/notes_on_the_urban_condit/2006/03/new_york_street_2.html

Re: parcel 3 funding And I'd suggest you spend some time looking at the zoning maps, current development proposals and driving around Roxbury rather than sitting at a desk looking at Virtual Earth. I'd also suggest that you not put words in my mouth like "Wow, there's so little land left to...

Re: Expand wisely Because the constant refrain I read here is something along the lines of "Why doesn't Chuck Turner focus on developing all of that undeveloped land." I simply pointed out that the undeveloped land in one of the pictures is in fact either (a) virtually unbuildable or (b)...

Re: Expand wisely Yeah, but don't you think it might be a little misleading to show pictures of Roxbury purporting to show low density if you don't know what the development status is? I mean, anyone who doesn't know Roxbury would look at the picture I analyzed and say, "Wow, look at all that...

Re: Expand wisely That is First Church in Roxbury's churchyard in the center of the picture above, so I doubt development will happen there any time soon, although an addition was added to the rear of the church for the UU Urban Ministry. In addition, the land to the right of the church is...

Well, Suffolk did try to build a dorm tower on Beacon Hill so while they may not be clinically retarded they might be considered just a little bit slow.

I'm not sure. The pastel housing looks like Orchard Park to me. I also think there is an old unused theater in Eggleston Square.

I've posted a link over on my blog for everyone to download a high resolution copy of one of my favorite (and in my opinion, one of the most beautiful) maps of Boston from the late 1890s. Enjoy, and I hope everyone has a safe and merry holiday season...

South Boston was part of Dorchester until 1804, when the legislature allowed Boston to annex Dorchester at the behest of real estate speculators over the protests of Dorchester's representatives. That's why the monument in Southie is "Dorchester Heights". "South Boston, from present...

I hear this criticism of City Hall all the time, but I'm never quite sure what people mean by it. How does City Hall not work for its intended purpose? What is its intended purpose?

Re: SIlver Line and City Hall plaza I just posted a c. 1899 map of the subway lines running under and around present day City Hall Plaza. If anyone wants a larger copy than is available on my blog, just email me--I'm not sure why the scan isn't coming out full size...

It was a motel/office building. I have a picture of a model of the Government Center area in the late 1960s here: http://bostonhistory.typepad.com/notes_on_the_urban_condit/2006/06/government_cent.html with descriptions of some of the buildings. It is interesting to see the unbuilt tower for...

I think renovating City Hall and building an annex along the Congress Street side to handle most of the face to face public business makes sense. A new Boston history museum/National Park Service visitor center within the annex would make sense, or an outpost of the City Archives. The...

The current location is a good one given the boundaries of B-2 and there is an old electroplating plant near the current station that should be taken down so there is space for development. You can see a historic photo of the site of the current station here...