đź”· Open Thread

bosdevelopment said:
who on earth would take the commuter rail from fall river to boston, daily?
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Having grown up in that area, I know a ton of people who would do it in a heartbeat. Many of them even drive 40 minutes to Lakeville to take the Commuter Rail already. Others go to Quincy and catch the Red Line. Both of those trips are lengthy pains in the ass that would be alleviated by having rail in town which would attract a much higher ridership. There are 90,000 people in Fall River and 95,000 people in New Bedford. Thousands more in neighboring towns. I know it surprises a lot of posters here, but they're not all poor, welfare collecting immigrant drug dealers.

And let's be honest, Taunton benefits the most from the perhaps inappropriately titled "South Coast Rail" project. It will have service that's twice as frequent as Fall River or New Bedford and it's far closer to Boston.
 
Lurker said:
I'd rather get the red/blue connector, the Blue Line extended to Lynn, the Washington Street stretch of the Silver Li(n)e converted to light rail from Boylston and extended along the 23 & 28 bus routes, the Somerville/Medford Green Line extension, and all the existing commuter rail stations upgraded to full time full service accessible stops, than continue low ridership commuter rail expansions to nowhere.
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Word.
 
Lurker said:
I'd rather get the red/blue connector, the Blue Line extended to Lynn, the Washington Street stretch of the Silver Li(n)e converted to light rail from Boylston and extended along the 23 & 28 bus routes, the Somerville/Medford Green Line extension, and all the existing commuter rail stations upgraded to full time full service accessible stops, than continue low ridership commuter rail expansions to nowhere.
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Here, here.

But Fall River/New Bedford can get some express buses as consolation. Those could actually even turn a profit if managed properly. This whole commuter rail thing just won't fly.
 
I argued this point on rr.net years ago, but the Port Jervis line in NY runs to a pathetic excuse for a city of less than 9k people. It runs through a ton of farmland, and no longer goes through the small towns it serves: instead skirting them on the old freight bypass forcing most of its ridership to drive 5-10 miles to the stations. The trip time is abysmal, something like two hours, and you have to either transfer at Secaucus Junction or take Path from Hoboken to get into Manhattan. It also gets the worst of the worst equipment from both the Metro North and NJT pool, always single levels, sometimes without a single bathroom on the train. The traps are manual and you have to basically figure out what car to be on to get off at your stop because most of the time they only open one door.

Even with all that working against it, the ridership got all the stations overhauled with fare vending machines, heated shelters, brand new parking lots and platforms within the last 15 years or so. Irene completely destroyed a few miles of the line near Harriman, closing the line for months. They rebuilt it amongst rumors of abandonment. Its also up for a complete signal overhaul. People ride this line despite everything saying it should have been abandoned 50 years ago.


My point is that commuter rail to Fall River and New Bedford is a great idea. It should have happened years ago.

The current iteration of South Coast Rail however, is a terrible project. It has more bloat than a beached whale. It is the horrid mutation of a science experiment gone wrong, and needs to be destroyed immediately. Lessons can be learned, but it needs a complete reboot.

What we need is for someone to get people riled up about this. Yes, FR/NB deserve commuter rail. But they do not deserve a premiere service right off the bat, just as a teenager who just got his permit does not deserve a brand new BMW, but the family station wagon. They get one stop each, as barebones as possible. They get whatever equipment the T can spare, and a matching schedule. Then when people actually ride it, they can start expanding and adding stations. Also, someone needs to get RI on board to get the FR branch down into Newport. I imagine that would get a substantial ridership boost, and also start a conversation about figuring out how to reconstruct the link between Fall River and Providence.


The only part I'm on the fence about is the all electric requirement. I think these are horrible branches for electric service, but it would force the T to buy an electric fleet, as well as build out Readville into a real maintenance facility. This would be amazing for the NEC, as well as all the issues identified from not having Readville built out.
 
While I was in technology, plenty of co-workers came in from Providence. Guess the cost of living discrepancy made it worth it. Probably we would have more people coming in from NH if they could hop on a train the same way.
 
Hey, all! Mostly done with the Prudential Tower- filling out the lobby, Skywalk Observatory, and Top of the Hub.

Exterior:
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Skywalk (Unfinished!)
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Top of the Hub (Unfinished!)
Does it look like this? I've been to Skywalk but not Top of the Hub.
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Top of the Hub has no balcony. It is just a double-story space, unlike the Skywalk which is just a typical floor. Btw you should have lunch there sometime. Their chowder is AMAZING.
 
Also quite possibly the weakest drinks and shittiest bartenders in town.
 
kmp1284 said:
Also quite possibly the weakest drinks and shittiest bartenders in town.
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Really? My husband (who at the time was a heavy-weight drinker) got SMASHED off 2 LI Iced Teas at my 21st birthday dinner we had up there. I've found most of their drinks to be strong. They should be for those prices, but I'm a sucker for live jazz 52 stories above Boston. What drinks did you have?
 
A proper LI Iced Tea is a potent cocktail, almost straight booze - four to five shots worth. Two or three of those will get the better of just about anyone. I've had a bunch of things that have been less than stellar, watery martinis and Manhattans, weak gins & tonic, light on the pour bourbons. I'd be lying if I said that deterred me from going though, I inevitably find myself in there about twice a month, particularly this time of year for a few drinks and the aforementioned jazz. They do have a great wine list though.
 
On today's exciting edition of "weird things I've been given by people in a subway station" - a business card for the Hare Krishna temple in Cambridge, handed to me in South Station by a man claiming to be a monk at said temple.
 
Continuing with the Prudential Center, here's some progress shots for the retail area, the courtyard, and 111 Huntington:

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prudential_to_come_12513.jpg
 
I've always wanted to play Minecraft and make entire cities. But I figure this way too much of a pain in the ass and don't even try it.

Props to you. Looks good!
 
Me: So what is Cleveland like?
KZ: It's the worst place ever.
Me: Coming from someone who grew up in Albany and went to school in Buffalo that's saying something.
 
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