🔷 Open Thread

[statler]

Niiiice...

I wonder if there is an architect one.

 

[vanshnookenraggen]

I made this one

 

[datadyne007]

Niiiice...

I wonder if there is an architect one.

There's a million. Pretty much all of them end with "What I really do" as AutoCAD blocks of bathroom fixtures.

Exhibit A:

 

[BostonUrbEx]

Has anyone seen any for urban planners?

I tried searching for ones of urban planners and architects, but I couldn't find any for either.

 

[datadyne007]

Has anyone seen any for urban planners?

I tried searching for ones of urban planners and architects, but I couldn't find any for either.

I edited one in my post, but it took me a while because I can't figure out how the symbols work on this Spanish keyboard.

 

[czsz]

Boston named #3 best student city in the world, beat only by Paris and London:

http://www.topuniversities.com/student-life/best-student-cities/2012/

Beyond the boundaries of this survey -- as someone who went to college in NYC and grad school in Boston, I never got the enthusiasm for Boston as college town (yeah, there are a lot of students here relative to the general population, but that doesn't automatically a great college town make -- the nightlife is just too timid for one). Maybe it's just that I did everything in the wrong order.

 

[BostonUrbEx]

Does the "For the first time in generations, home ownership in America is being threatened..." commercial bother anyone else? It annoys me every time.

For one, generations? What, our parents and our grandparents?

Two, threatened? What, afraid the new generations won't be conned into going into debt for your lump of bricks and timber for an overvalued $500k in the middle of goddamn nowhere?

Sheesh...

 

[Commuting Boston Student]

Beyond the boundaries of this survey -- as someone who went to college in NYC and grad school in Boston, I never got the enthusiasm for Boston as college town (yeah, there are a lot of students here relative to the general population, but that doesn't automatically a great college town make -- the nightlife is just too timid for one). Maybe it's just that I did everything in the wrong order.

Maybe I'm doing college wrong, but I feel like the 'timid' nightlife would be a bonus if I actually chose/could afford to become Residential Boston Student instead.

I just don't see the appeal in WILD AND CRAZY PARTY!!! night after night after night. Sometimes you just want a low-key gathering, nice and relaxed and quiet.

Or am I totally misunderstanding what you're getting at with 'timid nightlife'?

Does the "For the first time in generations, home ownership in America is being threatened..." commercial bother anyone else? It annoys me every time.

For one, generations? What, our parents and our grandparents?

Two, threatened? What, afraid the new generations won't be conned into going into debt for your lump of bricks and timber for an overvalued $500k in the middle of goddamn nowhere?

Sheesh...

I did some digging and I guess that ad is actually blatant political scaremongering? It annoys me, but for a much different reason than what I think you're trying to get at. I'd definitely like to own a home some day.

Just, not one anywhere near a city. A nice, quiet place in the woods, like the home I grew up in. That, or a vacation/summer home.

 

[datadyne007]

Boston named #3 best student city in the world, beat only by Paris and London:

http://www.topuniversities.com/student-life/best-student-cities/2012/

Beyond the boundaries of this survey -- as someone who went to college in NYC and grad school in Boston, I never got the enthusiasm for Boston as college town (yeah, there are a lot of students here relative to the general population, but that doesn't automatically a great college town make -- the nightlife is just too timid for one). Maybe it's just that I did everything in the wrong order.

Calling the nightlife "timid" is being very generous. "Non-existent" and "pathetic" are better words to describe Boston's nightlife. (I'm not talking about house parties, I'm talking about public social venues)

 

[Ron Newman]

Really? Seems to me we have a pretty good selection of live-music clubs.

 

[czsz]

Maybe I'm doing college wrong, but I feel like the 'timid' nightlife would be a bonus if I actually chose/could afford to become Residential Boston Student instead.

I just don't see the appeal in WILD AND CRAZY PARTY!!! night after night after night. Sometimes you just want a low-key gathering, nice and relaxed and quiet.

Or am I totally misunderstanding what you're getting at with 'timid nightlife'?

I'm all for low-key gatherings. Nightlife is about more than partying, though. It's about being able to have those gatherings at 3am, if you so choose, or places to grab a snack when working on a term paper around the same time. About round the clock food delivery and enough people walking the streets late at night to make them feel reasonably safe.

My jaw dropped in disbelief when I first started grad school here that the only 24hr option for anything in Harvard Square was the CVS - one former Harvard undergrad told me people "stocked up on candy" there for all nighters. Given the size of the potential market of overachieving students craving food at the time, it was completely unbelievable. The new 24hr market in the square is a huge improvement, but much of the rest of the city could use a similar set of amenities, and Harvard Square (and other parts of the metro near universities and colleges) could use more. I mean, 24hr pharmacies are a feature of strip malls in suburbia now; why not in every Boston square?

And for god's sake, let the T run just a couple hours longer. Not just for party people, but for late-shift janitors, labworkers who need to run a continuous experiment past 1am, etc. You know, the Night Owl buses weren't heavily used, but they might have made a great down payment on Boston's ability to retain college grads.

There was an op-ed in the Globe today noting just how limited Boston's "innovation economy" was by the fact that the city shuts down so early:

We need a 24/7 city

By J. Alain Ferry

START-UP ENTREPRENEURS don’t work from 9 to 5. We don’t drive to the office. We don’t cook dinner. And we don’t make tons of money. We sell our cars, operate out of our apartments, and hold meetings in coffee shops.

Even when we start in Boston and want to stay in Boston, Silicon Valley lures us away with its friendly investors and sunny weather, or New York calls to us with its non-stop action and center-of-the-universe vibe. We need to make Boston a city that never sleeps, instead of a city that chases us out of coffee shops at 7 p.m. We need creative ways to keep innovators and change agents here. Make Boston a 24-hour city, and you will make Boston more difficult to leave.

Better mobility: Bike lanes help, but only while the weather is good, typically from April to November. Expand MBTA hours to 3 a.m. so entrepreneurs can take advantage of 24-hour offices. Many start-ups crank out work at night; coders should not have to sprint to catch the T at 11:45 p.m.

More inexpensive and late-night food: Much of Boston’s start-up community is clustered near Kendall Square and South Station, yet most of Boston’s late-night dining options are clustered near its universities. We need more restaurants that are affordable to entrepreneurs on student budgets and we need them open until at least midnight.

Startup entertainment: Entrepreneurs work hard and play hard; entertaining adrenaline junkies is no small task. Bring more live music into the nerd neighborhoods. Make sports tickets more attainable. Plan geek weekends in the mountains and on the Cape. Organize group bike rides and kickball leagues and running clubs.

Living/working spaces: Entrepreneurs work 12 or more hours per day and want nothing more than a bed, fridge, and bathroom when they go home. Build innovative live/work spaces and make working out of living rooms less dismal. And make them pet-friendly; every start-up needs a four-legged mascot.

J. Alain Ferry is the founder and CEO of RaceMenu.

 

[Commuting Boston Student]

My jaw dropped in disbelief when I first started grad school here that the only 24hr option for anything in Harvard Square was the CVS - one former Harvard undergrad told me people "stocked up on candy" there for all nighters. Given the size of the potential market of overachieving students craving food at the time, it was completely unbelievable. The new 24hr market in the square is a huge improvement, but much of the rest of the city could use a similar set of amenities, and Harvard Square (and other parts of the metro near universities and colleges) could use more. I mean, 24hr pharmacies are a feature of strip malls in suburbia now; why not in every Boston square?

And for god's sake, let the T run just a couple hours longer. Not just for party people, but for late-shift janitors, labworkers who need to run a continuous experiment past 1am, etc. You know, the Night Owl buses weren't heavily used, but they might have made a great down payment on Boston's ability to retain college grads.

Ah, that makes much more sense.

Yeah, the T shutting down at the time that it does is ridiculous. Even running 5 am - 3 am would be a huge improvement if they weren't inclined to go to a full 24-hour service.

 

[Lrfox]

As far as partying (bars, clubs, etc) goes, I still can't jump on the "Boston's nightlife is terrible!" bandwagon. Is it NYC, Miami, Vegas or LA? No. But it's a little ridiculous to expect it to be. Boston's not a huge city. It doesn't excel in all areas of nightlife. I always cringe when I hear someone decry Boston's nightlife as "awful" because the city doesn't have the volume of some oddly-specific or alternative type of nightlife venue (i.e. clubs where everyone hops on one foot while listening to swing music).

It's also annoying when people are bothered by the fact that Boston doesn't have enough venues containing certain types of nightlife that are more or less regionally specific. I mostly hear this with Jazz/Blues bars. I've also heard people whine about Boston "lacking" in the country bar department (*gags*) or (not nightlife related) Southern cuisine. Well, of course Boston lacks in Southern Cuisine. And of course it doesn't have Jazz clubs on par with New Orleans or Blues bars on par with Chicago. I guess I just don't know why anyone would expect Boston to have such a diversified array of nightlife options. It has some of each and excels in certain aspects. I'm not sure what standard everyone's holding Boston's nightlife too, but I don't think it's fair. Outside of Vegas, NYC, Miami and LA, I haven't been to too many places in the US that are much better. San Francisco's nightlife isn't exactly leaps and bounds better than Boston (I found it to be less enjoyable, actually. Last call is 2am there too). Dallas, Atlanta, Philly, and even DC didn't exactly have me wowed either.

Now, I WILL agree that Boston does leave a little to be desired in the general late night activities department. There aren't enough places serving food late or open for late night shopping. The T shutting down when it does is probably the biggest embarrassment. It's pathetic that when I used to crash at NEU and party downtown, it was almost impossible to get back to campus without walking the entire way. But still, aside from the four cities already mentioned, much of the same could be said for almost any other city in the U.S. and for what it's worth, waiting for a late night train in NYC is no piece of cake either. Same goes for SF's "night owl" service. Still, at least they have it.

Does the "For the first time in generations, home ownership in America is being threatened..." commercial bother anyone else? It annoys me every time.

For one, generations? What, our parents and our grandparents?

Two, threatened? What, afraid the new generations won't be conned into going into debt for your lump of bricks and timber for an overvalued $500k in the middle of goddamn nowhere?

Sheesh...

It bothers me too. Scare tactics and corny acting. It's what I imagine hell is like. Unless the cost and location are right, I see no real need to own a house. I actually got preapproved recently just so I could go look at a few properties that interested me near home and I'm amazed at the maximum I was approved for. Especially after the recent mortgage crisis. Without putting numbers out there, I'll just say that in order to make payments, I'd have to pretty much not eat and hope to god that I don't encounter any incidental costs. I can only imagine how many people out there buy homes for the max they are approved for and end up foreclosing later on simply because they just can't afford it. The mortgage crisis happened before I was even considering my own home, so I had no idea how it could happen. Now that I've gone through some of the motions, I can certainly see why it would happen. And the thought that lenders have actually made it more difficult to get a mortgage makes me wonder what I would have been approved for 10 years ago on my meager income.

 

[datadyne007]

One of the things I LOOOOOOOOVE about being here in Berlin is that I don't have to hear those fucking political attack ads for whole 3 months. The Republicant attack ads take "absurd" and "fear-mongering" to a whole new level.

"Santorum gewinnt Vorwahlen in drei US-Staten" ...was not the headline I wanted to see while flipping through a paper I thought I'd never understand two weeks ago though.

 

[JohnAKeith]

Happened to see the opening minutes of "Beverly Hills Cop", earlier today. The movie's first scenes take place in Detroit. The movie came out in 1984.

It made me wonder how these places have changed in the past 27 years. I wish someone would make a short film update.

EDIT: Okay, well, there's actually a whole intro to this video clip where they show scenes of Detroit. That's what I'm talking about. But, you can just watch this if you've been jonesin for some Pointer Sisters' music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3-gQIXhg4A

 

[palindrome]

As far as partying (bars, clubs, etc) goes, I still can't jump on the "Boston's nightlife is terrible!" bandwagon. Is it NYC, Miami, Vegas or LA? No. But it's a little ridiculous to expect it to be. Boston's not a huge city. It doesn't excel in all areas of nightlife. I always cringe when I hear someone decry Boston's nightlife as "awful" because the city doesn't have the volume of some oddly-specific or alternative type of nightlife venue (i.e. clubs where everyone hops on one foot while listening to swing music).

It's also annoying when people are bothered by the fact that Boston doesn't have enough venues containing certain types of nightlife that are more or less regionally specific. I mostly hear this with Jazz/Blues bars. I've also heard people whine about Boston "lacking" in the country bar department (*gags*) or (not nightlife related) Southern cuisine. Well, of course Boston lacks in Southern Cuisine. And of course it doesn't have Jazz clubs on par with New Orleans or Blues bars on par with Chicago. I guess I just don't know why anyone would expect Boston to have such a diversified array of nightlife options. It has some of each and excels in certain aspects. I'm not sure what standard everyone's holding Boston's nightlife too, but I don't think it's fair. Outside of Vegas, NYC, Miami and LA, I haven't been to too many places in the US that are much better. San Francisco's nightlife isn't exactly leaps and bounds better than Boston (I found it to be less enjoyable, actually. Last call is 2am there too). Dallas, Atlanta, Philly, and even DC didn't exactly have me wowed either.

This x100. I was in DC two weeks ago. Talk about non-existent nightlife.

Boston nightlife is great for what it is. Could it improve exponentially very easily? Absolutely.

Beyond the boundaries of this survey -- as someone who went to college in NYC and grad school in Boston, I never got the enthusiasm for Boston as college town (yeah, there are a lot of students here relative to the general population, but that doesn't automatically a great college town make -- the nightlife is just too timid for one). Maybe it's just that I did everything in the wrong order.

In my experience during undergrad, nightlife only really mattered for your senior year. The other three were spent drinking on campuses/house parties.

 

[datadyne007]

Downtown DC is terrible for nightlife (everything closes at 6), but there are surrounding neighborhoods that have a decent scene afterhours.

 

[Pierce]

Has anyone seen any for urban planners?

I tried searching for ones of urban planners and architects, but I couldn't find any for either.

not urban planners, but an allied profession:

 

[datadyne007]

I just registered for

Marcel Breuer: American Houses

This course introduces students to the work and thinking of one of the greatest architects that defined American modern culture. Through field trips, drawings and models, the students will investigates the theoretical bases of Breuer's work, the relationship between program, materials and site and his modern design approach in the middle of the 20th century. The projects investigated, most of them built, show a great amount of open possibilities for the future of residential design in New England.
Prof. Manuel Delgado

for my final Arch. elective this summer. Pretty pumped. I love Breuer's work!!

 

[palindrome]

Downtown DC is terrible for nightlife (everything closes at 6), but there are surrounding neighborhoods that have a decent scene afterhours.

To be fair to DC, I only went out around DuPont circle. Had some simply amazing ethiopian food while there as well.