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BostonUrbEx said:
I was just kidding. Was there actually a real life Up inspiration?
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Yup! http://www.popsugar.com/home/House-Inspired-Up-Goes-Auction-36783450#photo-36783450

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Hadn't seen this before - Michelle Lofts located at 55-57 North Washington Street (across from One Canal). I think it's actually two buildings, the granite-looking building and the brick one on the corner.

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Wow. I watched Big Hero 6, last night, and was surprised to see that the creators designed an entire city for the movie - San Fransokyo - based, of course, on San Francisco and Tokyo.

"The completed world in “Big Hero 6” is a vast one, with 83,000 buildings and more than 200,000 streetlights ..."

"There are no flying cars here; instead, there are new elevated freeways filled with vehicles (which are not autonomous yet; traffic is apparently still a problem). The cable cars are still there, although there are many more of them, in a variety of styles, and also a kind of elevated BART that laces through the downtown. Yet in one of the most beautiful and aspirational tech details for the city, colorful airborne wind turbines spin high above the towers, generating clean energy for the residents below."

If you haven't seen the movie, it's worth watching for the artwork alone, although the story is quite good and entertaining.

The detailed work is quite incredible.

There's a book on the movie including lots of images of the city: The Art of Big Hero 6

















http://herocomplex.latimes.com/movi...cts-built-a-new-world-for-disneys-big-hero-6/

http://gizmodo.com/a-tour-of-san-fransokyo-the-hybrid-city-disney-built-f-1642066794
 
Was in San Francisco last week, this building is something else.

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Does anyone have a list of upcoming BRA Affordable Housing units planned for 2015-2016? How soon are they usually advertised on BRA prior to going for sale?
 
Rafal, unfortunately there isn't a list that I'm aware of. The units are marketed by companies unrelated to the developer and at random times.

The BRA does have a website set up so you can't bookmark it but I don't think it's updated regularly.

http://www.bostonredevelopmentauthority.org/housing/currently-marketed-units

The BRA also advertises the affordable units by sending out emails when they become available. It's been awhile since I've seen any advertised - most nowadays are rentals. Go to that link to sign up to get notified when they do list new affordable units for rent and/or for sale.
 
Does anybody know of any public transportation committees or bike committees focused on Jamaica Plain, specifically?
 
While doing some research I noticed that the Shubert Foundation is listed as owner of 540-548 Commonwealth Avenue, the corner lot at Brookline Avenue in Kenmore Square, where the McDonalds and Qdoba are located.

Anyone happen to know the history of this building? Based on the edifice, it looks as though it could have been a theater of some sort, although the upper floors of these buildings are all offices, as far as I know.

Haven't found anything online.

 
Apparently, when there is a huge boom in 20-30 somethings, cities (and companies in those cities) tend to notice and try to cater to them. News!


When did Boston get so fun?
Counting the ways that our old-time city is finally starting to loosen up for young professionals.

Boston Globe said:
For Boston, impressing the twentysomething demographic means playing catch-up. In Chicago, where Deanes grew up, last call can come as late as 5 a.m. (in Boston, bars can’t stay open past 2 — and if you want to catch the last train home most nights, you’d better settle up by midnight). Chicago’s Millennium Park, conceived in 1997 and opened in 2004, is practically as integral to the city as the Common is to Boston (and if 1997 sounds recent to you, consider that Deanes was about 5 years old). In fact, New York, Seattle, Omaha, the East and West Coast Portlands — they all have a bit of a jump on Boston. In Buffalo, of all places, on the grounds of an abandoned soap factory, Larkin Square is decked out with canopies and hula hoops and giant chairs and all manner of whimsical nonsense. Boston, meanwhile, has spent several decades relying on the home-field advantage of having thousands of college students trapped here for four or more years.
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Seems as though the "set-backs" fad is done. By set-backs I mean where there's an overhang facing the street. There's an architectural term, no doubt.

They have always looked so gloomy - maybe because the ones I think of were grey concrete edifices.

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For example, the South End / Back Bay Orange Line station, where they pushed out the perimeter when they put in the 5 Napkin Burger, and the RMB - RM Bradley building at the corner of Dartmouth and Boylston streets during the current renovation. Even the Johnson wing of the BPL is getting redesigned so you can access directly from the street - the grates that homeless people used to sleep on will be gone.

A trend? Maybe not, but a change. No?
 
This is just a hypothetical idea, but when the Custom House Tower came under city ownership in 1987 would it have been possible for it to have been repurposed to serve as a new city hall to replace the Government Center monstrosity instead of just becoming a hotel like it did? If I recall correctly, somebody on here once said that when they were trying to figure out what to do with the tower they decided that a hotel was the least plausible use, and look what happened. So I don't think that turning the Custom House into a new city hall is really that implausible, logistically speaking.
 
I don't know what the square footage is, but just eyeballing it, I'd guess it's a LOT less than the current City Hall.
 
Yeah, when I first started thinking about the idea, I was comparing it in my head to Los Angeles City Hall and thinking of the two buildings as being similar in size. But now that I've looked at it a bit more I've discovered that while the CHT is a bit taller than LA City Hall it's much thinner and probably doesn't have as much usable space in the upper floors of the tower due to the clock and spire.

I still think it's an interesting idea though and that it would have been cool if they had been able to do that.
 
There is a vacant lot next door to my condo that is owned by the City of Boston. Anybody know how I can get involved to see it developed? It is in a good location for residential infill (approx. 3-5 units, I'd say), as the rest of the block is all triple-deckers.
 
I would check with the department of neighborhood development. Pretty sure they handle the disposition of most of the tax foreclosed properties. Of course, there are a number of other departments that control other types of city property as well.
 
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