11-21 Bromfield Street | DTX | Downtown

Re: One Bromfield (28-story tower @ DTX)

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This setup - a covered pedestrian mall fronted by retail - is ubiquitous throughout Japan. Little provincial cities no one here is likely to have heard of have them in spades. There's one at the nearest JR Yamanote Line station near my apartment, and my station is one of the smallest on the Yamanote. I have dinner there after coming home from work at least three times a week.
 
Re: One Bromfield (28-story tower @ DTX)

Proposals for enclosing Washington Street and Summer Street were made in the late sixties. They also included second story sidewalks that connected the entire system to South Station.

The proposal for One Bromfield is underwhelming to say the least.
 
Re: One Bromfield (28-story tower @ DTX)

Im looking at the Japan image again, and suddenly Im reminded of switzerland. They have massive mall streets located around train stations because only stores in a train station can open late (late being after 6pm).

The idea isnt exclusive to any one place. I could give you examples in Brazil as well. Also, doesnt Montreal have a giant underground city complex?
 
Re: One Bromfield (28-story tower @ DTX)

The "underground city" of Montreal is a bunch of downtown mall basements connected by dirty passageways. Nothing so glamourous as it sounds.

I'm sort of missing the point of this proposed roof. Open and unheated in winter, confining in summer, limiting views of neighborhood architecture, totally unnecessary for the neighborhood to be a 24 hour destination...what's so great about it again?
 
Re: One Bromfield (28-story tower @ DTX)

czsz said:
The "underground city" of Montreal is a bunch of downtown mall basements connected by dirty passageways. Nothing so glamourous as it sounds.

I'm sort of missing the point of this proposed roof. Open and unheated in winter, confining in summer, limiting views of neighborhood architecture, totally unnecessary for the neighborhood to be a 24 hour destination...what's so great about it again?
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Not open in winter, open at ends, but sheilding from snow, rain and some wind. The end could be half closed to stop wind. There would be no heat, but the heat from pedestrians and escaping heat from shops would linger.

Not confining in summer, as the roof would be high enough to allow for air, and the glass would let all the light in. Fans would extract air at ends ensuring its cool, or at least as cool as outside.

Not limiting views, as the roof would be transparent glass.

Look at the Japan picture, does that look confined?


Also, the roof would make the area seem safer, brighter and more alive, giving the district more appeal as a destination, and not simply as just another windy street
 
Re: 28-story tower planned for Downtown Crossing

Beton Brut said:
The night shot is from Tokyo, but your point is well taken. Kyoto, Boston's sister-city, may be a better example. My urban Kyoto photos haven't made it to Flickr yet.
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Indeed. I've made it to Kyoto a couple of times, but I don't seem to have any representative urban pics. Hmm...I suppose I was too busy listening to jazz outside the station, chatting it up with Japanese Sox fans (woo!), and being overwhelmed by the constant stream of people to have time for photos. That bridge on Shijo-dori seemed like a pretty happening spot, although my memory is hazy (embarrassing, this was 4 years ago).

But as for the arcades: Even in Tokyo, they seem to die down pretty early. Shibuya they are not. Maybe shawn will dispute this, but I remember them being deserted by midnight, certainly after the trains shut down. The difference between Japan and Boston is that the former is crime free, so one would never feel intimidated walking through one of these relatively confining arcades alone. Though one time in Asakusa (dreadfully dull at night), I did see a guy (Yakuza?) tearing up and down the arcade in a white sportscar...
 
Re: One Bromfield (28-story tower @ DTX)

DTX 2012:

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Re: One Bromfield (28-story tower @ DTX)

If you took the roof off that, and made the walls a diverse streetwall, I'd take it. Shocking how people can be so attracted to malls.
 
Re: One Bromfield (28-story tower @ DTX)

The plinth on Washington Street should at least continue the height of the existing street wall.
 
Re: One Bromfield (28-story tower @ DTX)

kennedy said:
If you took the roof off that, and made the walls a diverse streetwall, I'd take it. Shocking how people can be so attracted to malls.
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"Shocking"? It's downright appalling!
 
Re: One Bromfield (28-story tower @ DTX)

riffgo said:
"Shocking"? It's downright appalling!
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Guys, I think if you take into consideration human nature you'd find that on cold, rainy (or very cold, dry), days people tend to gravitate to enclosed, warm, spaces like their homes or places...like malls (and they love places that include convenient covered parking). However, during bright, sunny, pleasant temperature days people tend to get outside...and gather in places like their back yards, front porches or places like...... Fanueil Hall Marketplace, downtown crossing, and even the newer lifestyle centers they're putting up in Westwood and Dedham. Both places, malls and outdoor shopping areas serve their purpose and their success seems to hinge quite a bit on the weather and convenience to one's home/work.
 
Re: One Bromfield (28-story tower @ DTX)

How is it shocking or appalling? For one, mall provides almost everything: food, stores, bathrooms, parking, etc and they tend to be closer together than they are in those outside shopping district. They also provide a cooler place to go during the summer and a warmer place to go during the winter. What is so hard to believe? In my opinion and pretty much all of my teenage friends, malls are better than those outside shopping district such as DTX, Faneuil Hall, and Newbury Street because they shield us from the elements, provide a shorter walking distance from shops, tend to contain more shops, normally include shops of various different types of store, have multiple department stores, and provide food and bathroom services.
 
Re: One Bromfield (28-story tower @ DTX)

No they are not You guys need to leave Boston alone. I like my city just the way it is that's what makes it unquie. Can You guy just stay on the topic-One Bromfield (28-story tower @ DTX
 
Re: One Bromfield (28-story tower @ DTX)

ShawnA said:
No they are not You guys need to leave Boston alone. I like my city just the way it is that's what makes it unquie. Can You guy just stay on the topic-One Bromfield (28-story tower @ DTX
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What?
 
Re: One Bromfield (28-story tower @ DTX)

^^^Mostly victims of the mall mentality, and this IS shocking and appalling. I, for one, avoid them at all possible costs. Give me downtowns anyday regardless of the weather. Give me a real environment instead of a contrived and synthetic one.
 
Re: One Bromfield (28-story tower @ DTX)

riffgo said:
^^^Mostly victims of the mall mentality, and this IS shocking and appalling. I, for one, avoid them at all possible costs. Give me downtowns anyday regardless of the weather. Give me a real environment instead of a contrived and synthetic one.
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Maybe for those that have the same view as you but it is not for those who enjoy the mall. There is nothing wrong with "mall mentality." It's just your taste. I enjoy the mall more because it is more convenient and has a larger variety of stores and it's cleaner (as in the mall itself is cleaner than the streets outside). I do enjoy going shopping in DTX occasionally during a nice weather. Everyone is going to have separate views and there's nothing wrong about it. Now back to the topic.
 
Re: One Bromfield (28-story tower @ DTX)

Then perhaps we need a new thread: Downtowns vs. malls. You'll never know what you've destroyed over time by preferring malls to downtowns. Malls are so anti-urban, and they give you far fewer options that downtowns once did. I see their controlled environments as faulty and decadent, prohibitive of choices that veer from the numbing sameness of chains.
 
Re: One Bromfield (28-story tower @ DTX)

Just so everyone knows

Sorry this is on Wednesday the 14th!!!


Public BRA Meeting regarding One Bromfield Development


Where: Omni Parker House 60 School Street, conference room

When: 6:00-8:00pm



Advertisement also in local paper, however for some reason the time was not printed. We apologize for this inconvenience.


Project Description:
Replacement of 4 existing buildings on the site with a new 28 story mixed use building containing a base of 6 floors and a 22 residential story high rise above it.



John M. FitzGerald

Project Manager

Boston Redevelopment Authority

One City Hall Square

Boston, MA 02201

617-918-4267

john.fitzgerald.bra@cityofboston.gov
 
Re: One Bromfield (28-story tower @ DTX)

A base of 6 floors containing what uses? Retail and office, presumably?
 
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