115 Federal St. (Winthrop Square)

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I don't disagree with your opinions of what works in an urban environment. I do think that it is a little presumptuous for people who do not dwell in an urban environment to come across as so offended by urban NIMBYs.

NIMBYs drive me crazy too, but I do feel that being an urban dweller (and property owner) allows me to view their actions from a more relevant viewpoint. They drive me crazy because I have an international airport out my back yard, a bus stop across the street, 1000 condo units in various stages of being built in my immediate neighborhood, new parks being built around the corner, and I don't feel the need to bitch about every little development proposal.

Why not focus your energies on getting Paines Crossing built and designed in a non-auto oriented manner? Or why not move into the urban area--every housing unit occupied by people that think cities should be cities is a unit that can't be occupied by another Shirley Kressel.

The idea of an Anti-NIMBY league being championed by suburbanites too young to vote (not lumping you in here LFROX) is what set me off.

"lets see...we're well connected developers with very deep pockets who can't seem to thwart these committed NIMBYs who won't let us build an office tower next door their condos...I know...lets get a petition started at Westwood High!"
 
belmont square said:
Or why not move into the urban area
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Why the hell would he do that when he specifically said "Boston is not my town."

Is it so hard for people here to fathom that there are those who enjoy the suburbs, even the country, over the city?
 
vanshnookenraggen said:
Is it so hard for people here to fathom that there are those who enjoy the suburbs, even the country, over the city?
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Sounds like a kind of mental illness...
 
Is it so hard for people here to fathom that there are those who enjoy the suburbs, even the country, over the city?
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I understand that those people exist and, in fact, make up a majority of the residents in Massachusetts. I have no problem with those people. But just as I'd assume they would question my qualifications to educate them on lawn maintenance, I am calling into question their qualifications for making judgments on how best to develop cities.

By the way, I began by suggesting that he work to encourage good development in his suburb, assuming that he lives there by choice. But it didn't seem like a crazy idea to add a suggestion to move into the city given that two posts earlier he declared his eagerness to join a group whose purpose was to organize non-residents to fight against resident neighborhood activists. Imagine how much harder it would be for the NIMBYs to laugh him out of the room if he actually lived there and supported new neighborhood development.
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Let me clarify a little bit as i seem to be part of some confusion.

First, I am of age to vote by more than a few years.

Second, I am not here by choice at the moment, and plan on ultimately living in Boston as Green Acres is not, "the life for me." so Belmont Square, your suggestion is not unreasonable, just not possible at the moment (Grad School down here).

Third, I should have thought twice about making the initial post i made that allowed for your rant ("...if there's a group against NIMBYs, count me in" etc). I meant it as more of an "I support that idea" post and not necessarily a "When's the next meeting, I'm there post." Sorry for not being more clear.

Finally, I would like to say that if you have any input on how to manage a lawn, let me know, i don't care where you live. While i understand how you would find it "presumptuous" for people like myself who do not live in the city to chime in, i don't see a problem with strength in numbers. I'd gladly go to a meeting on a new development in Boston to support if i actually do support it. It would be one more voice.

Like i said in my previous post, I have lived in an urban environment (Washington, D.C. and not quite on the same level, Providence R.I.). I AM "so offended" by those NIMBYs because like i said before they're hypocritical.

I'd work on getting Paine's Crossing built, but i just don't care. having a Walmart or not in Assonet, MA (how many people actually know where Assonet is, by the way?) doesn't have nearly the impact that having a 1,000 foot centerpiece in the Financial District does. I find it far more intriguing and i get annoyed (probably not as much as you or the other members of this forum do) when people complain that there aren't enough open spaces in their city and they need to be created, but then turn around and complain about how nothing over 50 years old can be destroyed because it's "historical."

As a resident of East Boston (I'm assuming because of the Airport Comment), your thoughts on YOUR city certainly have more validity than those from us out in suburbia. My point was that our thoughts can be legitimate too, and not all of us are here by choice. That post about "count me in" was certainly poorly thought out, i apologize for misleading anyone.
 
^Don't be so apologetic. Big deal he lives in East Boston, does that mean he can only comment on activities in East Boston? Fuck no! Also, the comment about mental illness...first of all, you gotta take it easy...East Boston quite closely resembles most anything within 15 minutes of Boston; Revere, Somerville, Medford, Everett, etc. It's not Manhattan. And I'm trying to be nice, but most people familiar w/East Boston would probably say that you would have to have a mental illness (probably caused by toxic fumes) to chose to live in East Boston verses many of the readily accessible suburbs around Boston.
 
For the record, I don't consider any of those places nico mentioned to be suburbs; rather parts of Boston that happen to have separate municipal governments due to succession or insufficient annexation.

You're right that lrfox owes no one an apology, least of all me. And anyone can comment on development anywhere. What seems a little over the top (and hopelessly naive) is proposing a public advocacy group with the purpose of encouraging unwanted development in places where they don't live (for the record, an idea that lrfox did not propose). It may be that it is only unwanted by a vocal few, but isn't it up to the silent majority within those communities to push the projects through, not development fans from the burbs?
 
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