321 Harrison Ave | South End

And way TALLER! Isnt the neighborhood even asking for taller around here? This is a place for some density! Orangle line less than 5 min walk away, Red line 5 min walk away, on a silver line stop and next to two highways.... and you can walk to half the city from there. This area should be considerably denser than what they are building and I dont understand it when the neighborhood is asking for it
 
Suffolk 83 said:
And way TALLER! Isnt the neighborhood even asking for taller around here? This is a place for some density! Orangle line less than 5 min walk away, Red line 5 min walk away, on a silver line stop and next to two highways.... and you can walk to half the city from there. This area should be considerably denser than what they are building and I dont understand it when the neighborhood is asking for it
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Completely agree on both counts. Makes NO sense that they aren't going taller here.
 
Suffolk 83 said:
And way TALLER! Isnt the neighborhood even asking for taller around here? This is a place for some density! Orangle line less than 5 min walk away, Red line 5 min walk away, on a silver line stop and next to two highways.... and you can walk to half the city from there. This area should be considerably denser than what they are building and I dont understand it when the neighborhood is asking for it
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The neighborhood IS asking for taller, but just 3 years ago they locked in the current zoning in the Harrison-Albany Master Plan study, so don't expect that to be overridden this soon. They allowed for a slightly higher zone along Albany Street (facing I-93) 200 ft max. but NOT along the Pike???? (And National Development at the Ink Block has not even used the Albany Street height allowance!)
 
I dont understand what those master plans accomplish other than stifling growth and kow towing to NIMBYS
 
JeffDowntown said:
(And National Development at the Ink Block has not even used the Albany Street height allowance!)
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Any higher and they would have had to deal with both billboards. At the current heights, both will still be visible. There is also a project in Allston on Braintree St under construction that is actually enveloping a billboard. The building steps down around it so that it can still be seen from the pike. I'm told it was a stipulation in the sale of the land to the developer.
 
Suffolk 83 said:
I dont understand what those master plans accomplish other than stifling growth and kow towing to NIMBYS
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But there really aren't any NIMBY's in the New York Streets area of the South End (at least not before the Ink Block and Troy were occupied, when the plan was completed). The area was a brownfield light industrial site and parking lots. No one with any standing could complain about height???? Is I-93 going to complain? Is the Pike going to complain?
 
At the conclusion of the meeting i asked an important member of the government "the projects are nice, but why isn't the BRA allowing/encouraging for Seaport height and much increased density on these 9 (NY Streets) blocks?" The response was a friendly, "well, we are building quite dense on a few of them."


A few zany thoughts.... is it ok to post the obvious? of course not but i'll do it anyway...

1. We pay our city government to think, connect dots, demonstrate intelligence - and act decisively.

2. neighborhood obstructionists should be losing sleep; then wake up each morning feeling like they live in a city that is rising; not in their warped utopian garden.

3. Cities expand their cores often. Boston should try this odd method once in a while.

4. Despite the construction boom, Boston is still growing it's core at only a snail's pace.

5. This is the perfect location to offer people the choice to trade in their cars for the opportunity to live in the dense core of one of the world's greatest cities.

6. The medium density of these projects looks nice; but, we can go way denser. Thing's are not nice for a great number of people in Boston. The state of housing is a good deal past the miserable level; it's not a case of 'the market will be screaming for this kind of density here (in 10 years): It's screaming for it now.

7. NY Streets are wedged against the pike and Rt93. There are zero issues with shade... given that it's just off the high spine... given the kind of density that is about to be built on the DOT parcels.... It's the perfect location to expand the core. Virtually no case for 'way out of character for the neighborhoodl,' should be made. This is the perfect location for the South End to provide housing supply to Boston.

8. They're called the NY Streets, stupid; the irony is unnerving.

9. Boston is still entrenched in small thinking.
 
odurandina said:
At the conclusion of the meeting i asked an important member of the government "the projects are nice, but why isn't the BRA allowing/encouraging for Seaport height and much increased density on these 9 (NY Streets) blocks?" The response was a friendly, "well, we are building quite dense on a few of them."


A few zany thoughts.... is it ok to post the obvious? of course not but i'll do it anyway...

1. We pay our city government to think, connect dots, demonstrate intelligence - and act decisively.

2. neighborhood obstructionists should be losing sleep; then wake up each morning feeling like they live in a city that is rising; not in their warped utopian garden.

3. Cities expand their cores often. Boston should try this odd method once in a while.

4. Despite the construction boom, Boston is still growing it's core at only a snail's pace.

5. This is the perfect location to offer people the choice to trade in their cars for the opportunity to live in the dense core of one of the world's greatest cities.

6. The medium density of these projects looks nice; but, we can go way denser. Thing's are not nice for a great number of people in Boston. The state of housing is a good deal past the miserable level; it's not a case of 'the market will be screaming for this kind of density here (in 10 years): It's screaming for it now.

7. NY Streets are wedged against the pike and Rt93. There are zero issues with shade... given that it's just off the high spine... given the kind of density that is about to be built on the DOT parcels.... It's the perfect location to expand the core. Virtually no case for 'way out of character for the neighborhoodl,' should be made. This is the perfect location for the South End to provide housing supply to Boston.

8. They're called the NY Streets, stupid; the irony is unnerving.

9. Boston is still entrenched in small thinking.
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Odurandia -- you were on a role until you hit #8 -- the NY is State of as in Upstate e.g. Troy -- it has nothing to do with NYC

the names came from the route of the Erie Canal circa 1850
http://boston.cbslocal.com/2016/01/28/bostons-lost-landmarks-new-york-streets-in-the-south-end/
Boston’s Lost Landmarks: New York Streets In The South End
January 28, 2016 5:55 PM By Mary Blake
Filed Under: Boston's Lost Landmarks, Dirty Old Boston, Jim Botticelli, Mary Blake, New York Streets

....Botticelli discovered it was Boston’s first attempt at urban renewal, which like the West End, was leveled in the 50’s.

“This was a rough and tumble, down on its luck place, and it didn’t start to regain any footing until the mid-60’s,” he said.....By that time, seven streets and the tenements that lined them were gone. The seven streets were named after communities along the Erie Canal in upstate New York.

“Places like Troy, Oswego, Rochester, Genesee, Seneca and Oneida. The one remaining street that everybody knows and never thought of as a New York street, is Albany Street, so Albany Street is all that remains of the New York streets,” said Botticelli.
nystreets.jpg
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Whos knows what coulda shoulda woulda been had they not nuked this entire area, but I think its turning out pretty good on this latest reset. When your sitting in your parking space on rt 93 and your looking over at the new developments it really widens the city right up to the highway and the city itself looks much bigger than it had before. I think its turning out pretty good. I know the never ending drumbeat of calls for height is redundant but I think its about that time for some rezoning because it is starting to get the buzzcut effect now that a lot of projects have went in. The Troy I think is a good example of doing it the right way and it was a great addition. Height in this area helps to shield the highway from the south end which is always a positive.
 
^Was thinking that yesterday as I sat parked on 93 so
 
stick n move said:
Whos knows what coulda shoulda woulda been had they not nuked this entire area, but I think its turning out pretty good on this latest reset. When your sitting in your parking space on rt 93 and your looking over at the new developments it really widens the city right up to the highway and the city itself looks much bigger than it had before. I think its turning out pretty good. I know the never ending drumbeat of calls for height is redundant but I think its about that time for some rezoning because it is starting to get the buzzcut effect now that a lot of projects have went in. The Troy I think is a good example of doing it the right way and it was a great addition. Height in this area helps to shield the highway from the south end which is always a positive.
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Rezoning is not needed, just using the zoning available (except perhap along the Pike).

The Troy is built to as of rights zoning height. There is a moderate spine allowed along Albany Street. National Development is not using that capability at the Ink Block. (Perhaps they will for Ink Block 8 at the corner of Albany and Herald -- no plans announced yet.)
 
JeffDowntown said:
Rezoning is not needed, just using the zoning available (except perhap along the Pike).

The Troy is built to as of rights zoning height. There is a moderate spine allowed along Albany Street. National Development is not using that capability at the Ink Block. (Perhaps they will for Ink Block 8 at the corner of Albany and Herald -- no plans announced yet.)
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National Development dropped the ball here, and it's a damn shame.
 
BussesAin'tTrains said:
National Development dropped the ball here, and it's a damn shame.
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Somebody needed to build first smack dab in the dead zone. Apartments, retail, a grocery store, several restaurants, etc. National development did that. For that, as a nearby South End resident, I'm pretty grateful. Across Harrison, across Traveller, down the block, etc, there will be taller buildings. Perhaps, we'll even have some variety in sizes and massing due to Ink Block.

Would a little taller have been better? Sure. But construction and development happen with a severe time lag (see the commercial rental market in Boston today), so I'm happy we have it now, not later.
 
I should have been clearer that this development is good for the neighborhood. It could have been much, much better.
 
* Developers build what they can get financing for.

* The scar of Pruitt Igoe and its kin probably lingers in the psyche of architects and developers who remember.
http://www.aia.org/practicing/AIAB092656

* For lovers of height and density, Los Angeles, 2019 is but three years away. (Blade Runner)
 
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