Allston-Brighton Infill and Small Developments

That's good about the state police, but I thought that site was supposed to be sold with the speedway buildings, did I miss something here?

About the bank at harvard/comm, I've been meaning to post a picture here for days, can you imagine being that second floor apartment now featuring grand views of the back of a fake wall?

Kellys failed because it was overstaffed, couldn't stay open as late as they wanted, and because there were already better, cheaper roast beef sandwiches in the neighborhood. I also feel the rent is probbaly too high since it drove Martys liquors out, which was the best and most popular packie in the area, especially after the Blanchards dog kicking extravangaza. There was talk of Boloco taking over the lease, which I think would have killed it in this location, I don't know whatever happened with that. I'm sure bon chon will do just fine though.

The issue with Unos was the parent company more than the actual resturant, it was never packed but always busy. I don't think the intersection has too much to do with it, Great Scott is busy pretty much all day, and inbound pizza and dantes (amazing new frozen yougurt place) do just fine. The light cycles are also fast enough with a very generous all walk phase that it allows pedestrians to cross easially, the onky real issue is people bolting across traffic trying to make their train. I lived on that intersection for 5 years, its one of the better ones in the area.

In general the more sucessful spots in allston tend to be small footprint, unless you're a bar or thrift shop. I'm not going to find any fault with that since its allowed a very diverse spread of resturants from every ethinicy to open. The resturants on Brighton Ave and spilling down Harvard are in general very good food (minus all the pizza places).
 
^^ What other roast beef joints are in the area?
 
Well I'm going to shed a small tear for the loss of the police barracks...I'm not sure why but I've always had a soft spot for ribbon-windowed, proto-modernist structures like these. And I fully understand if I'm alone on this one:

screenshot20120726at121.png
 
bigeman312 said:
Roast Beast. It's the best Roast Beef sandwich in the Boston area, and many people agree with me. It's in Packard's Corner, in a basement.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/roast-beast-boston
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Amazing food, its in the same storefront The Joint formerly occupied, I believe its run by the same people.


There is also Rednecks on Brighton Ave (although what they serve can barely be called food).

Soul fire also makes amazing pile-of-meat sandwiches, although they don't have the classic roast beef.
 
How will the Brighton Music Hall expand? Is there a neighboring building they can take over and pull down a wall?
 
If this is the same as plans from a few months ago, they are planning to remove part of the bar to make space.
 
crispino said:
Thanks for the info. I'm glad they're fixing the place up, but I would guess that the whole layout of that project doesn't excite this crowd very much - for which, I suppose, I can't really blame you. Anyway, thanks again.
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Yeah I go by it once or twice a week and never bother to take my camera out. It's just a smallish big box sitting behind a sea of parking that will probably get covered in Dryvit...yawn.

Ron Newman said:
How will the Brighton Music Hall expand? Is there a neighboring building they can take over and pull down a wall?
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There's tons of underutilized space inside...they have three bars, two of which rarely if ever get fully utilized. And then there's the whole random back room pool table area that feels like an afterthought.
 
Did this get mentioned already?

http://www.universalhub.com/2012/mixed-use-building-proposed-harvard-parking-lot-al

The usual complaints from the ACA, I giggled at the comment about barrys corner being a complicated, dangerous intersection. Apparently they have never been to any of the other major intersections on western ave, or for that matter any in 02134, which are by all rights more complex. Upgrade the signals with car sensors, proper left turn signals for Western, and a pedestrian crossing phase and everything will be all set.

Not only am I getting the increasing feeling the people who oppose the lower allston developments have never experienced downtown, but I don't even think they have crossed the pike and experienced Allston proper. They do realize they live in a neighborhood in Boston and not Arlington, right?

I'm really going to try to make the next task force meeting on the 8th...
 
Boston Development Group gave a quick presentation about the upcoming "Cleveland Circle Mixed Use Development" project last night, on the site of the old cinema. They say there will be a more comprehensive meeting in September.

There doesn't seem to be any links online to the handout. Plan is currently a 181 room hotel, 19,000 sq feet of office space, 82 units residential, 14,200 sq feet of retail, and 228 parking spaces total. Part of the property is in Brookline, part is in Brighton.

Here's a scanned copy of the handout with the renderings.
 
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AdamBC said:
Wow, I really like that - looks like it will really improve Cleveland Circle.
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The biggest issue with Cleveland Circle is that only the northeast corner is active or well developed. Southeast has the MBTA office building that is dead-looking and setback, there is a park in the southwest (although this area is quite active when the food trucks are there) and the pool in the northwest.

In addition the fact it is no longer a circle is detrimental to the intersections landmark status, and navigability by every mode of transit that passes through there. If ever a rotary should be brought back it is here, with a grand fountain in the middle.

With the absurd amount of transit available here there is not a single reason I can see that the area should not have a comprehensive development plan to bring it to its full potential. The redevelopment of the cinemas (especially the phase 2 tearing down of the Applebees) is a great start. I also recall discussion about building over the reservoir yard. I cant think of an area in the city with more underutilized potential then Cleveland Circle.
 
davem said:
In addition the fact it is no longer a circle is detrimental to the intersections landmark status, and navigability by every mode of transit that passes through there. If ever a rotary should be brought back it is here, with a grand fountain in the middle.
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That is actually a brilliant idea, the traffic through the area could be handled by a rotary, but how would you propose connecting the B-C-D lines through a rotary?
 
Cleveland Circle is indeed an important transit hub. Something a little alarming to me was the complete lack of any mention of the proximity to the T during the presentation. Except at one point, the architect put up a slide showing the "D" tracks and said, "As you can see, lots of visual clutter here."
 
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