Boston 2024

[HenryAlan]

Fattony -- 1984 was a Reagan Valedictory -- I think after the disaster IOC-wise of Moscow in 1980 they went to LA because of 1932 and President Reagan

Nonsense. L.A. was selected in 1978.

 

[rinserepeat]

Is this true? I thought we had tons of international tourism.

Metro sees about 20 million visitors a year (city around 12 million) - a little over 1 million are international. NYC, for comparison, sees something like 50 million tourists which includes 10 million international visitors. Boston could stand to get a little more tourism with a better international mix.

What sort of bike infrastructure are you looking for? The master plan for cycle tracks coming down the pipe is pretty comprehensive. I don't see why the Olympics would stop that from happening.

Walsh admin seems to be having a lot of trouble just moving forward with the existing plan. bike plan shows cycle tracks on comm ave - there are some issues with getting those built which appear to be less about engineering and more about politics - this shouldn't have been a battle. I suspect there will be similar battles in the future. There is also a real need for a regional bike network plan, which doesn't seem to exist.

 

[Equilibria]

Boston 2024 just posted these highly generic renderings on Facebook. There's nothing that even links them to Boston. These renderings could be the bid for LA, SF, DC.

FWIW, BBJ has captions on these images now - they actually asked someone from Boston 2024 what they were supposed to be:

"Olympic Boulevard", presumably with South Station to the right and Fort Point Channel to the left. I doubt the artist's sense of scale is so far off that both sides of the channel are shown, so the concept is likely that amenities are floating on barges in the middle. It's an interesting idea. I'm not really sure what the "5" on the sign means, but maybe those barges are lounges that people can buy their way into?

"International Plaza at the Athletes Village." Everything in this picture would be new construction on the Bayside Expo site. I'm not sure if the First Night parade is suggested as a regular occurrence a la Disney World, or whether it is assumed that athletes will carry large cloth birds with them as they carry out daily errands. Since the rendering does not appear to show a planned event and several of the pedestrians are viewing the action quizzically, I suspect the latter.

"Another view of the International Plaza at the Athletes Village". This is the only one we could all place, and it's indeed from the Bayside Expo site. I like the idea of designing gathering spaces that overlook the water into the Village, particularly if it has a future as a dormitory quad. It could give UMass a nice selling point.

"The Boston 2024 Aquatics Center." This picture is set somewhere at Beacon Park, though it has no existing reference points (EDIT: that could be Harvard Stadium in the background, but it isn't visible from the rail yard). I'd guess that since Boston 2024 knows that Tufts is in the pipeline, they haven't given much thought to where exactly the Aquatics Center would go in the MassDOT site plan, so this picture is complete fiction.

BBJ source: http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/g.../01/first-look-renderings-of-boston-2024.html

 

[Arlington]

FWIW, BBJ has captions on these images now - they actually asked someone from Boston 2024 what they were supposed to be

I can see why people thought the Boston bid was laughably generic. Indeed it was. Not only is there nothing to tie these to Boston (besides the word "Boston"), there's nothing to tie them to the Olympics or even sports (except the logos). It's like they photoshopped "2024" onto stock photos of "Outdoor Fun".

"...but if the Olympics are in Boston, we will have sun, and flags--on flagpoles!, and people--walking!, and colorful things. Pick us."

 

[Equilibria]

I can see why people thought the Boston bid was laughably generic. Indeed it was. Not only is there nothing to tie these to Boston (besides the word "Boston"), there's nothing to tie them to the Olympics or even sports (except the logos). It's like they photoshopped "2024" onto stock photos of "Outdoor Fun".

Well, part of the problem is that they went for ground-level renders. We complain all the time on AB that architects draw everything from the air, and showing the human scale and experience fits with their overall vision of a walkable, pedestrian-focused Olympics. Showing the details is impossible when you don't even have the sites selected yet, and even in 2024 it won't be obvious at a lot of these sites that you're in the Boston of 2015, since everything around you will be new.

That said, an overhead render of the Stadium and Village, whose sites are pretty established, would have been nice. Heck, even a site plan would have been helpful.

The one of these renders that I like is the Olympic Boulevard (nee Dorchester Ave.) one. That's going to be the most important public space produced permanently as part of Boston 2024, and it's good that the committee knows that. Not only is that corridor critical for pedestrian amenities and activities, it allows South Station to function as a focal point and activates DMUs and Commuter Rail as one-seat access modes.

 

[datadyne007]

I'm not really sure what the "5" on the sign means, but maybe those barges are lounges that people can buy their way into?

LOL, It actually says USA. =P

Thanks btw for sharing the captions.

 

[Shepard]

I'm also excited about lasting changes to Dot Ave and Fort Point Channel. Maybe this will also spur development on the parking lots by Gillette.

 

[SeamusMcFly]

Hilarious.

LA lost two NFL teams. Has LA ever hosted the Final Four in the modern era? When is hosting a Final Four a standard?

They hosted the final four a number of times in the old RCA Dome.
Let's put the Olympics in Indianapolis..... People are dumb, and don't think before committing words to white space for all to read.

 

[rinserepeat]

The one of these renders that I like is the Olympic Boulevard (nee Dorchester Ave.) one. That's going to be the most important public space produced permanently as part of Boston 2024, and it's good that the committee knows that. Not only is that corridor critical for pedestrian amenities and activities, it allows South Station to function as a focal point and activates DMUs and Commuter Rail as one-seat access modes.

That whole area is going to be very important in the coming years - South Station especially. I also hope there would be some sort of bike/ped connection between this area and the SW corridor paths... Malnea Cass gets you part of the way there. You know - this would actually be great for bike connectivity in the city... going through Widett Circle plus Dot ave improvements suddenly allows bike access to South Station that doesn't take you through Chinatown. It would be a lot safer for people coming from the south and west (even parts of Cambridge).

 

[Equilibria]

That whole area is going to be very important in the coming years - South Station especially. I also hope there would be some sort of bike/ped connection between this area and the SW corridor paths... Malnea Cass gets you part of the way there. You know - this would actually be great for bike connectivity in the city... going through Widett Circle plus Dot ave improvements suddenly allows bike access to South Station that doesn't take you through Chinatown. It would be a lot safer for people coming from the south and west (even parts of Cambridge).

I saw mention of a bike path between Bayside Expo and Widett among the projects listed by the Globe on Saturday, which surprised me because I don't expect the athletes to be biking to events. It's a useful project for after the Games, though.

 

[Mongo]

That whole area is going to be very important in the coming years - South Station especially. I also hope there would be some sort of bike/ped connection between this area and the SW corridor paths... Malnea Cass gets you part of the way there. You know - this would actually be great for bike connectivity in the city... going through Widett Circle plus Dot ave improvements suddenly allows bike access to South Station that doesn't take you through Chinatown. It would be a lot safer for people coming from the south and west (even parts of Cambridge).

Having an international event like the Olympics looming might actually get the post office to get off their asses and get the South Station land swap under agreement.

 

[rinserepeat]

I saw mention of a bike path between Bayside Expo and Widett among the projects listed by the Globe on Saturday, which surprised me because I don't expect the athletes to be biking to events. It's a useful project for after the Games, though.

I ran track in college and still do road-racing. There are going to be off-days for the athletes, and no one is going to want to be cooped up on a bus being shuttled around the city constantly. Being able to do an easy run (or bike ride) right from your housing is really appealing - and I know I'd personally rather have it on a path instead of city streets. Plus if I were traveling to a new city/country I'd definitely want to do some kind of active exploring - you can cover a lot more ground on bike.

If I had the option of biking or taking a shuttle to the stadium, I'd probably bike there - even on event day.

 

[fattony]

I saw mention of a bike path between Bayside Expo and Widett among the projects listed by the Globe on Saturday, which surprised me because I don't expect the athletes to be biking to events. It's a useful project for after the Games, though.

Maybe it would carry shuttle buses during.

 

[rinserepeat]

Maybe it would carry shuttle buses during.

If the village is only a mile from the stadium - why would athletes bother to take the shuttle buses? I'm thinking most people are going to want to walk - unless there's some kind of security concern...

 

[fattony]

If the village is only a mile from the stadium - why would athletes bother to take the shuttle buses? I'm thinking most people are going to want to walk - unless there's some kind of security concern...

Fair enough, then maybe it is a walking path before it is a bike path. I only meant to suggest that if bikes don't make sense during the Games (which I think they do) that other modes could use the path during the Games that make more sense.

 

[Equilibria]

If the village is only a mile from the stadium - why would athletes bother to take the shuttle buses? I'm thinking most people are going to want to walk - unless there's some kind of security concern...

First, there is. I don't have any detailed knowledge of how much exploring athletes do, but the Village is a very secure facility at every Olympics post 1972. People who aren't athletes definitely can't wander in to the Village, and I'm not sure athletes can wander out. Second, I don't think the athletes are going to want to be walking a mile before they compete, and I definitely don't think they'll do it after. Now, perhaps we're talking journalists, volunteers, entertainers, etc. which might make more sense.

A bike path could also carry golf carts and other smaller vehicles if it's too narrow for buses.

 

[Arlington]

A bike path could also carry golf carts and other smaller vehicles if it's too narrow for buses.

Sounds right to me. The great thing about the Olympics is that it is multi-modal, as you'd hope any world-class, dense, "pop up city" would be.

I think it safe to assume that Olympic Boulevard would be fully-lined with every possible "Main Street USA" Disney-fied uses (shopping, brand expo, food, toilet, first aid) and will accommodate "friendly" surface modes
1) "Official" circulator buses (walking-speed, but good for just sitting)
2) Courtesy golf carts
3) Segway, bike
4) Pedestrian

And intertwine (at connecting nodes or branches) with off-street / connecting modes like:
1) Water Taxi / Duck Boat / Super Duck
2) Heavy Rail (SS, Broadway, Andrew)
3) Silver or Bus via Haul Road to Convention Center
4) Tourist bus
5) Athlete shuttles

 

[rinserepeat]

I don't think the athletes are going to want to be walking a mile before they compete, and I definitely don't think they'll do it after.

why? it's a 15 minute walk. only reason I see people wanting to use the shuttle to the stadium is if they have to schlep a bunch of stuff - or they're worried about getting bugged by people. most big names don't even stay in the village anyway.

I hear the athletes hit the bars pretty hard after they're done competing.

 

[Shepard]

Will the JFK/UMass station be renamed JFK/UMass/Olympic Village?

 

[lexicon506]

Ok, who here isn't excited to see giant Olympic rings suspended across the middle of the Zakim Bridge? Worth it just for that.