Not sure if this post goes here.
http://www.bostonherald.com/blogs/news/getting_real/?p=288#comment-628
The perils facing Boston?s Innovation District
With a good amount of fanfare, the city of Boston announced in July that it was rebranding one of its neighborhoods as the Innovation District. The area is approximately 1,000 acres in size and is located adjacent to Boston?s financial district and the South Boston neighborhood, facing the Boston Harbor.
The strategy and core principles behind the District are outlined on its website but basically it whittles down to the idea that people who live and work together can (and will) create great things. It supposes a high-density neighborhood full of offices and creative spaces, where people live in communal housing, sharing friends and social, emotional, and financial ties, and where there are plenty of shops, stores, and restaurants, and adequate public transportation nearby, alleviating the need for individually-owned automobiles.
The Innovation District neighborhood is made up of at least two, and maybe as many as four, distinct areas - the Seaport District, which is currently a mass of parking lots interspersed with a couple of office buildings; the Boston Marine Park, owned by the Boston Redevelopment Authority; the Fort Point Channel and A Street redevelopment area, home to several mid-rise office buildings (including headquarters of Thomson Reuters), a couple of condominium buildings, the US Post Office Annex, and empty space awaiting a turn in the economy; and the area around the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, where a major expansion has been proposed and where several new hotels may be built.
I was originally pretty skeptical about the whole thing. It just seems as if it was just lipstick on a pig. Or, just a name-change in search of an idea.
But, that?s just me being cynical and whiny. It took awhile, but I?ve bought into it. I want it to succeed.
However, there are so many issues, things that could keep it from happening.
* Fearing change - I?ve been to several community meetings where proposals for projects in the District have been discussed. Almost universally, the plans are met with varying levels of rejection from a disparate group of people - mostly, ?neighbors?. I say ?neighbors? in quotations because many of those who express concerns live far from where the projects will take place. I feel that the South Boston neighborhood is too far from the Innovation District to be affected by any new developments, yet some people there feel their opinions should take priority over anyone else?s.
Members of the Fort Point Channel neighborhood association have been adamant in their belief that any new development be primarily residential, at least until an equilibrium with commercial office space is achieved. (And, by residential, I mean condominiums, not apartments - there?s been a reluctance on some residents? parts to embrace plans to build an apartment complex on A Street near Melcher Street). And, the Boston Harbor Association, although its intentions are good, is wayyy too involved in the decision-making that goes on in this part of the city. Who asked you?
* Competing with private developers - Anytime the city is competing against private developers, it?s a bad thing, in my opinion. The Mayor proposed a 1,000-foot skyscraper several years back on land currently a city-owned parking lot. How many 1,000-foot skyscrapers can the city handle? There is finite demand for office space. I don?t think that private landowners should have to compete for tenants with public entities. The Boston Redevelopment Authority owns the Boston Marine Park. Will it build first? (It?s already put two parcels out to bid.) Will doing so keep other developers from being able to build because they won?t see the financial benefit of doing so? Will it be able to offer deals that private developers can?t, because it isn?t required to make a profit and because it doesn?t pay property taxes?
There is over 32 million square feet of projects already approved for construction in the city (entire city, and includes commercial and residential), according to the BRA. Why would private developers build in the Innovation District vs. in the financial district or in Back Bay, especially if the BRA is already permitting construction on its own land?
* Over-planning - The Mayor says ?Everybody expects us to build high-rise condominiums, offices, and retail in the South Boston waterfront; that?s anywhere America [but] don?t want to be that location of anywhere America? while city planners swear they don?t want the neighborhood to become ?a hipster playground for the techno elite?, a quote from the Boston Globe.
So what, then?
Do good neighborhoods happen by accident or are they planned? If you look at Back Bay, it was all planned. If you look at the South End, however, its rebirth was almost by accident, not design. The planners of the Innovation District are in danger of going too far in designing its function. It should offer guidelines but not specifics.
How do you keep this area from becoming high-end? By forcing developers to build moderate-income housing? What world would it be if artificial limits were set on what the market would allow? The highest and best use of much of the Boston Proper neighborhoods appears to be residential - high-end residential. Why mess with capitalism and simple economics? There?s plenty of cheap housing in Allston and Brighton and West Roxbury and Roslindale and Roxbury and Dorchester and South Boston and Hyde Park and Mission Hill. Why force things? And who decides who gets the discounted housing and why them vs. other groups?
* Playing favorites - I may be the only person in Boston who doesn?t believe the Mayor plays favorites. I say he doesn?t, but only because I haven?t seen these things or heard, first-hand. I read all the time about how the Mayor and Don Chiofaro are ?enemies? and how the Mayor is buddies with Joe Fallon, but how would I know? I?ve never met any of them.
But, assuming these rumors are true, then it doesn?t bode well for the District. Will the Mayor let his pals do whatever they want while fixing the game against those who have crossed him in the past?
* Losing faith - Yeah, yeah, yeah. Everyone complains about how that area has never filled its potential. I agree - in my 20-years+ of living here I?ve heard of at least three different proposals for the site. It?s to be expected that people are cynical. Yet, it doesn?t mean that things won?t improve. Yes, we missed yet another opportunity to redevelop the Seaport District because the economy crashed and burned in 2007-2009, but there is still real potential to make things happen, now. You have some big names involved - Joe Fallon, John Hynes, and John Drew (and, until last year, Edward Fish and Bob Kraft). Presumably, they?re thinking long-term and are willing to put in the time (and money) necessary to make the District a vibrant and healthy neighborhood (and, it?s a requirement if they plan on making returns on their investments).
* Changing of the guard - What happens when Mayor Menino leaves office? Be it 2013 or 2017, his reign will one day end. Will a new mayor want to continue what the current mayor has started or will he/she want a fresh start? The way it is now, planning new buildings will take up to two years, meaning it will be 2012 before any shovels will be put into the ground. This will push up right against the next mayoral election - will developers rush to get started before the next cycle begins or wait it out to see what happens?
Map image courtesy of the Innovation District website