Boston in 1996

Two way Dartmouth St! That was before they took the eastbound lanes away and expanded the plaza in front of the BPL..
 
Here are some updated images I've gathered from around the web of the area in the third picture. I love this little stretch. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Independence Wharf (the one with the brick and green glass) is the same building as the one in the location in the original photo, but majorly renovated and with new cladding.

The glass building in the middle is the Intercontinental, which was built around ventilation structures coming from the tunnel.

RussiaWharf1.jpg


IMG_1315.jpg


building1.jpg


images


Independence-Wharf-2.jpg
 
Those make quite a difference to that area, and a definite improvement in my eyes. Could be time to start planning that long promised return trip I always intended on but never quite managed.
 
Want to see Boston in all its 1996 glory? Check this video out. From "Skate and Destroy" that came out in 1996. The skate video had a Boston section. I knew a lot of the guys in this video.

Lots of great Copley footage:
-2 way Dartmouth St section in front of the library
-No Trinity Place (building with Sorrelina)
-No 111 Huntington

Some good downtown footage as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jb4NNyn7Xss
 
Thanks for sharing those photos, arharvey! I was 10 years old in 1996, scary to realize that was 17 years ago now. Anyhow, I never realized that Independence Wharf originally looked like that. How could something so ugly been built there (or anywhere)? I hope whoever redesigned the exterior got an award or something.
 
Um, I think I know the guy walking by at about 1:50 (and have known him since before then)... He looks no different today
 
This pissed me off. While I can appreciate the skill required to skate well there's no excuse for vandalizing property. I saw some clowns scraping the Trinity Church steps once. Give me their addresses and I'll do some shredding on their cars. That would be totally gnarly right dudes?
 
I can confirm that it is my friend walking by in that video... Weird.
 
Brad Plaid said:
This pissed me off. While I can appreciate the skill required to skate well there's no excuse for vandalizing property. I saw some clowns scraping the Trinity Church steps once. Give me their addresses and I'll do some shredding on their cars. That would be totally gnarly right dudes?
Click to expand...

You should have been there when I caught a college kid skateboarding ON the 9-11 memorial in the Public Garden. I kicked him off there and he politely (and cluelessly) left only for me to find him doing the same on Trinity Church steps. I stopped him again and tried to explain the difference between granite and brownstone...at least he went away to destroy some other piece of public property.
 
Instead of maligning skateboarders, why don't we discuss how the video shows parts of downtown / Back Bay that have changed, which is the purpose of this thread?
 
I'm not a fan of the hypertrophic development of Shanghai. Viewed from afar, the new development looks likely to have terribly out-of-scale, inhuman streets.

But, I've seen some street level views which look okay, and my friends from China seem to enjoy the city. I've never been.

Looks like they destroyed some interesting old buildings on the near side of the river to build some concrete monstrosities :(

Boston doesn't need to sprout crazy skyscrapers as intensely as that since we've got a good base already.
 
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