Cambridge Crossing (NorthPoint) | East Cambridge/Charlestown | Cambridge/Boston

From a stack of books, we have now moved to a stack of pipes.

When they do construct this it will help some with the weird barrenness of CX. The two lots up by the bike path blocking out the BET will do a lot more.
 
RandomWalk said:
From a stack of books, we have now moved to a stack of pipes.

When they do construct this it will help some with the weird barrenness of CX. The two lots up by the bike path blocking out the BET will do a lot more.
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I really had high hopes for this area, but it truly is a dead spot. I took my girlfriend up to Boston last week and we stayed at the Omni Seaport - -kudos to all who developed that whole area - - -vibrant, alive, interesting (yes, it's not typical "Boston" but it adds a new flavor in a separate area - - there is LIFE there.). NorthPoint (we visited because she is taking an EF Tours trip abroad next week and we decided to visit the HQ) was everything the Seaport isn't. Quiet, empty except for a few people walking their dogs or baby carriages. I will say it was very clean, and the park in the center is gorgeous - nice job on that. Otherwise, this was a deadspot with some truly immense landscapers.

I'm not giving up on it yet, though. I truly hope there will be some life injected into this fantastic location so near the to city.
 
I’m hoping that parcel R should help out the area a lot to feel more connected. Its residential, its the block directly next to lechmere, it straddles between both main entrances into the neighborhood, and its going to have ground floor retail.

Right now not only are the blocks next to lechmere within northpoint empty, but the newly opened up blocks where the old lechmere used to be are empty too, so that creates a huge void of empty space between the buildings in northpoint and the rest of cambridge.

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RandomWalk said:
The store only carried a limited selection of REI’s products, so it was annoying to shop.

The building also has a weird isolation because parcel Q2 is still vacant.
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Apparently it's a bike shop now, which I think is a better use for the location.

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stick n move said:
I’m hoping that parcel R should help out the area a lot to feel more connected. Its residential, its the block directly next to lechmere, it straddles between both main entrances into the neighborhood, and its going to have ground floor retail.

Right now not only are the blocks next to lechmere within northpoint empty, but the newly opened up blocks where the old lechmere used to be are empty too, so that creates a huge void of empty space between the buildings in northpoint and the rest of cambridge.

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I think the massive width/length of those landscrapers are the problem.

Imagine what NorthPoint would be if its non-lab buildings were the very same square footage but 50% of width/length and 200% of the height.
 
shmessy said:
I think the massive width/length of those landscrapers are the problem.

Imagine what NorthPoint would be if its non-lab buildings were the very same square footage but 50% of width/length and 200% of the height.
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I definitely agree, I was just saying as far as the current plan I think that parcel R should help a bit by removing the large empty lot right at the entrance to the area.
 
RandomWalk said:
The numbers don’t pencil out, given the HVAC requirements for labs. It basically demands large floor plates to amortize the costs efficiently.
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I understand, but my post said for "non-lab buildings" in general and the residential Parcel R (previous posts with renders/link) in particular.
 
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I wish we could be more open to adding more modern elevated lines around the city. The view is great, its cheaper, in my opinion the modern ones look fine.. Removing a whole mode as an option for future rail expansions just hamstrings us.
 
stick n move said:
I wish we could be more open to adding more modern elevated lines around the city. The view is great, its cheaper, in my opinion the modern ones look fine.. Removing a whole mode as an option for future rail expansions just hamstrings us.
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I wonder if this one is in a pretty unique spot, though, were O'Brien Highway is a commercial strip and no viewlines or streetwalls existed prior to the development of Cambridge Crossing. I don't think the highway viaduct look would play well down the middle of Comm Ave.
 
Equilibria said:
I wonder if this one is in a pretty unique spot, though, were O'Brien Highway is a commercial strip and no viewlines or streetwalls existed prior to the development of Cambridge Crossing. I don't think the highway viaduct look would play well down the middle of Comm Ave.
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Yea thats why I was saying adding more modern ones, if we were going to build any more Id like to see them built with concrete. This is fine for this little stretch, but anything substantial I think modern concrete viaducts would be better.
 
I agree, this has been a sore spot for me for a long time since I see it every day.

One thing people may not appreciate is that this has revealed that they're creating a full parallel bike path between Lechmere/the CP/Community College to the one that's in the park area. The black paved bike path in the photos connected behind the viaduct to the sidewalk on one side, and on the other side goes alongside the undeveloped parcel to the main entrance to CX.

Another cool feature is they did brickwork that shows where the tracks to Lechmere used to go. This compliments the black elevated sections that they kept in place and sort of shows you what they actually mean.
 
stick n move said:
The park really is amazing, especially when the ponds are filled up. The use of so much elevation was a great idea for making it able to block out the city around it better. Truly is a little oasis.
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Link
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I agree, it IS as vey lovely park…..but not much “city” around it to “block out”. THAT is the tragedy of Cambridge Crossing. It is so close to both North Station and Kendall Square, yet they built it as if it were Burlington, MA. There is very little urban activation here, low pedestrian, low ground floor retail/restaurant, etc. Human-wise, it is a dead zone. Given its advantaged location, that is a sin.

I’ve been there over a dozen times the past three years and it’s always the same. Your excellent picture above is illustrative of that fact.
 
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