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

I don't get the negative comments regarding this development. I think this area is superior to almost any block of the Seaport district that is not directly on the ocean. This was, after all, a no-man's-land for decades, with little nearby residential possibilities. It's surrounded by highways and tracks and thus isolated from Cambridge and Somerville. It seems to me to be just another isolated ready-made neighborhood, like Station Landing, only much larger and more diverse. Will people actually drive to this area to hang out or is it being designed primarily for those who already live/work there? Who knows. I've already given up on looking for unique retail experiences or a quiet place to converse that has decent and affordable food, and is not another bar/tavern. Aside from that I can't see how this development won't eventually weave itself into what we already find across the street, as we walk toward Kendall Sq., which is a far more unfriendly place than even the Seaport, if that's possible. The only way to duplicate the charm of downtown Boston and its closest contiguous neighborhoods, is to wait 400 years for it to develop organically. Every new section that has proven to be successful has been so primarily because it's been cheek-by-jowl with the fabric of central Boston.
 
Proposed Lechmere Station plaza designs. "With a relocated Lechmere green line T stop the next big step for the Cambridge Crossing neighborhood, developers are looking to move up work on the surrounding parcels so riders get a more attractive welcome. (Developer DivcoWest also offers a peek at the surrounding plaza, which renderings struggle to make charming under a giant, Gotham-esque viaduct.)"-CambridgeDay

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LOL, 'Gotham-esque viaduct'... so dramatic. At least it's not as bad as ALL THE SPANS for I-93 in the South End. :rolleyes:
 
I think what annoys me the most about the super blocks of Kendall and North Point, as compared to the Seaport, is that these areas aren't beholden to the same strict FAA height limits. Height variation IS possible. Going tall here (in fact, even taller than Boston can go) IS possible. It's bad enough they want to extend an even stumpier Seaport-model into transit starved Suffolk Downs. North Point and Volpe are unbelievable opportunities to go big and bold, and it isn't going to happen. I knew North Point would be a disappointment as soon as Divco West became the primary developer. All you have to do is look at their San Francisco portfolio. All they know how to build are blobs that are wider than they are tall. It manages to be both overbearing and wholly uninspiring all at once.
 
But if they went tall, they'd be menacingly imposing over North Cambridge and you'd cast shadows over the Commuter Rail maintenance facility and maybe even the highway! :eek:

/sarcasm
 
probably a small point but, given that this development will link the Green line bike path to the charles river bike path, why don't they have protected bike lanes running north/south. It seems like they are making tons of accommodations for bikes but missing the obvious one.
 
ivyhedge said:
Interesting thought, BM.

I lived in NoVA for many years before moving to CX 6+ years ago. While Pentagon City, Shirlington, and Ballston weren’t exemplars of high architecture, I find much of what’s in, and around, CX/East Kendall (Avalon scheisse excepted) to be of relatively high quality, at least in the bones, and generally better than what I experienced going up in NoVA in the $0.8-$1.1m range. Granted, I’m a bit out of date now but while this is somewhat corporate, it’s quite what folks here want, that is, if I’m correctly interpreting our annual surveys. And with portions of The Common reopening soon, it’s like DivCo gets to serve us something new...again.

...doesn’t mean it can’t be better, though...
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One of the buildings is to be Phillips NA HQ and R&D -- they probably want it to look fairly nice
The other buildings under construction so far are for Sanofi with a Million sq ft -- housing about 2,000 top-level for R&D -- again I suspect that the company would like something to appeal to the kind of people who can chose to work anywhere

These and the New Google in Kendall and the new Amazon in South Boston Seaport are not created out of thin air -- the company for whom the building is being constructed obviously gets to put in its 10 B cents worth
 
Its an improvement from the existing office towers in kendall. Here theyre putting retail in every base to make it so theres no dead zones. Cambridge needs lots of office space and tall office towers really arent whats being built that much anymore, so this is what you get. Makes sense that the residential is the tallest tower. It could always be better, but its not bad, at least in my opinion. Well see how it looks when its finished.
 
guitarguynboston said:
Wasn't really sure where to post these. These shot are from 10/17 while riding into North Station on the Fitchburg/Wachusett Line. Don't mind the glare on some of them

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guitarguynboston -- that set of pix -- while obviously shot from a moving platform, etc., -- provides a unique perspective on all the Northpoint-area construction from several eras ==> not seen from any other vantage point
 
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