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

The louvers remind me of the Harvard science building. How are they gonna clean the glass? (I am oddly preoccupied by this.)
 
These are such beautifully designed open spaces. I know many of us somewhat jokingly complain about all the open spaces, parks, and parklets that Cambridge insists on, but then Covid happened. Post-Covid, these spaces will be among the most popular in the area. Open spaces in the future will be in great demand, and frankly, it's these types of spaces that will help draw people back into city living.
 
atlantaden said:
These are such beautifully designed open spaces. I know many of us somewhat jokingly complain about all the open spaces, parks, and parklets that Cambridge insists on, but then Covid happened. Post-Covid, these spaces will be among the most popular in the area. Open spaces in the future will be in great demand, and frankly, it's these types of spaces that will help draw people back into city living.
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They are beautifully designed open spaces and they will see lots of use. I walk through here frequently and enjoy it. The issue with CX isn't the open space, but the way all of the comparably much larger lab/industrial square footage surrounding it engages with the open space (which, suffice to say, is barely at all - at least not yet, or soon). I disagree that these open spaces themselves will draw people back into city living. You can find enjoyable outdoor spaces in a lot of places. What draws people to cities is the integral fabric of such nice public spaces plus the various cultural, arts, dining, collaborative, creative, innovative spaces that surround them. The value proposition of cities aren't its parks; rather it's everything else - but, if you asked Frederick Law Olmstead, he'd say that the "everything else," alone, denies us our fundamental need for connection to nature, so the open spaces are brought in to resolve that.

In the early days of Covid and remote work, young families left cities to resolve a fundamental tension between urban professional careers and raising kids. If all of the "everything else" of cities is shut down, then the urban/suburban benefit (for some) swung in favor of the possibility of having one's own back yard with a swing set. It's the "everything else" that will need to come back in order to get these urban expats back to cities, not the parks. The parks are a necessary but insufficient feature.
 
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@BeeLine : Thanks for the great shots. Although I live here, I appreciate seeing how comfortable this area has become through someone else's eyes (I bought the year before Lot N became Twenty|20).

With somewhere between 150 - 200 images that I couldn't make time to cull, edit, load, and explain, I stopped trying to publish progress across all of the CX subforums and (mainly) now just shoot time lapses of DivCo's construction and otherwise enjoy the community's growth without the thought of posting workflow in my mind.

@atlantaden : You nailed it. For those who don't live in a community, it is easy - fashionable, even - to criticize height, open space, cladding, color, arrangement, and architectural value. And - hopefully, often - those characteristics have eminent value realized across projects. Not all developments win on all accounts (I would love to have seen a marquee, eclectic building here, towering above everything...but that wouldn't *really* fit the neighborhood). Moving here meant the promise of open space, developing urban fabric, city amenities outside my door, and great entertainment minutes away. Of the units that have sold in our buildings, those with a park view are nearer the $900 - $1,000/ft^2 price tag than the few units with unobstructed city views.

With respect to our "Central Common", last evening saw an attendance season high: nearly 40 people and 30 doggos. Geppetto's has been doing very well, if its packed, spaced, patio is an indicator, Tatte looks to open in the next month, and even Twenty|20 has finally added some semblance of retail: now sponsoring a semi regular coffee/juice bar pop up.

atlantaden said:
These are such beautifully designed open spaces. I know many of us somewhat jokingly complain about all the open spaces, parks, and parklets that Cambridge insists on, but then Covid happened. Post-Covid, these spaces will be among the most popular in the area. Open spaces in the future will be in great demand, and frankly, it's these types of spaces that will help draw people back into city living.
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@HarvardP : They might clean Lot H's windows the same way they have cleaned Lot JK's windows this week - two (assignable) davit arms holding one gent with kit in an attached pack. They're doing it right now, in fact.

JK doesn't have a roof car suspension system (I don't know if H will), and I haven't seen a suspended stage affixed to the davits since the building's completion.

HarvardP said:
The louvers remind me of the Harvard science building. How are they gonna clean the glass? (I am oddly preoccupied by this.)
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ivy, the park came out beautifully. No taking away from that - it's one of the better designed/executed parks I've seen recently. The critical voices on this thread, though, can't simply be lumped into one category of height fetishists who don't live nearby and throw stones from afar. Others do live nearby, don't care much about height, yet want to keep pressuring the city of cambridge to uphold high standards in terms of the layout, diversity (including height diversity), street presence of the commercial building portion of developments like this. For instance: the city is going through a similar process again nearby at Volpe. I think it's fair to have a constructive dialog with the city about "what can we learn" from experiences like CX. CX has a lot of promise, but decisions surrounding the commercial buildings weren't perfect and we should be able to talk about how the city can/should expect better. Though I would guess my commentary isn't your favorite on this thread, note that I've said many times upthread that I am rooting for CX. It's not done yet, and some of the remaining facades and street-levels can enrich what's here and make it better. I want to be pleasantly surprised about what's yet to come.
 
ivyhedge said:
@HarvardP : They might clean Lot H's windows the same way they have cleaned Lot JK's windows this week - two (assignable) davit arms holding one gent with kit in an attached pack. They're doing it right now, in fact.

JK doesn't have a roof car suspension system (I don't know if H will), and I haven't seen a suspended stage affixed to the davits since the building's completion.
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Thanks, I appreciate the info!
 
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