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

NHMaples said:
Multiple intersections with significant cross streets suggest that there will be a fair amount of pedestrian traffic, certainly enough to warrant these well-designed concrete walkways channeled through green living space with what appears to be a bike stand. Judging by the height of surrounding buildings, it's unlikely a larger structure would make any sense here. If you are going to make room for an open city square to let in light and to provide people on foot the chance to appreciate the scale of their surroundings, this seems like an appropriate spot.
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Plazas can be great, this ain't that. It's a glorified median. If we want a plaza, all of the surrounding roadways need a diet. Then we could have a really nice, large, public space.
 
HenryAlan said:
Missed opportunity for a marquis flat iron.
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At that site size, is a flatiron marketable? With elevators I'm not sure how much floor space it could possibly have. It could probably only accommodate 1 or maybe 2 units per floor.

Plazas can be great, this ain't that. It's a glorified median. If we want a plaza, all of the surrounding roadways need a diet. Then we could have a really nice, large, public space.
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You say glorified median, others could say "nicer refuge area to wait for the pedestrian signal".

Of course, I wanted to put the Live Long and Prosper statue here and rename the place "Nimoy Square", but no one listened to me...
 
Equilibria said:
You say glorified median, others could say "nicer refuge area to wait for the pedestrian signal".
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It's true that the old Lechmere incline to the EL structure had a pedestrian tunnel through it...but, trust me, you really didn't want to spend much time in that tunnel
 
With the First St extension, there is no reason Cambridge St has to tie through to O'Brien Hwy. They should block off Cambridge St there, but still provide a small driveway for the building alongside it. thus expanding the new park and eliminating some of the roadway overbuild:

52811697898_8863a0d2f5_z.jpg
 
Charlie_mta said:
With the First St extension, there is no reason Cambridge St has to tie through to O'Brien Hwy. They should block off Cambridge St there, but still provide a small driveway for the building alongside it. thus expanding the new park and eliminating some of the roadway overbuild:

52811697898_8863a0d2f5_z.jpg
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This is a great visualization. Honestly the building with the driveway should be redeveloped, it's ugly and seems to have given up on interacting with its environment. A crappy glass paneled 5 over 1 with no parking would be better than what we have now. Not positive it is even in use besides as a parking garage.

Entering god mode building pitches: I know we need stormwater retention, but as far as what I'd do with the parcel, I'd keep a smaller version of the connector as ped access, with the flatiron building going over it
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This lets you keep the massing of a real flatiron building and preserves the old road layout. Yellow is public access, blue is road
 
Longfellow said:
building with the driveway should be redeveloped
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That garage already has 2 entrances so theres no reason for that driveway at all.

I do think the Cambridge street intersection sucks with long cross-traffic intersection patterns, so a cleaned up left turn at First street makes sense.
 
bigpicture7 said:
It's true that the old Lechmere incline to the EL structure had a pedestrian tunnel through it...but, trust me, you really didn't want to spend much time in that tunnel
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I didn't mean that to denigrate it. Refuge areas are important pedestrian infrastructure.

Charlie_mta said:
With the First St extension, there is no reason Cambridge St has to tie through to O'Brien Hwy. They should block off Cambridge St there, but still provide a small driveway for the building alongside it. thus expanding the new park and eliminating some of the roadway overbuild:

52811697898_8863a0d2f5_z.jpg
Click to expand...

Honestly, I'm not quite seeing the benefit here - the park area isn't even doubled and I don't feel like direct access from that sidewalk is worth very much.
 
Equilibria said:
I didn't mean that to denigrate it. Refuge areas are important pedestrian infrastructure.
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No I gotcha (and agree), my point is that there seems to be a vibe among some posters that this "park" is some kind of downgrade from what was there, and I am just pointing out that what was there was pretty gross. A dark, smelly tunnel with a 6.5' ceiling and a rat trap.
 
Equilibria said:
I didn't mean that to denigrate it. Refuge areas are important pedestrian infrastructure.



Honestly, I'm not quite seeing the benefit here - the park area isn't even doubled and I don't feel like direct access from that sidewalk is worth very much.
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Instead of the park being the glorified traffic island it is now, it becomes a contiguous part of the adjoining block, not surrounded by traffic, making it friendlier for pedestrians and bicyclists.
If the small driveway I drew in can also be eliminated, then it becomes an even better, bigger park.
 
Longfellow said:
This is a great visualization. Honestly the building with the driveway should be redeveloped, it's ugly and seems to have given up on interacting with its environment. A crappy glass paneled 5 over 1 with no parking would be better than what we have now. Not positive it is even in use besides as a parking garage.

Entering god mode building pitches: I know we need stormwater retention, but as far as what I'd do with the parcel, I'd keep a smaller version of the connector as ped access, with the flatiron building going over it View attachment 50919View attachment 50921

This lets you keep the massing of a real flatiron building and preserves the old road layout. Yellow is public access, blue is road
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I like it. It would be a great entrance to East Cambridge.
 
Apologies for nudging this discussion even further from "Cambridge Crossing" Development, though given the magnitude of that overall development, I feel that the surrounding streetscape and environs we've been commenting on should be at least somewhat in-bounds:

I love the idea of the Nimoy tribute/statue here or nearby, but as we move further away from the West End (where he's from) and the MoS (connection to space exploration), it starts to dilute the connection between such a Nimoy tribute and the relevant places, IMO. However, I think there's a clear reason for that, which is that the stretch of roadway and sidewalk paralleling the MoS' hideous parking garage makes it feel like this Cambridge St./O'Brien intersection is lightyears from Nimoy's neighborhood, whereas in reality it's basically right next to it.

That stretch of Charles River Dam Rd that connects to the O'Brien and parallels the MoS garage is a pedestrian hellscape, made worse by the adjacent awful intersection connecting the Gilmore bridge that is always backed up. You've got a brick-walled fortress of a garage and an abandoned tumbleweed-filled garage ramp destroying any sense of neighborhood/streetwall. As a ped or cyclist, you just wanted to get through there asap.

I wish someone would either nuke the garage, or at least gut the first level, demo the unused ramps, and put some kind of linear park or set of retail storefronts along Charles River Dam road between the O'Brien and main entrance to the museum. Otherwise there's a pedestrian gulf between the West End/Museum and the intersection we've been talking about.
 
bigpicture7 said:
Apologies for nudging this discussion even further from "Cambridge Crossing" Development, though given the magnitude of that overall development, I feel that the surrounding streetscape and environs we've been commenting on should be at least somewhat in-bounds:

I love the idea of the Nimoy tribute/statue here or nearby, but as we move further away from the West End (where he's from) and the MoS (connection to space exploration), it starts to dilute the connection between such a Nimoy tribute and the relevant places, IMO. However, I think there's a clear reason for that, which is that the stretch of roadway and sidewalk paralleling the MoS' hideous parking garage makes it feel like this Cambridge St./O'Brien intersection is lightyears from Nimoy's neighborhood, whereas in reality it's basically right next to it.

That stretch of Charles River Dam Rd that connects to the O'Brien and parallels the MoS garage is a pedestrian hellscape, made worse by the adjacent awful intersection connecting the Gilmore bridge that is always backed up. You've got a brick-walled fortress of a garage and an abandoned tumbleweed-filled garage ramp destroying any sense of neighborhood/streetwall. As a ped or cyclist, you just wanted to get through there asap.

I wish someone would either nuke the garage, or at least gut the first level, demo the unused ramps, and put some kind of linear park or set of retail storefronts along Charles River Dam road between the O'Brien and main entrance to the museum. Otherwise there's a pedestrian gulf between the West End/Museum and the intersection we've been talking about.
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Need a ped bike bridge from CX to the jail so we can skip all that. The Parklet by the jail is so nice and so is the CX park with the random office building in the middle. Connect them and the real city can leave the highway behind
 

Cambridge Crossing Parcel R Update​

IMG_0350.jpeg


“DivcoWest is looking to adjust the parking count planned for Cambridge Crossing Block R, 151 Morgan Street. After recently completing Park 151, a primarily residential building including 234 parking spaces, and lease-up has occurred and operations have stabilized, the parking has gone substantially undersubscribed and the garage is underutilized….”

https://www.bldup.com/posts/divcowe...ents-to-advance-151-morgan-cambridge-crossing
 
stick n move said:

Cambridge Crossing Parcel R Update​

View attachment 50969

“DivcoWest is looking to adjust the parking count planned for Cambridge Crossing Block R, 151 Morgan Street. After recently completing Park 151, a primarily residential building including 234 parking spaces, and lease-up has occurred and operations have stabilized, the parking has gone substantially undersubscribed and the garage is underutilized….”

https://www.bldup.com/posts/divcowe...ents-to-advance-151-morgan-cambridge-crossing
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Shame about this design. Looks cheap and boring, could be over in Assembly or anywhere really. It's also the gateway to CX from the T.
 
Ruairi said:
Shame about this design. Looks cheap and boring, could be over in Assembly or anywhere really. It's also the gateway to CX from the T.
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There has been no update to the design yet. The Bldup piece just refers to the fact that DivCo is going back to the planning board with this, as we discussed upthread, given that they may be able to eliminate below-grade parking due to excess parking elsewhere at CX. That board meeting for the proposed requirements changes is scheduled for June 18th. I am assuming we'll see a revised design submitted subsequently if the board approves the changes. Otherwise that render is almost two years old from the initial filing.
 
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