Cambridge Infill and Small Developments

[Matthew]

I think Brad may have put it a bit roughly. The old development paradigm most certainly meant pain and suffering for people. It just so happened that the people who got screwed by the old rules were those not inside of motor vehicles (and therefore, often the folks with the least power and money).

Changing some regulations in order to give people on foot more respect, dignity, and better treatment is not creating "suffering for the stupid, vain, and wicked" and it is not "utopianism." It's just being humane. You should know better, itchy.

 

[Brad Plaid]

S'matter Itch? Rough day?
One point of society would be policy making that does the most good for the largest number of people. It'll never be perfect or fair to everyone but what else realistically can be done. Something is broken in a process that deliberately prevents maximizing the basic human right of housing in a housing-short city in favor of minimizing the impact on traffic and parking. Very broken.

Something will have to be done about cars and cities at some point in the future. We can all come together now and figure out something relatively benign or something drastic will be forced on all of us later and no one will be happy. Your choice.

 

[shmessy]

Put me down as in agreement with Brad.

If Itchy feels his idea would be harsh on drivers, the last 60 years have seen active government planning that was harsh on pedestrians.

A city should be a lively urban scene - - not an asphalt wasteland. That doesn't just pertain to roads versus sidewalks, but also to Scollay Squares versus Government Centers. Buildings should invite life, not say "go away!".

What I see in NorthPoint right now are Rte 128 like buildings with little or no vitality at the ground floor level.

 

[pixelsand8]

^No disrespect but the benefit of all of them being towers would, obviously, have been more land available for more construction. Alewife is the Red Line terminus and a no-brainer for lots of density. The units underway now are a good start but only a start and Fresh Pond Mall is ripe for a total overhaul to accommodate the needs of many, many new residents (including housing above the stores and parking garages instead of surface parking lots.)

It is beyond time for an American evolution away from the car in urban areas and away from development schemes that favor them rather than pedestrians. If this means pain for drivers who refuse to change their mindsets and insist on "personal travel pods" no matter the cost (government subsidies of road construction, environmental degradation, commuting hell, etc.) then so be it. No sympathy, let them choke on their own exhaust in the endless traffic they are causing themselves until some kind of common sense kicks in.

I'm as pro height/density as anybody, but let's be realistic. Alewife is not going to turn into a mini Hong Kong residential transit hub with towers on every buildable plot of land. Cambridge NIMBY's threw a fit at a 14 story proposal in Central Square, a much more urban area. They are throwing a fit at actually using a tower that's already been built in East Cambridge. They are throwing a fit at the landscrapers being built in Alewife as is. Can you imagine what would happen if clusters of towers started getting proposed at the same rate these low rise apartments are? What's being built might not be the most ideal form of urbanism but I do think it's better than nothing. At least when it's all finished and occupied there might be some semblance of a neighborhood that people live in rather than just travel through and shop at.

Something will have to be done about cars and cities at some point in the future. We can all come together now and figure out something relatively benign or something drastic will be forced on all of us later and no one will be happy. Your choice.

It will take several decades but the self driving car will eventually be implemented and this will eliminate the need for parking, since ownership will likely decrease to keep the cars in circulation. When not in use they can park on the street for ready access, or in garages way on the outskirts of town they can drive themselves to. That will open up all the parking lots and garages that currently take up so much space so residential towers can be built.

 

[SeamusMcFly]

It will take several decades but the self driving car will eventually be implemented and this will eliminate the need for parking, since ownership will likely decrease to keep the cars in circulation. When not in use they can park on the street for ready access, or in garages way on the outskirts of town they can drive themselves to. That will open up all the parking lots and garages that currently take up so much space so residential towers can be built.

But, the personal teleportation device will quickly be the demise of the self driving car.... but first we will have to suffer through years of the skyway being jammed up after Goldie Wilson IV's hover conversion revolution.

 

[pixelsand8]

But, the personal teleportation device will quickly be the demise of the self driving car.... but first we will have to suffer through years of the skyway being jammed up after Goldie Wilson IV's hover conversion revolution.

I know you are being a smartass but teleportation technology is nowhere near plausible while self driving cars actually exist and are driving on the roads of California every day.

That said, if people are upset about whats going on with Cambridge development, tonight there is a chance to let somebody know, at least in regards to ten specific spots;

http://www.cambridgeday.com/2014/03...ra-what-projects-to-focus-on-in-coming-years/

edit - never mind, a day late. But I still think it's possible to give feedback online.

http://www.courbanize.com/cambridge/cambridge-redevelopment-authority-strategic-plan/

 

[AmericanFolkLegend]

I wish Seamus would start a thread where he just posts awesome 1980's movie references. Cracks me up every time.

 

[SeamusMcFly]

Please do not tempt me..... but, glad you enjoy.
I figure, if a thread is going to be derailed by devolving into a repeated argument, the least I can do is lighten it up a bit.

Also, I agreed with Brad about 80%. Less forceful, and based a bit more in reality, I'd be on 100%.

I don't know enough about West Cambridge, but just looking at it, I'd expect a little bit less neighborhood opposition that in the other areas mentioned. There are a couple high rises already over there setting the precedent. It just seems a very disjointed area as is, and some connections are needed. Being a major residential center at the terminus of the Red Line sounds like a good plan to me.

 

[pixelsand8]

I don't know enough about West Cambridge, but just looking at it, I'd expect a little bit less neighborhood opposition that in the other areas mentioned. There are a couple high rises already over there setting the precedent. It just seems a very disjointed area as is, and some connections are needed. Being a major residential center at the terminus of the Red Line sounds like a good plan to me.

While this might seem like the case, residents of both West and North Cambridge travel through Alewife frequently and are very worried about traffic. I see leaflets going up all the time against development. Both of these neighborhoods are pretty wealthy - West Cambridge is essentially the city's mansion district. So I would imagine these residents have considerable clout. The high rises were built a long time ago and are now public housing for the poor. They might now be seen as a relic of a failed earlier redevelopment model. I believe a lot of upzoning has been going on all over Cambridge to accommodate new development, which has many groups up in arms. Forget 20 story high rises, we are talking about 4-5 story stuff along Mass Ave north of Porter and of course Alewife. Here are a couple groups with sites laying out their positions;

http://northcambridge.net/

http://www.cambridgeresidentsalliance.org/

Now personally I'm all for density/height/TOD and more/better walking/biking facilities as priorities before addressing car traffic issues. But I'm realistic about what will be allowed to happen here, given the opposition.

 

[Ron Newman]

There's a large amount of empty land between Alewife Station and Russell Field, which should either be developed or turned into publicly accessible parkland instead of just sitting vacant and fenced off. (It does not appear to be wetland.)

 

[pixelsand8]

There's a large amount of empty land between Alewife Station and Russell Field, which should either be developed or turned into publicly accessible parkland instead of just sitting vacant and fenced off. (It does not appear to be wetland.)

It might not be a wetland but there is a chemical company nearby which I think has had some issues in the past. Will have to research more, quick googling brings up this site;

http://www.alewife.org/

 

[FitchburgLine]

@The comment about Alewife/Fresh Pond NIMBYs, see this website:
http://freshpondresidents.org/
for a good collection of ordinary "carpocalypse" NIMBYism, mixed in with some fears over "innapropriate density" (over four story buildings), and, bizarrely, concerns that the new developments don't include enough parking.
EDIT: They also provide this interesting map of new development in the general area.

 

[Equilibria]

^No disrespect but the benefit of all of them being towers would, obviously, have been more land available for more construction. Alewife is the Red Line terminus and a no-brainer for lots of density. The units underway now are a good start but only a start and Fresh Pond Mall is ripe for a total overhaul to accommodate the needs of many, many new residents (including housing above the stores and parking garages instead of surface parking lots.)

You're right about this and Cambridge is already planning to do it. The problem is that every plan I've seen for Alewife (and I work there, so I'm invested) makes references to "easy access to the Alewife Red Line Station" without actually noting that Alewife may be the least pedestrian accessible station in the MBTA.

First you have large scale access - getting there from where you are. If you happen to be along CambridgePark drive or toward Davis Square, great. Otherwise, you have a pretty impenetrable barrier between you and the station. The city plans have had a few bridges/tunnels in them to cross the RR tracks, but they're pretty pathetic - the western one would end in the parking garage of an office park and you'd have to go down it's stairwell to get out.

Then you have the station itself. It's fine from the Eastern approach, but from the parking garage side? There's 4 western entrances to Alewife. Three of them are dreary ramps which are so poorly designed that the station was flooded for weeks in February as melting snow flowed down them. Of those, one puts you in the bus station, one spits you out down the block from where you want to be, and the last one deposits you in the parking garage with driveways on all sides, crosswalk free! I'm serious - try it. Walk due West out of Alewife like you want to go to CP Drive and you'll find yourself on an inescapable island in a sea of traffic.

I realize that the parking garage fills up and that it serves a pretty important purpose for park-and-ride folks (which would be better filled by extending the Red Line to 128 to distribute the load, but...), but you can't build a proper transit oriented neighborhood around a station no one on foot can get to.

One solution might be stealing a sliver of the garage (replaced by adding levels to the structure elsewhere) and building a true retail concourse from the corner of CPD and the Access Road (GIVE THESE BETTER NAMES) out to Fresh Pond Parkway. Then, you could redevelop the plot across CPD and link it with a skybridge (which are typically bad but here allows for all the necessary turning lanes. Stick a real grocery store (not a WF or TJ), a Walgreens in there along with restaurants to serve all your new residents.

Like this (yellow = circulation, red = 3-5 story retail, pink = 1 story retail under parking, blue = parking garage):

Unlike the "shopping center" concept Cambridge has covering the current Fresh Pond Mall, you might actually take some cars OFF the road by building the retail as a part of the station, and the facadectomy on the parking garage would do wonders for the whole area.

 

[vanshnookenraggen]

The whole of the Alewife area needs a New Urbanist master plan. What Equilibria is proposing is a good first step but more needs to be done. What I don't understand is why doesn't Cambridge do more with the parks that are there to better connect the areas around them. Russells Field/Jerry's Pond does more to separate the area than connect it, which is ironic because you have two bike/pedestrian paths running through it as well as an entrance to the Red Line station.

While at this point it might be too late to save the office park layouts west of the station you could still do more to integrate them into a walkable neighborhood with new connections though the Alewife Reservation.

The whole area seems cobbled together with planning afterthoughts. Every development is like an island out there. The industrial and low density commercial history of the area doesn't help at all. Cambridge needs to take a look at Assembly Sq for inspiration (though I think you could have a higher density at Alewife).

 

[HalcyonEra]

The whole of the Alewife area needs a New Urbanist master plan. What Equilibria is proposing is a good first step but more needs to be done. What I don't understand is why doesn't Cambridge do more with the parks that are there to better connect the areas around them. Russells Field/Jerry's Pond does more to separate the area than connect it, which is ironic because you have two bike/pedestrian paths running through it as well as an entrance to the Red Line station.

While at this point it might be too late to save the office park layouts west of the station you could still do more to integrate them into a walkable neighborhood with new connections though the Alewife Reservation.

The whole area seems cobbled together with planning afterthoughts. Every development is like an island out there. The industrial and low density commercial history of the area doesn't help at all. Cambridge needs to take a look at Assembly Sq for inspiration (though I think you could have a higher density at Alewife).

The problem with Cambridge is the same as it has been for a long time. There is zero unification within the city itself, look no further than the government structure for exhibit A. What you have is a bunch a little fifedoms, led by the resident nimby's, who so long as they get what they want, don't give a shit about the effect of their actions in other areas, so long as they get theirs. I find most of these people to be the most condescending, narrow minded, selfish and hypocritical souls I have ever encountered.

 

[pixelsand8]

Horrible picture, but this is on Pacific St (the new building is in the background, between Sidney and Brookline).

A few better pics;

Walking around this area in this weather is awful due to the wind tunnels from University Park. My hands kept going numb.

 

[pixelsand8]

Not sure when this was completed just north of Inman Square, but I like it;

 

[pixelsand8]

Sorta kinda seeing the "waterfall" start to take shape;

 

[DZH22]

From last weekend

 

[datadyne007]

Yay space frame going up on EF!