Chelsea Infill and Small Developments

Yeah this thread should be for Chelsea developments, as there is a dedicated thread for SL to Chelsea.
 
Does Chelsea have potential of becoming another Charlestown? Driving thru the area the other day and I actually thought downtown Chelsea has some nice Building Structures (BONES to be a very cool area)

Any thoughts from the Gurus on this board?
 
People have been talking about a Chelsea renaissance for years and it never seems to come. Connectivity is the I think the issue that's keeping it where it is. Maybe the Silver Line extension will help with this, and if it ever gets a real light-rail Urban Ring. Having real rapid-transit-like service to downtown is what Chelsea needs. It will, in my judgement, always be on the cusp of "up-and-coming" but never quite there until transportation improves.
 
I doubt it will improve much unless it gets better walking/cycling access and I can't see how this is possible. Even East Boston - much closer to downtown - feels cut off and held back as a result. Transit just isn't enough, you need a more flexible form of non-auto mobility. This kinda thing keeps hipster types out and as much as they are hated they are the telltale sign of a neighborhood revival, especially for a place like Chelsea with it's incredible "bones".
 
A few participants here who seem on the younger more hipsterish side (looking at you Datadyne, amirte?) have either talked about having recently moved or are soon to be moving to Chelsea.

I seem to recall a year-round ferry is being planned, most likely would connect with the area with the best bones. Not sure if this is an extension of the Navy Yard ferry route or something different. That would probably be a lot more useful to people than the CR and more pleasant than the bus.

Cycling would seem pretty roundabout and dangerous, if not impossible. I've recently come to think that Chelsea would blow up with hipsters given a small ped/cycling drawbridge right adjacent to the Tobin - from Broadway in Chelsea to Chelsea Street in Charlestown. That would put downtown Chelsea as close to downtown Boston in cycling distance as JP is. And, the newish ped bridge from Paul Revere Park to Northpoint would put Kendall in easy cycling range also.

(I also know yuppies who live in Eastie. One in particular loves it - she works in the Financial District and can take the BL one stop at lunch to walk her dogs at home by Maverick.)
 
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Yes indeed. My husband and I moved to One Webster in Chelsea in July. We're definitely not hipsters though, young professionals is more like it and that is what Chelsea is being marketed as. A car is pretty much an absolute must here still and I'm grateful that he can drive me to Maverick in the morning and pick me up in the evening 3 of 5 nights instead of taking the ridiculous 116/117 (see driven by customer service thread). We drive over to the Shops at Suffolk Downs to get our groceries at Stop & Shop and whatever else at Target. There's nothing you can walk to here. Parkway Plaza has no decent grocery store. (Edited)

As has been said, Chelsea has been on the cusp of revolution for years upon years. "Luxury" housing continues to be built and it rents slowly even at the great prices ($1360 for our 1br with all the luxury amenities and finishes, compare to our old place on Mission Hill for $1700 and was so substandard). The thing that is holding Chelsea back is transit. It's a complete black hole for proper transit given the enormous number of people here that use and want it. If you work up north or whatever and you drive to work, Chelsea's a great place. It's not so great of a place if you work downtown and have to rely on transit to get you there. The 111 express to Haymarket via Tobin from Bellingham isn't too shabby, but the problem is that all this housing is not being built very close to there and is focused on Webster Ave, Parkway Plaza (Chelsea Place & Parkside Commons), Spencer Ave (Spencer Lofts), etc.
 
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Parkway Plaza has a Save-a-lot, but ya, it is a sucky grocery store.
 
I'd say that much of Chelsea is a one car town, and by that I mean that most folks only need one car (if that) per household. It's not like you're living in the burbs (as I now do) where each adult is dependent on an automobile each day. As for grocery stores - you pretty much need a car no matter where you are at, unless you shop each day. I've never found grocery stores to be a problem in Chelsea. Market Basket, the Everett S&S, and the East Boston Shaw's, were all just minutes away.

As for transit, a gondola run alongside the Tobin to the Navy Yard (as they have in NYC) would do wonders for attracting folks to the area. However, Chelsea has some pretty big problems that just aren't going away...and the list is pretty long. Numerous massive tanks storing various kinds of fuel in Chelsea and neighboring Everett and East Boston, massive road salt piles, proximity to the Everett Power Plant and it's surrounding industries, Rt. 1 running like a snake through it's center, and Logan Airport to name a few.

The smells and sounds all get to you after a while. There are nights when they fill the gas tanks by the yacht club when the entire neighborhood smells like gasoline. Add to that low-tide, the soup factory, the sausage factory...there is a reason for all the jokes.

Could the city ban registering ICM vehicles Chelsea, or is this only something that states and the feds can do?
 
nico said:
As for transit, a gondola run alongside the Tobin to the Navy Yard (as they have in NYC) would do wonders for attracting folks to the area.
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Would the gondola run 24 hours a day? Cause that's the only way I see this making a difference. This isn't specific to Chelsea but I really wish people would get out of the mindset that transit is going to help revitalize neighborhoods. This isn't NYC with 24-7 access, people need to be able to come and go as they please in order to desire living somewhere. Nobody wants to sit around waiting 20 minutes for a train outside of normal commuter hours. I realize the situation is more dire in Chelsea but East Boston has a direct heavy rail link downtown - the best transit you can get - and it's still not exactly "exploding". Pedestrian/Bike bridges are pretty much the only hope these neighborhoods have to reach their potential, though I doubt that will ever happen.
 
Parts of Roxbury have had Orange Line service for decades and are still empty, trash-strewn fields. That effect is hardly restricted to East Boston.
 
Pixels, while transit is not a panacea, i'm not sure why you would say that transit could not help revitalize neighborhoods.
 
So Basically Chelsea is not worth the investment.

East Boston (Maverick Square) is awesome. They have the best view of the city.
Blue Line access right in the square.

I'm not sure how much upside real estate has anymore but E. Boston really has potential.
 
Maverick square definitely has potential...just needs the right mix of retail and better clientele...which is still a ways off...it'll be interesting to see what happens once those new waterfront developments are finished.

Chelsea will never be a desirable place to live in my opinion...the silver line will help with accessibility which is important for the area given how crowded the current buses are from haymarket but it will never be a hot area.
 
TheRifleman said:
So Basically Chelsea is not worth the investment.

East Boston (Maverick Square) is awesome. They have the best view of the city.
Blue Line access right in the square.

I'm not sure how much upside real estate has anymore but E. Boston really has potential.
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East Boston is actually improving a lot. From my recent visits there it feels more and more like South Boston did a few years ago.

The biggest problems with East Boston are that there are no bike/pedestrian connections downtown without going 3 miles out of the way through Chelsea and Everett, which is unacceptable to many people. Also, that major employment/activity centers such as Cambridge are a 3 seat ride away, making it feel even more isolated.

The major problem in Roxbury is crime.

The major problem in Chelsea is lack of rapid transit.

To say the Blue Line hasn't made East Boston successful is to ignore bike/pedestrian connectivity and the fact that the lack of Blue/Red connector keeps them isolated even in public transit.

To say the Orange Line hasn't made Roxbury successful is to ignore the crime that keeps people from beginning the gentrification problem.

Chelsea can easily become a trendy area with the right investments in public transit. This includes the Blue/Red connector which would immediately improve East Boston, Revere and yes Chelsea.
 
Chelsea doesn't need to be a hot development hipster boom town. It has some industry, access to other areas of Everett, Somerville, Eastie. It needs some better connections to Boston so people can have access to even better jobs. There is nothing wrong with a city being a strong working, satellite city with some good services (restaurants, bars), safe streets, and solid schools. If anything, Greater Boston needs more areas like chelsea in order to make sure it doesn't become a rich-poor split.
 
bigeman312 said:
To say the Orange Line hasn't made Roxbury successful is to ignore the crime that keeps people from beginning the gentrification problem.

.
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I think the biggest problem that Roxbury has is that after you cross Mass Ave you basically have a 1/2 mile consisting of public housing, vacant lots, active industry and Melnea Cass Boulevard. If the gap between Dudley Square/Fort Hill/Mount Pleasant was still filled in with brick row houses, I imagine that Dudley would already be gentrified (or well on its way). To me its the fact that gentrification has to leapfrog a 1/2 mile wide dead zone rather than crime that keeps the area from changing.
 
Is it safe to say that east Boston will never have a true bike/pedestrian connection to downtown?
 
belmont square said:
I think the biggest problem that Roxbury has is that after you cross Mass Ave you basically have a 1/2 mile consisting of public housing, vacant lots, active industry and Melnea Cass Boulevard. If the gap between Dudley Square/Fort Hill/Mount Pleasant was still filled in with brick row houses, I imagine that Dudley would already be gentrified (or well on its way). To me its the fact that gentrification has to leapfrog a 1/2 mile wide dead zone rather than crime that keeps the area from changing.
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I tend to agree with this analysis. Has anyone seen the "Favored quarter" theory of cities? Gentrification and development tend to follow corridors and "add on" to each other rather than just start up somewhere equidistant to the core, but in a different direction.

And it makes sense. If your'e investing your hard earned dollars in a marginal area - you want that area to at least be right next to nice areas, and not isolated from them. Geography of course plays a huge role.

Somerville has een going down this road. Gentrification started around Porter/Davis and is marching through Winter Hill and East Somerville now.

JP is the same way, going south from Longwood.

South Boston finally gentrified, and it's next to freaking downtown. But it is/was isolated by a sea of parking lots, industrial uses, and highways. Now what are we seeing? Yup - Dorchester will be the next to gentrify, following down that corridor, specifically Savin Hill.

Yes, eventually we'll see pioneers start to invade Eastie. But that will be a much, much slower process and I wouldn't expect to see that happen within the decade. It doesn't really build off of anything, and has to begin from scratch.

This is pretty far off topic from Chelsea, but I suppose it helps explain just why it's so far behind compared to comparable areas.
 
617 said:
Is it safe to say that east Boston will never have a true bike/pedestrian connection to downtown?
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The majority on this board have identify the main problem is Rapid Transit for these areas to really explode. It would also give people more options and possibly lower rents to become more affordable for the Grads, Working & Educated class. (This would help Boston keep these bright individuals from leaving)

Has anybody proposed building a overlapping bridge with both Bike/Pedistrian connection to offer a connection to E.Boston - DTX?

MBTA rapid transit is becoming very outdated for this major city. I still enjoy riding the red-line and it does seem efficient. Orange Line continues to break down alot.
 
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