City Hall Discussion - Redevelopment - Preservation - Relocation

Also, I believe Hyde Park was created by breaking off pieces of several surrounding towns.
 
I do know quite a bit about Boston, actually. One of my parents grew up in the Southie projects and later moved out to Mattapan, then lived in Hyde Park for a while.

Dorchester and Roxbury are both what most people in Boston would consider ghettoes. Notice I didn't include Roslindale, Hyde Park, etc - they are relatively okay areas. But Dorchester and Roxbury? I mean, come on. They aren't nice places with pockets of ghettoes, they are ghettoes with pockets of somewhat okay places. And yes, I've been to both places.
 
Very interesting history to DOT. My Grandmother (102% Irish) grew up in Dorchester, and whenever she talks about it she recalls the sent of coca from a nearby mill.

On a side note, I'm reading a book on JFK currently that refers to both DOT and brockton (sp?) as farmland and upscale suburbia, respectively. (19th cent.).
 
Dude...what you're not understanding is that Dorchester is a borough of Boston with many neighborhoods. It's flat wrong to say that Dorchester is a ghetto. You could argue that there are neighborhoods within it that are ghettos. Savin Hill, Ashmont Hill, Lower Mills, Adams Village are all neighborhoods that no longer fit any realistic definition of ghetto. In fact, the bulk of the neighborhood fits no definition of ghetto except the loosest, most arbitrary.

Roxbury, although smaller than Dorchester, also includes multiple neighborhoods and, likewise, has some areas that could be considered ghettos. Although it may be more open to interpretation than Dorchester, I don't think the bulk of Roxbury is a ghetto.

As for your Boston-knowledge credentials, they sound more like one of your parents' Boston-knowledge credentials.
 
The patchwork of neighborhoods is complex. But, getting back to the subject of a possible new location for City Hall...if sufficient land can be found in any one of Boston neighborhoods, there is no reason in my mind not to relocate. The patchwork of neighborhoods is complex, as PerfectHandle states. They are like sets of nesting dolls...within the sections of Dorchester, for example, there are subsections and even groups of streets that constitute neighborhoods. There are sections filled with finely restored Victorian homes, next to areas built up in mid-20th C. There are areas where rental property predominates, next to streets wholly owned by working-class residents, next to 2 and 3 family homes rented out by resident owners, next to condos owned by yuppies. Many buildings are well maintained, some are not. The ethnic and racial mix is even more complicated, due to the infamous "red-lining" performed by certain lending institutions back in the 60s and 70s, which pushed out established groups (such as the Mattapan Jewish population) in order to sell homes to minorities. Thus when speaking about "ghettos" nowadays, one runs the risk of oversimplification. Neighborhoods with substandard housing and run-down business districts became that way only after a complicated set of social, political and economic decisions that determined that certain people/neighborhoods deserved less than others. I applaud the attempts made since Kevin White's administration (eg "Little City Halls") to relocate city services and adminstration buildings away from the old city center and into some of these long-ago-annexed town and neighborhoods. This, if nothing else, is a symbolic way of indicating to those who invest in neighborhoods (banks, businesses, etc.) that the areas in question (and the people who live there) are important to the economic growth and success of the entire city.
 
Patrick said:
Very interesting history to DOT. My Grandmother (102% Irish) grew up in Dorchester, and whenever she talks about it she recalls the sent of coca from a nearby mill.

On a side note, I'm reading a book on JFK currently that refers to both DOT and brockton (sp?) as farmland and upscale suburbia, respectively. (19th cent.).
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Walter Baker factory maybe?
 
So...City Hall. I say it is razed, and rip up all the nasty concrete of the plaza. Build a beautiful new Government Center T station, and then build a modern shopping center. Not a mall, not like Copley, but a multipurpose commercial building-with some dining on the top floor (of a 6-8 story building). And! Please make it by LEED standards, and build a green park around it.
 
^Does Boston really need more greenspace? I'd rather see a restoration of the street grid through City Hall Plaza (mainly the extension of Hanover st to Cambridge st). I'd also prefer that the building be preserved for another use, and to redevelop the plaza. Putting up a tall building next to city hall would diminish its impact on the area. Also, building streets right up against the building would also help in integrating it back into its surroundings, instead of isolating it.
 
My very naive, pie-in-the-sky, completely unrealistic idea for that is:

Proposition ESPN to move their entire headquaters to that site once they get rid of city hall and build the ill tower there. Like Rockafeller center, put the whole ESPN Zone on the first floors, have some other cool bullshit tourist crap on the next couple floors. Museum, live studios on the first floor, blah blah.. They are already in New England, Beantown is already a HUGE sports town. Make it the moniker of the City. Faniuel Hall is already there, its already a tourist spot.... That would make it 10 times better. Throw in a couple bars. Make that tower like 1000 feet, dont fuck around. even tho ESPN only needs 600,000 sq ft. They can rent the rest out. And i dont know how the satellite dishes thing works cuz they got a million, im not sure if they need a suburban area to broadcast out of to put those dishes but...IMO that would be THE coolest thing they could do with it. Put a restraunt on the top of that bad boy....

I'm straight up sick of hearing of parks. FUCK parks. But you could use some of the space for some sort of sports statue area or some ode to sports legends in Boston. Or the world or espn who cares. could be sick. people (sports nuts like myself) would wanna come to boston JUST to see that. Boston could market itself as Sports Capital of the World or some such BS.

Never gonna happen Im sure ESPN isnt moving and if it did would most definitely move to NYC. Thats just my opinion on what should happen. i thought of it when i was completely hammered last night it sounded even bettter in my head at that point. If not ESPN, wait obviously not ESPN, but i think Boston gotta attract more Mass/NE companies to move their headquarters there. Can't you strike a deal, give em cheap rents somehow or is that completely illegal, and if so i say do it anyways. This post is complete stupidity im sure but i like it.
 
Bobby Digital said:
i thought of it when i was completely hammered last night it sounded even bettter in my head at that point.
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Hahaha I'll mull over this idea tonight once I'm all greased up and tell you what I think tomorrow
 
Bobbydigital- It's completely unrealistic, but besides that, it's a great drunken rant. in fact, i too would love that. it's a good idea, too it would be great for the area. usually i think twice about posting my drunken ideas out of the fear that i'm going to cringe when i see them in the morning and the responses to them, but in your case, i like it.
 
Love the idea Bobby. One of the best opportunities Boston has to Market itself to the country is when there are sporting events in town. Even though the Patriots are in Foxborough, they always show flattering views of the city and the surrounding area. I love walking around Boston and imagining how things could be, and I too thought Boston would be a great place for an ESPN tower. Picture a sleek tower with the ESPN logo going up on it's side. People would see the building/neighborhood every night.
In NY there are plenty of shows with studios on the ground floor or overlooking busy intersections...these attract tourists/excitement. Is it the Good Morning America show that everyone wants to be on?
Though I can't stand FOX 25 news, I wish other news channels would get in the city like they did on beacon hill.

While it seems far-fetched, it's not impossible.
 
ablarc said:
Robert Stern should be hired to rework City Hall.

And its surroundings.
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Interesting point, ablarc -- I thought Richard Meier was the lead on the A A project...In light of Stern's work at Yale, this may be a very good idea, however I still cannot forgive him for that faux Gilded-Age monstrosity at the Harvard Business School...
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Bobby Digital, your ESPN tower is perfect!


That is awesome. My god, it is genius. ESPN Zone is awesome. We could get more bars. Plus, if the Celtics or Bruins ever get good, then it will be in close proximity to the TD Bank north Garden. And instead of renting it out, check this, an ESPN HOTEL!!! And to just go even crazier and incredibly unrealistic, HAVE THE OLYMPICS IN BOSTON!!!
 
And to continue, if the ESPN/ Sports tower got built, if this wasn't Boston,we could have a mini-times-square in Government Center! Like with the big fluorescent ESPN signs, and studios looking over the plaza...
 
Puppy dog fireworks puts a pretty grutesque image in my head.

But i believe with the current global warming and trends and changes to the atmosphere, if the ESPN restaurant/ hotel is built and turns City Hall Plaza into Times Square (they'd probably go back to calling it simply Scollay Square, but i'm getting technical) it MAY start raining lemon drops and gum drops.
 
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