City Hall Plaza Revamp | Government Center

Re: Official City Hall Plaza Proposals

Lrfox said:
I agree with Blackbird's point about the food/wine vendors. They did that all wrong. There should have been more of them, more sitting areas (an outdoor central bar with heaters/fire, etc. and small kiosks selling all sorts of comfort snacks/drinks), and more variety. Those are what make people linger and spend money on the shops instead of just pass through. All of that is poor management, not attendance.
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the only time city hall plaza has felt truly "activated" to me was when they had boston calling there (the year that the replacements and lorde played). yes, it was a big concert and that's why people came, but -- as pithy as this may seem -- the thing that really contributed to the overall vibe and comfort level was the many beer/drink and food tents. it felt festive and inviting because people were acting festive. i went to boston winter and it was no more festive or inviting than if you set up a few crafts booths in a parking lot with one dude to the side manning a pony keg.
 
Re: Official City Hall Plaza Proposals

A pending new user sent me this message via PM. I told him I would post it for him.

C-Town_Jeff said:
I wanted to post this to the City Hall Plaza thread in response to your post:
I have seen them doing Geotechnical investigation work off and on for the last few months, but they aren't actively doing anything right now or for the last few weeks. It doesn't seem like there is any reason to have canceled the winter market.
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Re: Official City Hall Plaza Proposals

Still not without many challenges–but it seems a door to begin the process of razing City Hall, the low JFK office park, State Service Ctr, Center Plaza, and developing part of the O'Neill Fed (one by one) seems to open fairly wide with the rise of 1 Congress.

Not perfect by any means, but find alternative/s to getting it done that aren't plagued with problems.
 
Re: Official City Hall Plaza Proposals

odurandina said:
Still not without many challenges–but it seems a door to begin the process of razing City Hall, the low JFK office park, State Service Ctr, Center Plaza, and developing part of the O'Neill Fed (one by one) seems to open fairly wide with the rise of 1 Congress.

Not perfect by any means, but find alternative/s to getting it done that aren't plagued with problems.
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Every single one of those buildings are still going to be there in 30 years. Don't delude yourself (or others).
 
Re: Official City Hall Plaza Proposals

odurandina said:
Still not without many challenges–but it seems a door to begin the process of razing City Hall, the low JFK office park, State Service Ctr, Center Plaza, and developing part of the O'Neill Fed (one by one) seems to open fairly wide with the rise of 1 Congress.

Not perfect by any means, but find alternative/s to getting it done that aren't plagued with problems.
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I have high hopes for 1 Congress. I haven't been as enthusiastic for such a project since Millennium Tower went up. I think it has the potential to impact City Hall Plaza by creating a lot more foot traffic and demand for activities and space in the plaza.
 
Re: Official City Hall Plaza Proposals

fattony said:
Every single one of those buildings are still going to be there in 30 years. Don't delude yourself (or others).
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You're probably right, but I'm not a "It is what it is" kinda guy. If no one says anything about how shitty GC is, then nothing will ever change.
 
Re: Official City Hall Plaza Proposals

So I just walked by CHP and of course now they are doing soil testing and have a large section fenced off. I jumped the gun.
 
Re: Government Center Redesign

datadyne007 said:
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Really? I mean.......... REALLY? is that all they got?
 
Re: Official City Hall Plaza Proposals

Those aren't the plans, though you may be upset to find they went pretty boring with the final plans...

stellarfun said:
The Globe now also has the photo of the verdant oasis.

A slightly less grainy image, not from the Globe.


bostoncityhallplazastudy-finalreport-6-1530588898.jpg
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Re: Official City Hall Plaza Proposals

Add some trees, call it a day.
 
Re: Official City Hall Plaza Proposals

They literally just planted some trees and called it redevelopment. It's not going to help the fact that the plaza is way out of scale with humans and needs to downsized.

Trees will make it a little more digestible, though.
 
Re: Official City Hall Plaza Proposals

Putting Hanover St through to Cambridge St (again) would make the plaza smaller...
 
Re: Official City Hall Plaza Proposals

Looks like tall weeds growing around an Aztec ruin:

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Re: Official City Hall Plaza Proposals

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Meeting tomorrow night for those interested. Good to see they're going 100% accessible, hell I trip everytime I'm at city hall plaza, disappointing to see how shortsighted it is beyond that.
 
Re: Official City Hall Plaza Proposals

Lipstick on...........
 
Re: Official City Hall Plaza Proposals

Anything that softens that vast wasteland of red brick is a plus at this point.

At the very least, the addition of vegetation/green space is huge.
 
Re: Official City Hall Plaza Proposals

I think that this will be a big improvement. It's not everything one would hope for, but it should help to activate the space and make it a pleasant place to be. Interesting that the arcade structure that was added along Cambridge Street several years back is eliminated in the proposed design.
 
Re: Official City Hall Plaza Proposals

$70 Million (!) that won't make much of a difference.

In winter it will still be cold and lifeless. In summer people will have many other nearby parks they'd just as likely be patronizing.

They programmed the Congress Street side of the plaza, but the dead wall and garage entrance of City Hall will still face right onto Faneuil Hall. They're looking to plant trees along Cambridge Street, but the street itself retains the wide lanes and gentle curve of an interstate.

How about spend $70 million on:
- Cambridge Street road diet
- Congress Street road diet
- Reconnect Hanover Street to Cambridge
- Recoup infrastructure costs by putting development parcels on new Hanover St Extension out or bid
- Lease retail or restaurant space in City Hall basement facing onto Congress
 
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