City Hall Plaza

No worries, but they have what, three food trucks at lunch? I can think of a few numbers greater than 3 and a few more times to eat other than lunch.
 
Plus they are all shoved in the corner of the plaza. They could do a better job with the trucks no doubt, but I think don't think Adirondack chairs and food trucks are going to be enough to cure what ails CHP.
 
What would completely cure it would be completely reworking the JFK building and Cambridge Street. But in terms of short term and cost effective fixes we can do immediately, chairs and food trucks are pretty hard to beat as a solution.
 
Honestly, for the short term I'd be really happy with tearing up the vast expanses of brick and replacing it with some mixture of brick, granite and turf. In addition to chairs, tables, trucks, etc.
 
statler said:
Honestly, for the short term I'd be really happy with tearing up the vast expanses of brick and replacing it with some mixture of brick, granite and turf. In addition to chairs, tables, trucks, etc.
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Somehow you also need to create some shade! The table and chair systems with umbrellas seem to get pretty good use on the Chinatown Gate Plaza.
 
Here's what I don't like about the short-term "improvements" to City Hall Plaza:
-In the long term, whether City Hall (the building) stays or is demo'ed (I'm on the fence but would probably rather see the demo), the s***show plaza should absolutely be built on - it's the biggest waste of space in Boston, and for an always-strapped city government an act of fiscal imprudence to leave such an unloved, unused asset unmonetized
-Across America, the addition of a placeholder/temporary park (intended to make a lot a bit less hideous until a building can be constructed), the chances of a building actually being constructed tend to go down significantly. The NIMBYs begin arguing that the park is the greatest thing Frederick Law Olmstead never touched, that "green space" is the modern-day sacral equivalent to what churches once were, etc.

Putting in a few rinky-dink chairs and strips of grass temporarily (giving this pig a coat of lipstick) may backfire into cursing Boston with having the horrendous, waste-of-space City Hall Plaza indefinitely if the NIMBYs can latch onto the improvements as a permanent public benefit that they, as the entitled residents of an entitled city, are entitled to forevermore.

The city really should skip the temporary measures and embark on an all-out urban redesign of the area - re-establishing a streetgrid, divvying up lots, and auctioning them off, rather than risk a lifetime of half-assed measures to improve an unimprovable dead space.
 
The plaza is used for all sorts of great events. It is what happens the rest of the time which is the issue with the current design. It would be a terrible waste of space to fill it in.
 
There is no reason why those events can't go someplace else. Boston Calling can go to the Common, the Circus can go back to South Boston, etc.
 
I dunno how The Common would hold up with all those people on it not to mention stages and other stuff.

I'm not opposed to keeping the area that is City Hall plaza as an open space but if we're going to do that then it needs to be setup like a true European-style square with cafe's, restaurants and bars all around it.
 
meddlepal said:
I dunno how The Common would hold up with all those people on it not to mention stages and other stuff.

I'm not opposed to keeping the area that is City Hall plaza as an open space but if we're going to do that then it needs to be setup like a true European-style square with cafe's, restaurants and bars all around it.
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What? Starbucks, Dunk and Pearl Vision don't do it for ya?

Would have been good to see an outdoor cafe attached to the new station. Seems that they could also put some more substantial portable restaurant/cafes along Cambridge St
 
Proposition Joe said:
There is no reason why those events can't go someplace else. Boston Calling can go to the Common, the Circus can go back to South Boston, etc.
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The reason is the grass will die. We don't have another large open spot downtown to have events where the grass won't die.

The plaza is used for all sorts of great events. It is what happens the rest of the time which is the issue with the current design.
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Exactly. It's Piazza del Campo with crap programing outside of a handful of days out of the year. The plaza's not the problem, it's that we don't actually USE IT AS A PLAZA.
 
underground said:
The reason is the grass will die. We don't have another large open spot downtown to have events where the grass won't die.



Exactly. It's Piazza del Campo with crap programing outside of a handful of days out of the year. The plaza's not the problem, it's that we don't actually USE IT AS A PLAZA.
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Kind of chicken and the egg though - it doesn't get used as a plaza because regardless of how big it actually is, it's lack of well-defined edges makes it feel massive.

Piazza del Campo has buildings with active uses right around its entire edge.
 
MBTAddict said:
Kind of chicken and the egg though - it doesn't get used as a plaza because regardless of how big it actually is, it's lack of well-defined edges makes it feel massive.

Piazza del Campo has buildings with active uses right around its entire edge.
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See the top ten failed central plazas and squares slide show... guess:
http://www.citylab.com/design/2011/10/best-and-worst-worlds-public-plazas-and-squares/360/

The top ten best slideshow is interesting. Although I wonder if Piazza del Campo is being romanticized a bit... I see plenty of pictures online where the plaza is being sparsely used.

Edit: And of course the number 1 worst plaza on this list is...
http://www.pps.org/reference/september2004bestworst/

Great quote about city hall plaza: "Why so little progress? For one thing, the design community keeps trying to redesign this place instead of thinking about how to manage it to create a real community there. It proves once again that design competitions accomplish little if nothing in creating great places."
 
Mayor Walsh is Soliciting Ideas For City Hall Plaza Events
Nick DeLuca, BostInno

On Monday, Mayor Marty Walsh and the Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics announced that the City of Boston will be soliciting ideas to revamp the event programming for City Hall Plaza.

Fittingly called ReEvent the Plaza, the initiative is one of several facets the city is using to activate the plaza and turn it into a destination for residents and nonnatives to enjoy and no longer gawk at with a begrudging eye.

“From businesses in the area, to a student on summer break, to a resident with a great idea, we hope to see ideas from everyone,” said Mayor Walsh in a statement. “This is truly an open opportunity for all to create a more welcoming and world class space for the public.”

Everyone, including individuals and organizations of all size and scope, are encouraged to submit ideas for events and attractions, which can be done here. The deadline is July 3.

The idea here is to utilize the sprawling space in between and in conjunction with programming already scheduled for the plaza. Winning submissions will be determined by city officials and all are expected to be free, though if some require any additional logistical support, like increased security measures for example, that person or organization behind the event may have to pay for that.

A spokesperson for Mayor Marty Walsh told BostInno that this will be determined on a case-by-case basis and become clearer once the new slate becomes more solidified.

According to the City of Boston, the following guidelines for submissions must be adhered to:

The event should be free and open to the public, meaning the general public can easily attend or sign up ahead of time.
The event should be implementable within the next six months.
The event can be small or large, but should have an intended number of attendees.
Events that can be replicated or scaled in the future are most compelling.

Just this morning I contended that event programming is a crucial aspect to the success of City Hall Plaza's comprehensive redesign, responses to which the Walsh administration is currently reviewing and will subsequently inform a Request for Proposals (RFP).

The plaza, which currently goes for $200 per hour for organizations to host an event on, is quickly becoming an attractive venue for concerts, parties and other popular happenings for residents but it's still something of a brick wasteland.

Most recently plastic Adirondack chairs were brought to the plaza with accompanying tables soon to follow, and already people are utilizing the space despite the fact that only basic furniture has been added to it.

The revenue generated from that $200 per hour fee is used to fund free, public events which, in tandem with simple furniture, are helping transform the plaza into a place where people are willing to congregate.
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The plaza needs somewhere approaching 365 days of use per year that will self sustain into the future. "Events" are not gonna cut it. Disco Yoga and Hug-ins aren't solving City Hall Plaza.
 
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No outside space in New England is going to be active 365 days per year, especially with our winters.
 
joebos said:
No outside space in New England is going to be active 365 days per year, especially with our winters.
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With a little creativity (and some cues from the Scandinavians) you could program the space for winter. Ice skating; outdoor hockey; wind protected outdoor cafe; Ice Bar; even an Ice Hotel if we wanted. You just have to want to make it work.
 
JeffDowntown said:
With a little creativity (and some cues from the Scandinavians) you could program the space for winter. Ice skating; outdoor hockey; wind protected outdoor cafe; Ice Bar; even an Ice Hotel if we wanted. You just have to want to make it work.
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Winter's Landing was supposed to be just that. See earlier in this thread. Hopefully they will get their act together this year with the permitting process & engineer verification that the plaza can handle the load.
 
I've always felt a big part of the problem with the plaza is that there are too many events. The events do nothing to "enliven" the plaza.

It's easy to do a big event in a parking lot, but then the rest of the time it's just a parking lot.

When there's no event at the plaza, it's a barren wasteland. It needs small pleasant areas to spend time in and generate daily activity, not more events.
 
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