"Dirty Old Boston"

The Cars down on Bulfinch Place at the WHDH building in 1978.... whatever that chrome sculpture thing is I want it

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kz1000ps said:
From the DOB Facebook page... the mystical A line at Union Square in Allston

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Old configuration @ Union. The traffic island and tracks were massively realigned in 1980 and the out-of-picture Union turnback loop (seldom-used vs. Oak Sq. loop) was deleted. Which in turn was completely different to the current post-'99 traffic island setup after the tracks were torn out. There are pics on Nycsubway.org from the '80 Boeing LRV fantrip on the A showing the 'modern'-config Union stop, from back when service restoration was being bitterly fought in the courts.
 
393b40 said:
Interesting... didn't know the Mass Ave bridge had a ramp on the western side to exit eastbound onto Storrow. I'm guessing that left-hand merge into the passing lane was a kill zone.
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What's even worse, before the Bowker Overpass was built, the ramp you're referring to also connected to WB Storrow Drive, into it's passing lane as well.
 
393b40 said:
Interesting... didn't know the Mass Ave bridge had a ramp on the western side to exit eastbound onto Storrow. I'm guessing that left-hand merge into the passing lane was a kill zone.
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So was the cosmically tight turning radius of the switchback curve. Box-truck Storrowings used to also have a "smash guardrail / land on hillside / possibly tip over" competitive sub-division in this spot before the bridge's 1990 rebuild got rid of that exploit.
 
Well damn, I had no idea. This insanity is from 1955

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kz1000ps said:
Well damn, I had no idea. This insanity is from 1955

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The weaving from the earlier-deleted WB onramp in that pic is so perfectly awful in a way that defies description. Also: holy shit is that a lane drop in the middle of the truck-flipping switchback?!?o_O

Whoever decided to grant the MDC power/responsibility for designing high-speed roadways was a magnificent saboteur, I'm convinced.
 
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25 cents an hour to park at PO Square in the 80s
 
I really like the way downtown Boston looks without the skyscrapers. It would have been super unique if we never got any tall buildings east of the common.
 
393b40 said:
I really like the way downtown Boston looks without the skyscrapers. It would have been super unique if we never got any tall buildings east of the common.
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Sometimes I wonder how it would have been if boston went the paris la defense route and kept its historic core in tact and built its high rise downtown in like northpoint and cambridge or something.
 
stick n move said:
Sometimes I wonder how it would have been if boston went the paris la defense route and kept its historic core in tact and built its high rise downtown in like northpoint and cambridge or something.
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Personally I think it would have been less interesting. My favorite part of Boston is that it is full of juxtapositions between the old and the new. The key is really to stop demolishing the historic stuff in order to put the taller buildings. That's why I think allowing additional height in exchange for facadectomies is a win-win for the city and the developers.

La Defense is ugly and much of Paris looks monotonous from pictures. I have been to Canary Wharf and think it's probably a similar feel to La Defense, banal and uninspiring. I prefer seeing skyscrapers seamlessly integrated into existing cityscapes, as long as they're not replacing the historical stock!
 
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