Downtown Crossing/Financial District | Discussion

I use to live in Wells Maine. For years the Hannaford Grocery store had a pharmacy that served the area. After the Bush law Rite Aid opened literally right across the street. After that CVS opened right beside the Rite Aid. In York Maine, the Hannaford served the same purpose. After the Bush law a Rite Aid opened right across the steet, then beside that a CVS.

It's a disgrace that the people who wrote the regulations imediately went to work for the pharmaceutical comanies.

Of course by the same token Romeny let the hospital and doctors craft RomenyCare. No wonder the medical profession supported it.
 
BosDevelop said:
LOL at thinking anything but a chain was going to rent this space.
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My thoughts exactly. And besides the rent, the building is simply huge for anything but a chain.

"Maaaaan, I was really thinking that Chaceroro was going to take that space."
 
As Ron pointed out, these store really tend to be more along the line of general goods stores with pharmacys being a small part of their business model.

In fact, the CVS on Milk St doesn't even have a pharmacy in it.

This isn't a political thing, no need to make it one.
 
^^^^BOSDEVELOP your 100% right. And that is why Boston is turning into a corporate midwest stripmall. Pretty soon we will have Applebees, Texas Roadhouse, EPSN, Michael Jordans Steakhouse, CVS, Walmart, Walgreens, Target, APPLE, Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks. because those are the only places that can afford the rents in the city. God I hope the Northend neighborhood doesn't start to sellout.

That is why I'm against price fixing with Bailouts, Stimilus packages, Tax breaks and interest rate policies. Ladies and Gentleman welcome to the new world of Corporate America. I'm not against the corporations renting or buying space I just see this is the future for Boston for a long time. Corporate Boston adds nothing unique to make the sububranites visit the city for the weekends. Why would you ever visit the city when you have all the same stores at a stripmall.
Mom & Pop stores which bring the unique feel and add character to certain areas might be gone forever in the city.

I actually believe the Mom & Pop stores help an area build its character and identity overtime.
 
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Some one asked why there is a glut of these stores. I can't help it if the answer can be seen as political.

I actually think this is a good choice for the site.
This article was quoted in the Kendal Sq post:
“What we miss right now are amenities, like a pharmacy,” Fein says. Yesterday, a visiting board member needed cold medicine, setting off a scramble. “We couldn’t get it for him without leaving Kendall Square.”
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http://www.bostonglobe.com/magazine...dall-square/1qF2afCMPsiwzRZkENVm6I/story.html

By the way why is everyone ignoring this line from the article:
Walgreens was one of dozens of retailers that had expressed interest in the property at School and Washington streets, across from the Old South Meeting House.
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Oh that right, it's going to take some time to figure how to interprate that in a negative light.
 
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I would think that maybe someone like Todd English or the group (Lyons?) that runs a billion or so Irish pubs downtown probably could have put in a competitive bid and kept it somewhat local.
 
I would rather see the restaurant/clubs steered to the smaller building. Most those won't work well for office space, too small, no ADA access. Unfortunalty too many of those are owned by investment funds. With the huge office population and growing resident/dorm population there is a need for this type of store. When I worked downtown I would much rather do that kind of shopping on my lunch hour rather that when I got home.
 
DTC pre-2008: Filene's, Filene's Basement, Strawberries, HVM, Barnes & Noble, Borders, Macy's, CVS

DTC post-2008: Macy's, CVS, a bunch of independent cafes and theatres run by Suffolk and Emerson, Walgreens

Archboston forumers: "DTC is turning into a corporate wasteland! Save its independent, mom-and-pop store soul!"

DTC was essentially an outdoor mall, and the death of that paradigm is allowing it to support retailers that will support more mixed uses and 24 hour life. If it takes corporate overhead to support initial risks to achieve that transition (so far, it's taken the overhead of other large institutions - universities), then so be it. The independents will return when the foot traffic does.
 
I would love to see sit-down restaurants and bars fill some of the vacant storefronts on Washington. Most of the restaurants, especially the ones open into the evening and night are on the side streets. Putting more on Washington St would allow for outdoor seating in the warm weather months and would add much needed life to the street after 5 pm.
 
^ Widen the sidewalks on the side streets and use their intimate vibe for cafes, and let Washington serve as the artery that draws life from them. It's a model that works for Istiklal Caddesi in Istanbul, a pedestrianized street on a similar scale (Istiklal also has a too-cute tourist tram, but I think Boston has enough of cartoonish Old Town Trolleys prowling its streets).
 
the building is simply huge for anything but a chain.
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I'd have to agree here. You could subdivide it to be affordable by smaller businesses, but then you'd destroy its main appeal -- that big, sunlit, airy space.
 
Let's open the can and wrestle the worms then.

Parking has been such a bad idea for downtown Boston; let's keep it from getting in the way of good ones, too.

As for the rest of the space, here's another idea: turn all the streets between Washington and Tremont into woonerfs like those that exist in Brookline and Harvard Square.
 
czsz said:
^ Widen the sidewalks on the side streets and use their intimate vibe for cafes, and let Washington serve as the artery that draws life from them. It's a model that works for Istiklal Caddesi in Istanbul, a pedestrianized street on a similar scale (Istiklal also has a too-cute tourist tram, but I think Boston has enough of cartoonish Old Town Trolleys prowling its streets).
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Stone Street in lower Manhattan would be a good model.

http://g.co/maps/pyhqs
 
I actually work near Stone St. right now and I'm not sure it's an ideal model. Successful, vibrant space? Sure. But they could have left a little more space for passersby. The entire street feels like a giant outdoor terrace restaurant and it's hard to move between benches and seats. (The street could also stand spread the streetlife wealth a little - it can get intensely busy on Stone, but the surrounding blocks are completely dead when night falls.)
 
statler said:
As Ron pointed out, these store really tend to be more along the line of general goods stores with pharmacys being a small part of their business model.

In fact, the CVS on Milk St doesn't even have a pharmacy in it.

This isn't a political thing, no need to make it one.
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Stat -- No its all about economics and markets -- people like "one-stop shopping"

So we have:
1) Target -- originally clothing and such -- now groceries, frozen food, pharmaceuticals and even semi-fast food
2) Supermarkets -- now lots of household goods both over the counter and presciption pharma, grab-n-go salads, roatisery chicken, huge deli counters, flowers, some small appliances
3) DD -- now selling Keuring coffee and even the Keurig machines
4) Starbucks -- test marketing alcoholic beverages
5) Walgreens already has a substantial section devoted to food, including refrigerated, novelty seasonal items, large amounts of cosmetics, greeting cards -- less than 1/2 the store near to me is devoted to either over-the-counter or the traditional pharmacist

Who knows -- maybe the Millenium Walgreens will be a icon of Boston -- especially with some books, magazines, DVD, CD, posters, college and Pro sport memorbilia

Note we need to rename DTX -- Milleniium District -- MilDist
 
I understand people wanting independent stores to reign supreme in this area--and for the most part they do--but this was absolutely necessary for this location. As others have mentioned: the size alone was enough to only be available to a major chain store.

Some have been saying this is a bad thing...but whether we like it or not, this is the world we live in. Pharmacy goods, electronics, and food are going to come from large chain companies for the most part. It doesn't matter if you're in Manhattan, NY or Manhattan, KS. That's our world.

But let's not think of this from the macro (Boston or the world) standpoint...let's focus on DTX. What's one thing we've said this area needs? A large grocery store that will be open 24 hours. This isn't that exact fit, but it's close. And it will provide a lot of services that residents will be interested in, not just commuters and tourists.

Overall this is a win, and who knows what positive affects this could have on the neighborhood. This could inspire new cafes, bars, or restaurants in expectation that more people will be spending more living time in the area.
 
BTW, Kenmore Square is bland and underutilized, in my opinion. I see similarities between these two neighborhoods, but maybe there aren't any?
 
JohnAKeith said:
BTW, Kenmore Square is bland and underutilized, in my opinion. I see similarities between these two neighborhoods, but maybe there aren't any?
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John -- I think that there are a lot of differences:

1) Kenmore is much more large-scale than DTX -- big wide busy streets -- major intersections
2) Kenmore is all about students - not nearly as many 24x7 permanent residents as DTX -- however with Suffolk & Emerson building dorms - DTX is getting more students
3) Kenmore is all about BU
4) DTX still serves a commuter pedestrian transit function for the FID
5) Kenmore serves as a commuter conduit for Fenway Park
6) DTX is much better supplied wih both transit and parking
 
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