Downtown Crossing/Financial District | Discussion

That money they were "pouring in" was being used to bulldoze and destroy cities, however, not benefit them.
 
Think hjow much more of Boston would have been lost if the money hadn't dried up
 
"The money dried up as the Vietnam was drained more and more money."

Nope, LBJ was perfectly fine with guns & butter as was Nixon.

Remember that the 1970s is when energy prices started to become an issue and global competition in manufacturing from all the countries bombed to the ground in WWII reemerged. The country got squeezed from exponentially increasing welfare costs, warfare costs, energy costs, inflation, de-industrialization, social unrest/crime waves/the emergence of the costly drug culture & anti-drug policies, the rise of NIMBYism, white flight, and worst of all DISCO.

Also remember that it was an era of political instability, with many different office holders coming and going.

All these factors combined made it much more difficult to undertake large scale urban renewal projects as had been done in the previous 30 years.

Boston gave up on building housing and shopping centers for office towers around this time for that very reason. They were the greatest return on investment in a very uncertain time. Same for government office space, it was guaranteed money from a local workforce even if it meant permanently losing property taxes.
 
That's from a book I read on the history development of Boston. I'll post hte book name when i'm back home
 
This is a great read about the Financial District

The Empty Quarter
Boston's Financial District is hollowing out. That's a big problem—but it may also be an opportunity.

By Paul McMorrow
Boston Magazine, December 2012
Click to expand...

http://www.bostonmagazine.com/articles/2012/11/empty-financial-district-boston/

"It’s one thing to build a whole new neighborhood yourself, but it’s quite another to be a good steward of something someone else built. “One neighborhood shouldn’t flourish at the expense of the other argues Greg Selkoe, the CEO of the streetwear retailer Karmaloop, a former Boston Redevelopment Authority staffer, and a vocal critic of the mayor. “The whole idea should be enlarging the pie.”
Click to expand...

Great comment “One neighborhood shouldn’t flourish at the expense of the other"

The sad part is how does Greg Selkoe like paying his BID to these hacks.
 
Not directly related, but I ended up signing my business up for the Boston BID (albeit, with my boss's money). I hate BIDs, even more so that businesses are required by law to be members, but I wanted to support my neighborhood. The only thing they're good for is as a private cleaning crew, but whatever.
 
picture.php

http://southend.patch.com/articles/...sing-streetscape-plan-bd6f8a46#photo-12485867

The Boston Redevelopment Authority has selected a firm to develop a streetscape design program for Boston’s Downtown Crossing Business Improvement District.
 
Oh dear... looks like no one checked the intern's work before it went out.
 
Haha, it looks insane, but finally, a paving surface other than brick.

Maybe someone at the BRA took my suggestion for a form of Portuguese calcada paving -- which I made on this forum like last week or something -- seriously!?!?
 
Is a woman sitting on a bench and reading the paper in the snow?
 
You are right. I was distracted by the glare from the meteor strikes.
 
wow. i am quite possibly the worst person at Photoshop i know, and i could have done a better job than those renderings....
 
So they bump out the curb on the right a little bit, add some weird pillar things, and BAM! People will flock to this dead street?
 
BostonUrbEx said:
So they bump out the curb on the right a little bit, add some weird pillar things, and BAM! People will flock to this dead street?
Click to expand...

Just what I was thinking! In fact the entire area is dead except for some garage and bus traffic. Nothing will revive it except housing. Why not put this effort into Arch Street, which draws many more pedestrians, instead of the back door to the Shrine?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top