Downtown Crossing/Financial District | Discussion

Ron Newman said:
Isn't it good for Downtown Crossing that teenagers like to go there? That means it has a future as those teens become adults. I'd be more concerned if most of the people were over 50.
Click to expand...

This is one of the reasons why Downtown Crossing is losing retail businesses.

1) Teenagers don't spend money.
2) These groups of kids hanging out are a deterrent in making Downtown Crossing a shopping destination.

Also the homeless and general cleanliness of the area make it easier for people to choose the Back Bay and Copley over Downtown. And now there really isn't any decision to be made because a lot of retail has left Downtown Crossing.

Investments in the area such as Millennium Place and the Opera House are a start and I really think that the Filenes project is going to help change the perceptions of the area.
 
Whenever I go into Downtown Crossing, it's always busy with people, even during the winter. Downtown Crossing always seemed to me the most diverse (cultured? varietal?) area of the city.
 
TC said:
1) Teenagers don't spend money.
Click to expand...

That's because DT is starting to be filled in by high end retail store that most people normally don't shop at, especially teenagers. Us kids can't afford 120 dollar shoes and 60 dollar jeans and for girls 600 dollar purses. The only store I go most often now is Tello's because they sell things cheaper there than most other stores.
 
TC said:
1) Teenagers don't spend money.
Click to expand...

Actually, that is completely wrong. In economics 2 years ago we talked about this topic. Statistically, it turns out teenagers are the age group that spend the most money.
 
kennedy said:
Whenever I go into Downtown Crossing, it's always busy with people, even during the winter..
Click to expand...

But without Filene's, Filene's Basement, and Barnes & Noble, will that still be true?
 
Of the major shopping areas in the central city (Faneuil Hall, Copley/Pru, Newbury Street), Downtown Crossing is the only one where the demographics even remotely reflect those of the city itself. So why are people always so charged up about changing it? Don't the tourists/wealthiest 5% of locals already have their own shopping districts?
 
^^ I'll turn that around and ask, don't the 'real people' of Boston deserve a shopping district that isn't 'downmarket'?
I think the what people want for DTX is a place for 'everyone' that is still clean and inviting. Which it currently isn't.
 
What's wrong with 'downmarket'? Can't a place be both downmarket and thriving? (Thinking of Broadway in downtown LA as an example of this.)
 
Ron Newman said:
What's wrong with 'downmarket'? Can't a place be both downmarket and thriving? (Thinking of Broadway in downtown LA as an example of this.)
Click to expand...

or any farmer's / fishseller's market.
 
TheBostonBoy said:
TC said:
1) Teenagers don't spend money.
Click to expand...

Actually, that is completely wrong. In economics 2 years ago we talked about this topic. Statistically, it turns out teenagers are the age group that spend the most money.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that seems right. Everyone in my school bus except me has an iPod (and most people have the latest one) so that's a lot of money being spent. Luckily in my school there isn't really a fashion snob culture, so no one competes to get the best clothes, but I was ridiculed once for having only one pair of sneakers. But how do you count teenagers spending money? Is it parents buying stuff for the kids or parents giving money to the teens and they spend it or teens earning money and spending it?
 
Ron Newman said:
What's wrong with 'downmarket'? Can't a place be both downmarket and thriving? (Thinking of Broadway in downtown LA as an example of this.)
Click to expand...

I just disagree with the notion that clean and inviting somehow means exclusive or touristy.
You can have sections of the city that can be nice and also for the people of the city.
 
Ron Newman said:
Inman and Davis squares are good examples of that.
Click to expand...

Your observation is correct, Ron, but it fails to consider that Inman and Davis Squares are surrounded by dense residential neighborhoods, and Downtown Crossing is, well, downtown Boston. The scale and economics are wholly incongruent.

Don't get me wrong, I love to see the energy and the vibe of Davis Square in Downtown Crossing. Having a zero-tolerance policy for panhandlers, loitering and truant teenagers, litterbugs, and others who contribute to the air of menace that descends on the area after dark would be key steps forward. Sustained residential growth in the area will require that this be addressed.
 
Actually, Davis Square's design actively encourages loitering. Lots of us like to hang out in the brick plaza in front of JP Licks, doing nothing in particular except eating, listening to street musicians, and watching all the other people.
 
Absolutely. I've hung out there as well on many occasions before or after a visit to the Somerville Theatre or Redbones. The place and the atmosphere are part of the reason that we go there. But I don't think either of us are there to hassle anyone, or to buy or sell drugs, or to snatch a purse or shopping bag.

I've got no crime stats in front of me for Davis Square or Downtown Crossing, but I'd bet my life that if you scaled them up, Davis is a much safer environment. It should be noted that Davis' proximity to a fine university and a neighborhood of owner-occupied homes can't hurt.

If you were to bring some of the "streetlife" from Downtown Crossing over to Davis Square, you may go someplace else to eat your ice cream, the street musicians would pack it in, and people-watch may have a different meaning.
 
All depends on who does the loitering.

I'm sure we'd all be happy to have Ron loiter anywhere he chooses; but some folks you wouldn't want loitering anywhere.
 
Ron Newman said:
kennedy said:
Whenever I go into Downtown Crossing, it's always busy with people, even during the winter..
Click to expand...

But without Filene's, Filene's Basement, and Barnes & Noble, will that still be true?
Click to expand...

Although those are major attraction to DTX, they will be replaced by a residential building with stores at the bottom. Think. Store vs. Hundreds of homes...where are there more people? These people will be placed smack in the middle of a growing, cultural shopping district. Plus, with an 'upscale grocer' on the ground level, they won't even need to leave for groceries. There are plenty of restaurants, that food court, the H&M, and tons of other great stores. This won't make a major hit on the amount of people in DTX.
 
DarkFenX said:
TC said:
1) Teenagers don't spend money.
Click to expand...

That's because DT is starting to be filled in by high end retail store that most people normally don't shop at, especially teenagers. Us kids can't afford 120 dollar shoes and 60 dollar jeans and for girls 600 dollar purses. The only store I go most often now is Tello's because they sell things cheaper there than most other stores.
Click to expand...

What high end retail is in Downtown Crossing? I don't think anyone will confuse Washington Street with Newbury Street anytime soon.
 
Yeah really, what high end is in DTX? I never really saw anything...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top