Downtown Crossing/Financial District | Discussion

DBM said:
No--it was merely eclipsed over the past 2 decades by the larger Theater District that is north of the Tremont/Boylston intersection:

Boston Opera House: 2,677 seats.

Paramount Center: 910 seats

Modern Theater: 185 seats.

Orpheum: 2,700 seats.

AMC Boston Common: 4,500 seats.

So, let's see... 10,972 seats. How many seats does your "Stuart/Kneeland" Theater District offer?
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Wang Center: 3,600
Emerson Majestic: 1,200
Wilbur: 1,200
Shubert: 1,600
Colonial: 1,700
Semel Theater: 261
Charles Playhouse: 700

10,261 seats - guessing I might be missing one, but, pretty much the same thing (well, except the majority of the seats here aren't a movie theater but actual stage theater). I mean, don't get me wrong, lower washington has become a second-theater/entertainment district, but, if someone says the Theater District, I always think Stuart St.
 
bakgwailo said:
Wang Center: 3,600
Emerson Majestic: 1,200
Wilbur: 1,200
Shubert: 1,600
Colonial: 1,700
Semel Theater: 261
Charles Playhouse: 700

10,261 seats - guessing I might be missing one, but, pretty much the same thing (well, except the majority of the seats here aren't a movie theater but actual stage theater). I mean, don't get me wrong, lower washington has become a second-theater/entertainment district, but, if someone says the Theater District, I always think Stuart St.
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Slight nit, but there are ZERO theaters on Stuart Street. There are theaters near Stuart Street on Tremont, Warrenton and Boylston; and there are theatres on Washington Street, also not far from Stuart/Kneeland. (And this is really all part of the same historic Theatre District -- and there used to be more theatre seats on Lower Washington than on Tremont.)
 
JeffDowntown said:
Slight nit, but there are ZERO theaters on Stuart Street. There are theaters near Stuart Street on Tremont, Warrenton and Boylston; and there are theatres on Washington Street, also not far from Stuart/Kneeland. (And this is really all part of the same historic Theatre District -- and there used to be more theatre seats on Lower Washington than on Tremont.)
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Sure, I just use the cross of Stuart & Tremont as my historical definition of the 'Theater District' - might have not written that very clearly. All the theaters on Lower Washington were well closed when I was growing up - although the Downtown Arcade was always fun :)
 
^ That's a proper job. I'll make it a point to walk past this one today.
 
They...they just painted the whole thing black. Why are we impressed?
 
Black is an interesting trend. Have you noticed that nearly all new window installs use black muntins and sashes? I would never do that on my house... I think it's a passing fad.
 
I love the paint job but I'm also just glad to see the building taken care of- it's one of only 4 cast-iron buildings in the city.
 
statler said:
They...they just painted the whole thing black. Why are we impressed?
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To be honest, I'm just happy they didn't strip out any character and replace it with generic storefront. DTX is great if you look up, but at the gound level it's been renovated into bland.
 
I wish the name "Downtown Crossing" would go away. It sounds like a strip mall you'd find in Aventura.

While we're at it, "Government Center" also stinks.

Oh, and just about every new street name since 1985, with special contempt reserved for anything calling itself a "Drive"
 
EDIT: Just walked past it and this is accurate:

Boston02124 said:
It’s better in Person almost looks like bronze metal
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Classic, and classy.

statler said:
Not my cup of tea.
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Recalling your affection for the colorful and crafty Winthrop Building, I'm not shocked. The "murdered out" vibe isn't for everyone, whether we're talking about a cast iron facade or an automobile.

Shepard said:
I wish the name "Downtown Crossing" would go away.
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We love our jargon; technology and business culture turn up the heat.

I grew up referring to our "central retail district" as simply "Washington Street" with a few specific landmarks -- Temple Place, Filene's, Jordan's, Salinger's, and the Jewelers' Building.

I'm old enough to remember when Downtown Crossing was a fresh concept, an earnest effort to bring suburbanites back into the city. I've been looking for photos from the 70s (nothing yet) that show the glass canopy over the sidewalk between Bromfield and Winter. There was an effort (even to my yet-to-be-formed urbanistic sensibilities) that an effort was being made to cohesive place-making.

Sometimes the past can happily stay in the past. I watch Washington Street evolve with interest. Favorite recent additions: George Howell and Gordon's Liquors.
 
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I'm looking out my office window at Harbor Towers right now, and the light on the concrete is really beautiful. Same in the morning when I walk up the Greenway -- it's a beautiful sandy color, nothing gray about it.

Longfellow towers could use a pop of color.
 
Beton Brut said:
EDIT: Just walked past it and this is accurate:


I've been looking for photos from the 70s (nothing yet) that show the glass canopy over the sidewalk between Bromfield and Winter. There was an effort (even to my yet-to-be-formed urbanistic sensibilities) that an effort was being made to cohesive place-making.
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I've got a few newspaper clippings from ca. 1978-82 with pictures of those glass canopies, but I'd have to retrieve them from storage, scan them, etc.... in my mind's eye, I recall them as being rather Willy Wonka-esque in appearance. More practically though--what idiot would've green-lighted such obvious birdshit attractors?!? I cannot conceive of how ugly they must have looked, all the time, streaked in birdshit. And how exasperating it must've been to have to clean them.

What a ridiculously impractical placemaking intervention.
 
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