Downtown Crossing/Financial District | Discussion

[vanshnookenraggen]

It might be better to try and turn DTX into more of an entertainment area with bars, clubs and restaurants. You'd have more people at different times of the day.

 

[tobyjug]

I would like to see a (legitimate) retail pot and recreational dope cafe district on a ladder street. Make it tourist destination, sort of a Freedom 35 Trail.

 

[DBM]

It might be better to try and turn DTX into more of an entertainment area with bars, clubs and restaurants. You'd have more people at different times of the day.

Here are some bars, clubs, and restaurants within 300 yards (3 minute walk) of the intersection of Summer & Winter.

I know, kind of a skimpy list, only 36 within an area that's about 1/10th of a square mile. Hopefully we get a lot more soon to get some real density!

Artisan Bistro
49 Social
Back Deck
Barracuda Tavern
Beantown Pub
Better Sorts
Boston Chops
Democracy Brewing
Elephant & Castle
Explorateur
Fajitas & 'Ritas
Good Life
Haley.Henry Wine Bar
Hub Pub
JM Curley
Kingston Cuts
LX Legal Crossing
Marliave
MAST
Mercato
Merchant
Oceanaire
Pabu
Papagayo
Parker's
RUKA
Ruth's Chris
Scholars
Serafina
Sidebar
Silvertone
SIP Wine Bar
Stoddard's
Taste Wine Bar
Teatro
Yvonne's

 

[curcuas]

What hampers DTX is the inability to build dense, modern buildings on many sites like One Bromfield and the Lafayette City Center. I do not see a reason why DTX should be "planned" - it's on top of the central subway node of the region and clearly attracts enormous office and restaurant demand, if less shopping than before. Let people build and let DTX enjoy the boom seen in the Seaport, in the Financial District, in Kendall, etc.

 

[HenryAlan]

Retail will never come back to DTX in a big way. Even suburban malls are struggling from the rise of online shopping. DTX needs other attractors besides shopping.

I've always thought it would make for a good dining and entertainment district, with small amounts of heritage retail left in the mix.

 

[Massachoicetts]

I think a good next step is how can 'we' make that happen? How can we either help convince the city or developers? It would be a perfect area for entertainment and dining but we need a push for it to take off.

 

[393b40]

I think a good next step is how can 'we' make that happen? How can we either help convince the city or developers? It would be a perfect area for entertainment and dining but we need a push for it to take off.

Step 1: Fix Massachusett's liquor licensing laws so a liquor license isn't 500K+
Step 2: Fix the commercial rent situation

 

[Boston02124]

 

[BeeLine]

IMG_1385 by Bos Beeline, on Flickr

IMG_1386 by Bos Beeline, on Flickr

IMG_1387 by Bos Beeline, on Flickr

IMG_1388 by Bos Beeline, on Flickr

 

[cden4]

I really want to see more outdoor dining in DTX. I think it feels like there aren't many restaurants because they're mostly tucked away on side streets and have no outdoor seating. I can imagine restaurants spilling out into a pedestrian zone. This would really add a lot of life to the street.

 

[393b40]

Good luck with that, this city hates bars and restaurants.

 

[chrisbrat]

i dunno that that's a really fair assessment. the liquor licence thing (the lack of them/difficulty in securing one) is stupid, to be sure, but there are plenty of outdoor eating/drinking places in this city -- it's just never going to be like austin or NOLA or san diego or whatever b/c those outdoor patios are only usable 4.5 months out of the year. newbury street (and plenty of other spots) is just as vibrant an eating/drinkng scene as anywhere in montreal and -- just like montreal -- has none of that for the bulk of the year b/c it's too damn cold. not really "the city's" fault that we're not in a tropical climate.

 

[DBM]

There's actually a fair number of summer sidewalk seating/dining patios in DTX I've noticed, walking around--Cafe Nero (x2), Legal Crossing, SIP, Ruth's Chris, Marliave, MAST (abutting on the Governors Alley plaza), Roche Bros. That's 8.

But as others have noted before upthread, to retrofit the buildings in the core of DTX to accommodate commercial kitchens to allow restaurants to open there would most likely be prohibitively expensive

 

[BeeLine]

For lack of a better place to post some of the minor projects going on in the Financial District.
IMG_1327 by Bos Beeline, on Flickr


IMG_1328 by Bos Beeline, on Flickr

IMG_1329 by Bos Beeline, on Flickr

 

[BeeLine]

IMG_1323 by Bos Beeline, on Flickr

IMG_1324 by Bos Beeline, on Flickr

IMG_1325 by Bos Beeline, on Flickr

 

[BeeLine]

IMG_4141 by Bos Beeline, on Flickr

IMG_4144 by Bos Beeline, on Flickr

IMG_4145 by Bos Beeline, on Flickr

IMG_4146 by Bos Beeline, on Flickr

 

[BeeLine]

IMG_7474 by Bos Beeline, on Flickr

IMG_7476 by Bos Beeline, on Flickr

IMG_7478 by Bos Beeline, on Flickr

 

[vanshnookenraggen]

As much as I like that the asymmetry of the ground floor totally ruins this for me.

 

[DowntownDave]

True, but nothing could make me happier than knowing that that faded old Barnes and Noble facade is gone forever....

 

[Bananarama]

What a perplexing column spacing on the facade. The beams clearly align with the ones above... Was this seriously a design decision or was it like this way before and they're just working with what they have?