Downtown Crossing/Financial District | Discussion

Ron Newman said:
It's a student neighborhood, with not just Suffolk but also Emerson. Why shouldn't it have fast food, especially locally-owned fast food?
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So true! And "fast food" is a misrepresentation of what Sal's is. It's a local pizza/sub joint, more of which would help to make DTX a great place again.
 
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atlrvr said:
^ That's a bit harsh...because they have poor taste in architecture their opinions are worthless?
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I'm not commenting on the architecture. I'm commenting on the fact that the guy seems to think a lone pizza place could single handedly cause the demize of an entire neighborhood.
 
Tremont-on-the-Common is the primary source of blight on Tremont Street. The city should actively encourage its residents to relocate elsewhere so that it can be demolished and replaced with something better.
 
I absolutely laughed my ass off reading that article. First of all, they don't want undesirables in their neighborhood....what? A pizza place brings undesirables? I could understand if they were trying to put in like, a Heroin-r-Us, but it's a pizza joint! In a college neighborhood, in a college town!!! Second, I wonder how much Sal put in Mumbles' pocket, because I'm kind of having trouble accepting that the Mayor is fighting people who want "upscale retail" over a local pizza place. Man, that really got my morning started right!
 
I'm with Ron on this one. It would advance the cause of urbanism if we could implode Tremont-on-Common. Failing that, it's too bad that the BRA can't slap a U designation on the condo board and start over. An out-of-proportion, poorly massed condo board president constructed of pre-fab brick panels would presumably at least be mute, and therefore a distinct improvement.

Those of you who have been in Boston for a while will recall that this same NIMBY board worked like the devil - all the way to lawsuits - to try to block the renovation of the Opera House a few years back. They were cheesed about the narrowing of Mason Street to create a workable stage size ... the ostensible reason was to maintain the integrity of the street, the real reason was because residents of ToC liked to park there, illegally, and the narrowing of the street eliminated this. And of course, the fact of the matter was that Mason Street had been rendered into a dark alley long before by the construction of ... you guessed it, ToC, that pinnacle of sympathetic '60s streetscape.

Similar issues govern the uses of the retail spaces in the building ... ever wonder why the "highest and best use" of prime space across from the Common is H&R Block? Review the priorities of the condo board (quiet, no fuss, no risk of trash, etc.) and you have the answer. It irritates me that the papers give these clowns a soapbox when they should be beaten about the head and ears with a Jane Jacobs hardcover and then frog-marched off to Hingham where they belong.
 
Isn't there a McDonald's up Tremont Street less than 100 yards from Tremont on the Common? And isn't there a Dunkin Doughnuts and Starbucks 100 yards in the other direction down Tremont? I fail to see how the addition of a pizza place on the ground floor of a DORM will attract any more undesirables.
 
Ron Newman said:
Tremont-on-the-Common is the primary source of blight on Tremont Street. The city should actively encourage its residents to relocate elsewhere so that it can be demolished and replaced with something better.
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I agree, but that boat sailed years ago when the building went condo. The acquisition costs would be a nightmare. When you see photos of the Bulfinch row houses that were once there makes you want to cry.
 
Druker was a consultant on the committee which established "Downtown Crossing" as a brand name and provided many of the anti-urbanist suggestions which helped kill the district in the late 70s.

ToC needs an appointment with a wrecking ball. Lafayette Place also BADLY need to be demolished. The cross streets reconnecting Washington to Bedford and Kingston Streets, which Lafayette's superblock severed, need to be brought back to better tie Downtown to the Common. All the shops on the side streets died when those pedestrian connections were walled off by that miserable failure of a mall. Whomever approved that giant substation which wrecked a block on the edge of Bedford/Shawmut/Kingston needs to be beaten with The Life and Death of American Cities as well.
 
Pick your fights, guys. There are a million things I'd want to see demolished before a superdense apartment building in Downtown Crossing that maintains the street wall. Slight moderations would make this a fairly decent building.

That said...

?We?ve fought to make this a neighborhood,? said George Coorssen, a Tremont on the Common resident since 1973. ?A fast-food takeout joint on our block will attract undesirables and turn it into Kenmore Square.?
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...this might be one of the most hilarious NIMBY quotes of the year. Can we get a category for this in the ArchBoston Awards?

It's absurd on so many levels. Have they been to Kenmore Square lately? Are they afraid of all the brick sidewalking, cobblestone, upscale hotel and restaurant activity that might haunt their exclusive neighborhood? No, it sounds like they haven't visited Kenmore in 20 years - in which case, they're opposed to a vibrant, ticking student neighborhood that's a hub for all that makes city life worthwhile. Nor do they even seem to have a clear grasp of what a "neighborhood" is, given the poverty of activity in the area they're fighting to protect. A pox on their condos. Exile them to the Seaport so they can live in the city they deserve.
 
Downtown Crossing Meeting 3/4/09

Downtown Crossing Meeting 3/4/09
DCP Members' Meeting -
March 4th

The next DCP Members' Meeting which will be held from 4:00pm to 5:00pm on Wednesday, March 4th at the Hyatt Regency Boston. Following the meeting from 5:00pm to 6:00pm will be a meet and greet for all in attendance.

At this meeting:

* Conventures will present Sail Boston 2009, an event taking place from July 8th-13th. The five-day Sail Boston festival will begin with the Grand Parade of Sail into Boston Harbor, continue with a crew and cadet parade through the downtown streets of Boston, crew and cadet soccer tournaments, exciting harbor tours, shopping, music, entertainment and the best cuisine in New England. There are 50 ships coming in and over 600,000 visitors a day. Find out how you can become part of this event!


*The W Hotel will talk about their Grand Opening scheduled for September 2009. The W Boston makes its dramatic entrance into the fashionable and storied Theatre District, an icon of contemporary sophistication where culture, shopping and nightlife buzz amid cobblestones and a Victorian landscape.

Find out what this hotel brings to the Downtown neighborhood and catch a glimpse of its beautiful architecture and style.


* The City of Boston will present its program Boston Buying Power: Powering Boston Business. This program assists the Boston business community in the procurement of electricity and natural gas through the creation of a City wide energy-buying group. Come find out ways your business can save energy dollars.


*William Ashmore, owner of Ivy Restaurant and Stoddards Fine Food & Ale, will share his concept for Continental Diner, a diner he plans to open in the neighborhood.

*There will also be a sneak preview on a Filene's Basement documentary!


This is your chance to hear about many important projects, upcoming events, and get a chance to meet new people from our neighborhood.

Please RSVP now by calling Kathleen Styger at 617-482-2139 or emailing her: kstyger@downtowncrossing.org.

This meeting is free for DCP members and $15 for non-members.
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...the fashionable and storied Theatre District, an icon of contemporary sophistication where culture, shopping and nightlife buzz amid cobblestones and a Victorian landscape.
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Is the irony intentional?
 
PaulC said:
William Ashmore, owner of Ivy Restaurant and Stoddards Fine Food & Ale, will share his concept for Continental Diner, a diner he plans to open in the neighborhood.
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This is good news for the area. I've been to the Ivy and the food and atmosphere were very good. Haven't tried Stoddards yet. Regarding the the Diner type restaurant, I would think an affordable non chain sit down restaurant would be very well received.
 
Did he say where he plans to move this diner from, and what lot he plans to set it down on? (I'd love to see it next to the Wilbur.)
 
One article I read said it would be around the corner. There is a much bigger article in this week's Boston Courant. It say no location has been picked and that it will be based on the 1964 Lincoln Continental Convertable.
 
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