Downtown Crossing/Financial District | Discussion

I think that downtown crossing is at the lowest point in my life time but on the other hand I think the long term prospects look better than ever. Don't forget that in about a year there will be a lot of Emerson and Sufolk students living in the area and with them hopefully school security guards.
 
Yeah, but Menino doesn't want to venture into DTX any more than he has to so he grouped all his appearances together. ;)
 
^^ That's OK. The women like us for our brains anyway. ;)
 
Ron, the Marliave reopened about a year ago. The food is quite good and pretty reasonable. I like the Sunday Night Gravy.
 
^ Did they put back the steps and the ironwork arch?
 
Bad news: The arch has not been replaced (yet).

Good news:
a. The steps have been fully restored, so obviously, someone recognized the value of that area.
b. There is still a lot of ongoing construction, so they haven't packed up and left yet.
c. There are plywood forms protecting the remaining iron, so they recognize it's value as well. It is a short leap to assume they know the value of the arch too.
d. The new signs look faaaaabulous! :rolleyes:
 
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Boston.com - March 4, 2009
Menino defends keeping Downtown Crossing street traffic-free
March 4, 2009

By John C. Drake, Globe Staff

Mayor Thomas M. Menino strolled through Downtown Crossing this morning, shaking hands with shop owners and defending his administration's insistence on keeping traffic off of Washington Street.

The urban shopping district has been plagued by decreased foot traffic, stalled retail development, and concerns over crime. Some observers have said it's time for the city to abandon its 30-year-old ban on non-commercial vehicle traffic on Washington Street.

But Menino said today that maintaining the stretch as a pedestrian area was key to the city's redevelopment plans.

"It's important to have people walking there," said Menino after cutting the ribbon on a new Boloco restaurant on School Street. "In the future, as we redevelop Downtown Crossing, we could have galleries along the walkways on weekends. Having traffic there doesn't help the flow of pedestrians as you move forward."

A key city planner said later that the city is open to allowing limited vehicle traffic during off-peak hours, with the introduction of traffic-calming measures.

"It may be that there's limited traffic that comes through when there aren't the volumes of people," said Andrew Grace, senior planner and urban designer at the Boston Redevelopment Authority. "That's one of the things we're going to look at.

"But just saying cars are better than people, I don't think in 2009 is really the approach that we want to take in a dense urban center."
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Great another BOLOCO that will close by 4:00pm. where are the bars and restaurants (or gasp a live music venue) that will bring some life to this part of town?
 
With all the money coming in and out of Boston from all the Colleges how could we not have a balanced budget.

Boston should be the ultimate CASH COW.
 
CAMPAIGN SHILL

DTX is in my district ... I believe it can and will be better. "Full-time" residents' concerns need to be addressed, but we also need to realize that this is a "business" district, and, now, a college and university district.

I have spent plenty of time in DTX (remember the old Haymarket bar?), and believe it will see better days. I think economic growth is what is needed here. Being open-minded about the contributions students make to this area is important and we need to explore how their needs can be met. Students' behaviors are perhaps as important as the wishes and concerns of the 6,000 residents of the area (a number I'm skeptical is real).
 
I find it strange that the Mayor wants to maintain the pedestrain-only policy of DTX; it's chock full of vehicles! I never walk down the middle of the street for fear of being run over by police, ambulance and delivery trucks. The only consolation is that the Wash., Winter, and Summer Sts. are one-way, and I only have to look in one direction before crossing them.
 
JohnnyKeith, dude. I do remember the old Haymarket. In fact, that was me propped up on the barstool next to you. It was the most entertaining bar in Boston, after the OS closed (of course). We will never see those happy days again now that the clenched-cheek crowd has taken over the city.
 
RE: DTX. I spent a couple hours there, last evening.

It took me five tries (seriously) but I did finally find the one Boloco that is open past four. The one on School Street across from the Borders is open until 8:00 PM. Free wi-fi, to boot!

The street doesn't work because, as you say, you are always afraid a car's going to come up behind you (inevitably, a police cruiser). The road up Washington Street is graded, so pedestrians naturally gravitate to the sidewalks, but even between Macy's and "Filene's", where it is flat, you almost always see people to the sides, not the center.

Too many empty storefronts down there, to be sure. Scary and gloomy.
 
That's the brand-new one, I think. You must have visited all the other ones first ;-)
 
Boston Globe - March 5, 2009
Mayor's walking tour skirts downtown woes
He hails shop opening, vows to keep traffic out

By John C. Drake, Globe Staff | March 5, 2009

Mayor Thomas M. Menino strolled part of the Downtown Crossing district of Boston yesterday, shaking hands with enthusiastic shop owners and celebrating the grand opening of a burrito shop.

The tour - joined by neighborhood boosters, journalists, and members of Menino's staff - was designed to bolster his contention that Downtown Crossing should remain a pedestrian mall, sealed off from traffic, as it has been for 30 years.

Ironically, Menino actually used his walk to survey parts of the district that are open to motor traffic, and he avoided the pedestrian-only sections that have drawn complaints about crime and loitering. But the mayor nonetheless used the visit to dispute assertions by several area shop owners who told the Globe last week they want the city to add energy and excitement to the zone by reopening Downtown Crossing to cars.

"It's important to have people walking there," Menino said after cutting the ribbon at Boloco, a chain restaurant that has large windows that open onto Province Street. "In the future, as we redevelop Downtown Crossing, we could have galleries along the walkways on weekends."

While major urban areas like Chicago, Tampa, and Eugene, Ore., have abandoned pedestrian malls, Boston has clung to what it calls a "pedestrian zone," where people on foot can roam free, dodging only the occasional commercial truck or safety vehicle.

"Having traffic there doesn't help the flow of pedestrians as you move forward," Menino declared yesterday.

Menino avoided Washington Street, the section's main thoroughfare and the north-south axis of its pedestrian walkway, and thus did not bring reporters past the crumpled side of the former Filene's building and the accompanying hole in the ground that was to be a new hotel and retail development but has become a symbol of failed dreams in Downtown Crossing. The project was halted because of frozen credit markets.

The mayor's tour came in advance of a pair of public workshops that are scheduled for April on the future of Washington Street. A planner for the Boston Redevelopment Authority said yesterday the city is willing to discuss opening up Washington Street to traffic at night.

Menino acknowledged that Downtown Crossing can be foreboding at night as stores close and the only activity is an occasional truck or police car.

"If you create activity on the street, it won't be a ghost town," Menino said. He pointed with pleasure to a 31-story condominium tower nearing completion. "Look at this building," he said. "That's 100 or so units of new housing. It's about the future. We talk about the past everyday. I'm talking about the future."

Randi Lathrop, deputy director for community planning at the Boston Redevelopment Authority, said plans to improve the appeal of Washington Street to pedestrians include raising portions of the roadway even with the sidewalk, to encourage shoppers to cross the street. The BRA also wants to improve management of the pedestrian area by making the restrictions on vehicle traffic clearer and keeping deliveries to off-peak hours.

"The pedestrian zone is going to stay," said Lathrop, who is the mayor's primary aide on Downtown Crossing issues. "It's been in existence since 1979 and will continue. But no one pays attention to the regulations the Boston Transportation Department puts out there. There are a lot things we want to institute: putting up bollards, property signage, enforcement. We want to get input from residents and retailers."

One major Downtown Crossing developer, Ronald M. Druker, said giving up on the pedestrian area would be a disaster. He said the problems at Downtown Crossing are related to the global economic crisis and a failure by the city to better manage the pedestrian zone.

"When business is good, the Downtown Crossing is thriving, and when it is managed properly, it absolutely works," Druker said. "The life that can be generated by pedestrian activity makes that retail much more viable. A managed environment that is vehicle-free is far better than having cars compete with pedestrians."

One local developer on the tour said he favored adding cars to Washington Street, pointing to Philadelphia as an example where an outdoor shopping district had done so successfully.

"Once it was reopened and re-landscaped, traffic came through, and it became a major turnaround," said Clarence Harwood.

But his support for additional cars on Washington Street may not be surprising. He owns the Pi Alley Garage.

John C. Drake can be reached at jdrake@globe.com.
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