Driving around New England Pix's

[Boston02124]

today a Portland drive by!and State capital building in Agusta! leaveing Mass.

they have snow!

capital 1st

I've already covered Agusta so I did'nt take that many pixs. Portland drive by!

I like how they're building right along the highway

Portsmouth NH

 

[Patrick]

Thanks for posting, I enjoy these threads (and not just the portland-related ones) a lot.

A note on the comment you made about the building by the highway...it is interesting to hear you say that you like it, because there is some debate here about whether the buildings you were referring to are an improvement or an eyesore. very controversial in the design community. the area was supposed to be made a gateway to the city, but yet the building faces toward downtown so you see its backside when approaching....but hey, better than a parking lot (or a wal mart!).

 

[kennedy]

Oh, mylanta! Snow! Precious white snow!

 

[Patrick]

Oh, mylanta! Snow! Precious white snow!

Our first snow was October 18th...it snowed a lot, all night long. It was like that a lot in Vermont, too. Not usually like that here. Usually it is January.

 

[kennedy]

So long as there is some up in New Hampshire next week, I'm happy. Although nothing beats Newbury St. and the Public Garden/Boston Common covered in snow.

 

[Lrfox]

So long as there is some up in New Hampshire next week, I'm happy. Although nothing beats Newbury St. and the Public Garden/Boston Common covered in snow.

I'm as much of an urban enthusiast as the next guy on this forum and I certainly don't deny that I love the Public Garden all covered with snow; but my absolute favorite spot for the winter is North Conway/ the White Mountains of New Hampsire. My family used to have a ski house in Bartlett near Attitash but they sold it for a property with a little more acreage in Bethel, Maine. Sunday River and Bethel are wonderful, but I miss the Mount Washington Valley. Maybe it's just nostalgia, but I love that area this time of year.

 

[Lrfox]

Some from this past week... Fall River, MA

View from North Park in Fall River's Highlands neighborhood looking West. Not a wonderful picture, but what a view! North Fall River in the foreground, Taunton River and Somerset in the center and the Providence RI Skyline in the background. May look better if you view full size.

"City Gates," A gift from Portugal:

Downtown:

 

[Patrick]

Thanks a lot for sharing. I had never seen or heard much about FR before this post, other than just a general knowledge of its size and location. I see what looks to be good examples of some pitfalls of outdated urban planning, liker Le Corbusier's Radiant City concept

I'm no expert by any means about this stuff, but it seems like, from some of the material I have been reading lately, this idea was embraced in many placed and has lead to some of the most ineffective public housing blocks around.

Is that what the two highrises are? Public housing? Sort of like Franklin Towers?

 

[Lrfox]

Thanks a lot for sharing. I had never seen or heard much about FR before this post, other than just a general knowledge of its size and location. I see what looks to be good examples of some pitfalls of outdated urban planning, liker Le Corbusier's Radiant City concept

Is that what the two highrises are? Public housing? Sort of like Franklin Towers?

Fall River is a prime example of outdated urban planning. Fall River has a Brutalist city hall/ city hall plaza (designed by the same guy who did Boston's)... It's even called Government Center. It replaced a very beautiful, very historic city hall. Under Fall River's city hall, is a highway that literally bissects the downtown area (the bridge in the pictures turns immediately into a tunnel under downtown... a tiny tunnel though).

In addition, Fall River has an elevated highway that runs along the river and separates the port area (which actually has a lot of history, including Battleship Cove, the largest naval war ship museum in the world) from the city center (which as you can see from the photos does have some density and decent architecture). In addition, there's a low income housing project based on the garden style design principles that further separates the downtown and waterfront.

Those towers you see aren't public housing. They are market rate with, I believe, a little more than the 10% low-income housing the state mandates. I have two friends who have apartments there... one on the 18th floor of the white one.

While FR has some great neighborhoods and architecture (great Portuguese culture) like an award winning courthouse (formerly a high school) and not one, not two, but three Fredrick Law Olmstead designed parks (North, Kennedy and a smaller one whose name escapes me), it's VERY much down on its luck and a prime example of what not to do in terms of city planning. While New Bedford is actively become a nice city again, Fall River isn't and (IMHO) is a LOOOONG ways off.

 

[Ron Newman]

That city gate would look a lot better if put someplace where it could actually function as a GATE to something.

 

[Lrfox]

That city gate would look a lot better if put someplace where it could actually function as a GATE to something.

Hahaha, Ron, I've actually had that conversation with some of the higher ups in Fall River economic development. Needless to say, they were none too thrilled. But I agree. It's actually a pretty neat thing for the city to have (there's an identical one in the Azores) and it's tucked away, hidden by highway ramps, old warehouses, open space. It's off the beaten path and it's not anywhere where people can really see it.

This is the one in Ponta Delgada for a frame of reference:


I think Fall River's would work well either downtown (the plaza in front of city hall) or one of the Olmstead parks. It would even do really well in the Highlands (particularly closer to downtown).

 

[Lrfox]

Ok, Ok, a little more Fall River and New Bedford (if this is getting old, please let me know):


Fall River First:

New Bedford:

I have some more on my blog (linked in my signature).

 

[Patrick]

The lighthouse picture reminds me a lot of buglight in S. Portland, except for the fancy streetlights in front of it, which I wish we had some more of. I do, however, think the lights are a tad bit too close to each other, but I think that's probably just a matter of personal opinion. Otherwise looks like an attractive waterfront area to be near. The downtown narrow street (I think its NB rather than FR) looks like it has a lot of potential, but I'm curious as to why there doesn't seem to be more activity on it, aside from the fact that its winter. it looks like a street ripe for shopping, boutiques, etc, kind of like exchange in portland. are there any areas like this there?

 

[Patrick]

Oh and ps I don't think the pics are getting old, but I may be speaking just for myself. The more the better. I really like the graffiti art you posted and think more of that stuff should be encouraged around town. Granted graffiti can look like shit on some new storefront, but I like the way it looks when on an older type building as long as it blends in subtly with the character of the surrounding neighborhood and isn't offensive. Murals are great. also, the skyline you have on your blog heading looks a lot like Portland's waterfront with a different set of buildings. What's the population of whatever town that is (FR. NB?). my understanding is somewhere around 90k is this right and have they ever been larger or are they now peaking?

 

[vanshnookenraggen]

Damn, GREAT PICS! That is one picturesque town. Shame all these beautiful New England cities don't have much of an economy left.

What is that brick monstrosity in those first few pics?

 

[Lrfox]

Patrick, I agree with you about the lighthouse/ pier. That pier is on a peninsula at the Southern tip of New Bedford (Forth Taber park... where the fort in the photos is too) and the pier is a newer addition. The lights are a bit over the top but it looks nice in the summer. That Fort Taber area is beautiful with views of the Islands and the Southcoast. There's a military museum there too. IMHO, New Bedford goes over the top with the lights like that because it's all about the city's history. New Bedford was the whaling capital of the world and those lights were powered by whale oil.

New Bedford reminds me of Portland 15 years ago (local papers constantly talk about Portland as a model for improvement-- I should send you some of the links). New Bedford is around 93,000 (close to peak pop) but it's not a principal regional city like Portland so the downtown's are similar in size and the historic housing districts adjacent to Downtown in either city are similar. Each city even has two separate downtown areas... one very historic (Old Port/ Whaling District) and one newer (relative- Arts District, Portland and Upper Union Arts District New Bedford).

The area that I think you're looking at in that picture (It's New Bedford, Fall River really has one Main St. while NB has a many blocks of downtown streets) is actually normally pretty busy. It's at the Southern section of Purchase Street which is where the UMass Art Museum is (white/green building with colored banners) and the Zeiterion Theatre is (darker building on the right). The building with the arches is residential with office space on the first floor. The primary shopping/dining strip downtown is William Street (not pictured in any of these) which is a long, cobbled street lined with shops, boutiques, restaurants, cafes, etc followed by Purchase, Water, and Pleasant; but the bulk of the shopping on that street is a few blocks North of where the photo was taken. There are some really neat boutiques on that street including Calico which just won an award and invite to NYC's Fashion week and a relatively new Urban Winery. A lot of good craft beer bars on Purchase too. It probably looks so dead because it was about 15 degrees, windy and pretty late in the afternoon on a holiday(it IS a business district). It's usually busier than that, but most busy in the summer.

Fall River has a population of about 90,000 (down from about 120,000 during the early-mid 20th century) and New Bedford is at 93,000 (that's the city on the banner of the blog... taken from Fairhaven across the harbor) which is around where it's been. Both cities have large illegal immigrant populations (estimated to be more than 10,000 in New Bedford) that aren't accounted for, but the census 2010 is looking to correct that.

Glad you don't mind the photos. I'll leave Fall River/NB out of the "driving" thread for a while because they're the last two updates. The Graffiti (Fall River... the mural on the downtown building is New Bedford) is very cool in that location. I ran out of battery before I got to take a good one of a religious mural on an old Fall River factory. I agree that urban art like that can be a cool addition to some of the older, gritty industrial buildings. It adds even more character. I won't say "beautify" (lipstick on a pig), but it does make it look nice. Portland has some of the best murals on blank facades I've ever seen. I think the people in New Bedford are trying to take a page from that book, but not quite there.

 

[Patrick]

Yeah I definitely don't mind pictures, in fact that's the biggest reason I visit this site so frequently. I used to post tons of Portland myself but have gotten out of the habit. Portland could use a few more murals on some of the ugly building sides around town, but I agree some of them are truly neat, like the woodgrill building on exchange, which actually looks three dimensional from afar, and the architectural map on Free Street, or the eastern prom mural on the new gateway garage. I also enjoy when cities have less formal graffiti by locals because it expresses perspectives not often heard. some cities allow a free graffiti wall that is legal but in my opinion this doesn't attract the same level of creativeness or add the same level of character. I understand the cold temps probably dampened pardon the pun the activity on that street when the photo was taken, adn dont get me wrong I love lights like those on the pier in NB, I just think they should be spaced more widely in that particular scene, rather than a wall of lights. If there were half as many lights in that pic, or if they were twice as widely spaced, it would look better in my opinion. I think NB seems to have a ton of potential, and my advice would be to capitalize not on the "new" section of downtown, but continue reinvesting in the older, more pedestrian friendly sorts of streets and neighborhoods, because it looks like the city has a TON of these, and that's what draws people to towns (especially in new england, see portsmouth for example). No one comes to visit portland to see monument square, as nice at it might look driving by (and even that is debatable). they come for the old port which, in the 1970s, was a warehouse district. also this brings me to another point I've been meaning to make, Portland wasn't crappy 15 years ago...20 years ago or so it was in the midst of a big recession and Congress was having some trouble filling storefronts, but the old port has been thriving since long before then, and the building boom that shaped the skyline took place in the late 1980s. The city, like any, goes through spurts and ups and downs...it was huge for a port, like new bedford, then that fell off, then it was huge for tourism, then that slowed, then huge as a place to invest in commercial offices, then that fell off, etc. And huge is to be read in a relative sense (relative to maine, that is) of course. I think most cities are like this, as long as they have the right minded civic leaders. Allentown PA and Youngstown OH are two examples of cities that were very similar but one improved while the other has not. It depends on civic leadership. NB seems like it has a ton of potential, Fall River maybe not so much...does that sound right or am I off

 

[Ron Newman]

I know where the Whaling District is, but where is Upper Union?

 

[Lrfox]

Damn, GREAT PICS! That is one picturesque town. Shame all these beautiful New England cities don't have much of an economy left.

What is that brick monstrosity in those first few pics?

Thanks! The first batch in that post is Fall River, the last batch is New Bedford.

The first bunch are in Fall River. I'm assuming the "Brick Monstrosity" you're referring to is the "high rise" (relatively speaking) with the copper top? That's Point Gloria Luxury Apartments. They actually have AWESOME views (South to Newport and Mt. Hope Bay and West to Providence) and are one of the few decent market rate places in Fall River. The outside, not so much. If you're talking about the factories, then those are a couple of old buildings near the Battleship. I need to get down there and take some of the granite mills in town. Cool buildings.

 

[Lrfox]

I know where the Whaling District is, but where is Upper Union?

West of the Whaling District. It's really adjacent to it. Union Street up towards the Art Museum and the UMass art gallery. Purchase Street, Pleasant Street, and 6th Street are the primary cross streets with Union Street (and very much part of the district) in the Upper Union area. The districts are adjacent to each other, but the Whaling District was developed very early on while the Upper Union area became the primary downtown area during the manufacturing days after whaling... the buildings are newer (early 1900s mostly) and few of them are related to maritime industries. You can seamlessly walk from one to the other, but if you pay attention to architecture, it's a noticeable difference. Also, the streets in the Whaling District are cobblestone while most of the Upper Union area is paved. The Upper Union area is really the central business district today.